Before the Ancient Savo Steam release I often felt the development taking the highest priority. And that was for four years. Now, looking back at the summer of 2024 I realize how seriously I was running low on energies, feeling weary due to prolonged economical scarcity and uncertainty, lack of rest and long hours of slow work. Well, but it was all worth of it, and since last September I've felt relieved, and happy about seeing the game evolving. I still have a lot of ideas waiting to be implemented, and the game project has sparked a whole bunch of further ideas I couldn't have though of beforehand. Many of those ideas are likely to be applicable to UnReal World as well, so there is this feeling of "lots of interesting coding ahead!". But the thing is that to maintain the long-term productivity I've needed to re-balance my working hours, reserving a bit more time for recovery and refreshment. Which, in addition to spending time in nature, often means going to see live music.

One of the music event I wanted to see this year was Maakuntailmiö. The name translates literally to "Province Phenomenon" - it is a reference to an early 1980's classic tour of Finnish rock. One of the cultural elements of the eighties was an assumption that "all the cultural development and events happen in Helsinki, the provincial Finland is just lagging behind". A bunch of musicians who had roots outside of Helsinki wanted to counter that, so they cruised the Lake Saimaa, playing gigs at the provincial towns. That was called "Saimaa ilmiö" - Saimaa Phenomenon. I don't know but I'm under the impression that nowadays the scene is more diverse, and it appears natural that there are interesting events in other cities, not just in Helsinki. But still, as the population tends to concentrate in the cities that leaves a lot of the countryside slowly withering. Well, to counter that a bunch of indie musicians wanted to counter that, organizing a tour of gigs in venues located in provincial villages. The core of the tour was formed by the bands of Litku Klemetti and Jukka Nousiainen - that makes perfect sense, for both of them have drawn inspiration from the music of the 1970's and 80's, so why not play concerts at those very same venues the bands of that era played at? And, for every concert they invited a local indie band. In addition they had a DJ, so the whole set was 3 live bands and disco.

The tour involved three locations which seemed possible for me - one in the province I live in (Pirkanmaa), another in the neighboring province, and one in Savo near the place where Sami lives. For some of the dates I had other responsibilities, but I had a free weekend for the Savo gig, at the end of the May. So I drove to Sami's place, spent a night there, and the following day we all headed to a venue called Hojo Hojo at Tuusniemi. Driving together with friends, going to see live music together - that is the kind of life I mostly skipped in the years of my youth. Or, who am I to say - in a way it feels that at the age of 50 I'm living my youth, and it is nice that way. It was about hour of driving to get to Hojo Hojo, at times driving small dirt roads up and down the hills, zigzagging in between the waterways characteristic of Savonian geography. Entering the venue the small town Savonian atmosphere was clearly there, in some hard-to-describe way. It was not just the staff speaking in rich local accent, but somehow also the not-so-strictly-formal-yet-fully-professional way of doing things. So, even before the first band started we felt happy to be there.

First it was a Anis Kiitu, a band playing fusion folk. (seems like there aren't any YouTube videos of the Hojo Hojo set, so for all the bands I will choose just some of their live performances). I found the band background story rather interesting - the group is formed around Anna-Riikka Vehviläinen, who is a doctor treating patients with cancer and never had any plans to be a performing musician. But somehow singing lullabies to her own baby grew to fragments of songs, and soon she had songs waiting to find their expression. It pretty much looks like she found the right people to help materialize the songs - the lyrics often dive deep into the darker areas of the human soul, combining that with the somehow optimistic mood of the music. In so many ways the band radiated honest atmosphere, as if tapping to the age-old roots of musical expression; it was clear that they were not performing to gain personal fame, but just being present for the sake of these songs which asked to be shared with other people. And people coming together to experience the stories mediated by music.

The next band was Jukka Nousiainen Trio, channeling the spirit of (Finnish) 1970's rock with a healthy amount of contemporary and unique elements. As usual, their live performance grew rather energetic, inviting the audience in to the sheer joy of rock and roll - yes, there is a lot of depth and meaningful content in the lyrics, and that just adds to the boogie ; let your body move, there are no wrong moves so just dance to it! The first time I saw Jukka Nousiainen he was playing a solo gig, after having the previous band broken apart with a somewhat out-of-control crash. Somehow the trio gig made me feel happy, to sense the deep and effortless connection of the trio members, how they all supported each other fueling the shared talent. After the gig I happened to read a short report by a newspaper, and the reporter's comment was "this is how it must have felt in the 1970's when Hurriganes was touring the country, playing at places like this".

For the Hojo Hojo gig they had adapted a version of a Finnish classic Bluesia Pieksämäen Asemalla. The original has a lot of connections to the Savo area, and the core idea is simple; the story teller missed the last train and find himself alone at the railway station of Pieksämäki, and to pass time he plays blues, one after one imagining his friends to be there. For the 2025 version the lyrics were themed to the village of Tuusniemi, and slowly the performance grew to include all the members of the bands of the night, the supporting crew and local relatives of the DJ. No doubt, that was another celebration of the shared joy of just playing together, not for the big money, not for the fame, but the creative joy of being together in the flow of music.

I have a feeling that I've said this before, and it seems to be as true as before; Litku Klemetti and her band has been growing more professional, yet maintaining their essential energy, the sense of effortless play and improvisation. In her interviews and instagram posts Litku has been very open and honest about her personal and emotional difficulties, and I'm happy to see how she has managed to maintain enough balance between work, personal life and recovery, instead of just being burnt out all to quickly. It was touching and inspiring to see her leaping around, crawling on the floor, rocking together with the audience, and also slowing down for a delicate minimalistic beautiful piece which allowed her to fully deliver with her talent of singing. Also, there is something rather impressive in the creative power of Litku and the band - they have been releasing new albums and more is coming.

For the last song they joined forces with the Jukka Nousiainen trio, playing a smash-up of their songs, with a good dose of improvisation. One of those moments which can't be quite captured on an album, so I felt happy to just be there, immersed in the crowd of people dancing.

After the live set we enjoyed an unhurried while dancing to the DJ playing hand-picked tracks. Bit before midnight we felt ready to leave. As usual for me when dancing to live music I had not had any alcohol, so I was driving. Down the winding dirt roads in the gentle midnight twilight, having a merry chat with friends I enjoyed this life at the age of 50.