Ruisrock is a
rock festival held annually on the island of
Ruissalo in
Turku,
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
.
Ruisrock, founded in 1970, is the second-oldest rock festival in Europe (after
Pinkpop) and the oldest in Finland. The festival has attracted international artists throughout its lifetime except around the start of the 2000s (decade), due to the organiser's economic issues.
History
The festival area is divided into two sections, Niittyalue ("meadow section") and Ranta-alue ("beach section").
In 2005, when the German
industrial metal band
Rammstein performed at the festival, 71,000 visitors attended the festival. In recent years, the number of visitors has fluctuated around 70,000. However, the all-time record was set in 1971, when there were about 100,000 visitors, with artists such as
Canned Heat playing.
The 2009 edition of the festival saw a rise in attendance, when during 3 days there was a total of 92,000 visitors. In 2009, musical acts such as
Slipknot,
Disturbed,
Faith No More,
Mew,
In Flames,
Volbeat,
Glasvegas,
The Sounds,
D'espairsRay, and popular domestic artists including
Children of Bodom,
HIM,
Eppu Normaali,
Tehosekoitin played at the festival, including the last live performance by
The Crash.
In 2010, the festival was celebrating its 40-year anniversary, with popular artists such as
Slash and
Ozzy Osbourne playing.
In 2016, three reports of
rape that occurred at the festival had surfaced and an additional two for
sexual harassment. These claims are still under investigation by the Finnish police.
In 2017, 2018 and 2019, the festival gathered 105,000 people in the Ruissalo People's Park during the weekend, and all three days were sold out in each of the three years. The 2020 and 2021 Ruisrocki were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Other famous bands to have played Ruisrock include:
*
Colosseum (1970)
*
Family (1970)
*
The Kinks (1971)
*
Canned Heat (1971)
*
Fairport Convention (1971)
*
The Jeff Beck Group (1971)
*
Pink Fairies (1971)
*
Uriah Heep (1972 and 1978)
*
MC5 (1972)
*
Lindisfarne (1972)
*
Status Quo (1973)
*
Nazareth (1974)
*
Procol Harum (1974)
*
Mahavishnu Orchestra (1975)
* Rory Gallagher (1975)
*
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band (1976)
*
Chuck Berry (1976)
*
Thin Lizzy (1977)
*
The Boomtown Rats (1978)
*
The Clash (1979)
*
The Jam (1980)
*
The Selecter (1980)
*
UB40 (1981)
*
Girlschool (1981)
*
U2 (1982)
*
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1978. The group were originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their ow ...
(1983)
*
The Alarm (1984)
*
Nina Hagen (1984)
*
The Cure (1985)
*
The Damned (1986)
*
The Pretenders (1987)
*
The Stranglers (1988)
*
Tanita Tikaram (1989)
*
Georgia Satellites (1989)
*
Soundgarden (1990)
*
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
(1990)
*
Midnight Oil (1990)
*
Billy Idol (1991)
*
Nirvana (1992)
*
Faith No More (1993)
*
Chris Isaak (1993)
*
Jethro Tull (1993)
*
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...
(1994)
*
Simple Minds (1995)
*
Bon Jovi (1995)
*
Blur (1996)
*
Pulp (1996)
*
Neil Young (1996)
*
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
(1997)
*
Sting (1997)
*
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1997)
*
Pet Shop Boys (1997)
*
Beastie Boys
The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...
(1998)
*
Jesus and Mary Chain (1998)
*
Metallica (1999)
*
Ministry (1999)
*
Blondie (1999)
*
Oasis (2000)
*
Iron Maiden (2000)
*
Lou Reed (2000)
*
Hellacopters (2001)
*
Kent (2002)
*
Manic Street Preachers (2003)
*
Dio (2003)
*
The Cardigans (2003)
*
Motörhead (2004)
*
Stray Cats (2004)
*
Hawkwind (2004)
*
Within Temptation
Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other infl ...
(2005)
*
Rammstein (2005)
*
New York Dolls
New York Dolls were an American rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground, the MC5, and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved ...
(2006)
*
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...
(2006)
*
Tool
A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by animals, animals use simple tools, only human bei ...
(2006)
*
Flogging Molly (2006)
*
Saxon (2006)
*
Opeth (2006)
*
Billy Talent (2007)
*
Interpol (2008)
*
Primal Scream (2008)
*
Bullet for My Valentine (2008)
*
Anti-Flag (2008)
*
Slipknot (2009)
*
Volbeat (2009)
*
Canned Heat (2010)
*
Ozzy Osbourne (2010)
*
NOFX
NOFX () was an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. Bassist/lead vocalist Fat Mike, rhythm guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin were original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every ...
(2010)
*
The Specials
The Specials, also known as the Special AKA, were an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, J ...
(2010)
*
Amon Amarth (2010)
*
The National (2011)
*
Nekromantix (2011)
*
Paramore (2011)
*
Suicidal Tendencies (2012)
*
Pulp (2012)
*
Bloc Party (2012)
*
Amorphis (2013)
*
The Sounds (2013)
*
Editors (2013)
*
The Offspring (2014)
*
Suede (2014)
See also
*
List of historic rock festivals
*
List of music festivals
References
External links
Official websiteOfficial website in English*
List of Ruisrock bands (in
Finnish)
{{Rock festivals
Culture in Turku
Rock festivals in Finland
Tourist attractions in Turku
Counterculture festivals
Music festivals established in 1970
Music festivals in Finland
Heavy metal festivals in Finland