One of the most beautiful moments of the Finnish summer is the one when the season befalls the country all of a sudden. Well, in contrast to me who just experiences her second summer in the country of long winters, the organisers of the annual block party "Kallio kukkii" [in English: "Kallio blooms"] seem to know exactly when the nights become shorter and the clothes become less. And although the month of May is still packed with loads of university exams: For a gig of the Helsinki-based Barbe-Q-Barbies you can venture the literally step out of home...
When the band around frontwoman Niki Rock starts their set with "Rockstar" on the Länsilava [West Stage] of the "Harjun nuorisotalo" ["Harju youth centre"], you are first surprised about the lady who plays the bass because she has blond dreadlocks instead of dark hair. But it`s not Katja with a new hairstyle; it`s the brandnew bandmember Minttu, as we are told in the interview later. And you wouldn`t have guessed that this is her first gig with the Barbe-Q-Barbies, as the quintet is well-attuned to each other. "New Direction", "My Salvation" and the brandnew single "Twisted Little Sister" are following before we hear a song which is not represented on the debut album "All Over You": "Crashing Down". Rather a crush than a crash is what some guys have on these girls and to get at least a little bit of attention from them, the one or other lonesome cowboy screws up his courage and goes closer to the stage, making advances to the girls and showing them "topless" what "wondrous" curves the beer in his hand can cause. Nothing new for the "five Femme Fatales who bring every Ken down to their knees" (Quote bandpage). But who thinks that the Barbe-Q-Barbies are consisted of dolly-birds who wear their musical instruments merely as accessories: Far from it! It`s indeed their music that delights the big boys as well as the little girls. After "Aggression" and the brandnew, very promising sounding composition "Saturday", more people get up from the grass in front of the stage `cause the following "Spell" is well-known by radio and television and so it`s time to dance. The whole thing is only topped by the final performed "All Over You": The little girls are dancing in a round, the big boys start to headbang and pogo...
No question: The Barbe-Q-Barbies are good-looking, talented and authentic. And with Mattel`s biggest bestseller in the name and influences like AC/DC in the sound, the record company doesn`t need to be worried about another important factor: That the target group could be too small...
+ photo: Stefanie Singh
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