By: Nick
Score: 3/5

What could be nicer on a mondayevening than watching some middle-aged men who make bizarre music in a very proffessional way. A lot of you are immediatelly thinking of a lot of other things. Others, including me, decided to travel to the Patronaat in Haarlem to watch Eläkeläiset live at work.
For anyone who doesn’t know what Eläkeläiset is doing exactly; Eläkeläiset is band which makes humppa covers of well-known rock- and metalsongs. The do so, with the use of a drumkit, a bunch of keyboards, a violin and an accordion. The vocals are done by all bandmembers who murmur the Finnish lyrics, the only word which can be heard clearly is ‘humppa’.
During this evening the band clears the way for a huge party, but it’s a pity the audience isn’t in for it at first. In this way the songs of Eläkeläiset can’t develop at their best. But later on during the performance the audience slowly starts to move, dance and eventually party. This is caused by the sympathic band, which will do everything to make this an memorable performance. One keyboardplayer is rolling, wriggling and trampling on his keyboard to bring us his ‘solo’.
Despite the fact Eläkeläiset gets more response with the more known covers like ‘Breaking the Law’ and ‘Seek & Destroy’ the band did well with all songs. A pity the audience didn’t grab the opportunity to make it a real party, because that’s when the music of Eläkeläiset is at it’s best!