1993

Hungry John (Norway)
Wentus Blues Band (Finland)
Rude Mood (Finland)
Sweeney Todd (Finland)
Veijo Saarela Blues Band (Finland)
Greedy Pig (Finland)
Allan & The Astronauts (Finland)

The happening turned out to be a great success. We had a big crowd, the athmosphere was really good and the reviews in the local newspapers were positive. Even we as the organizers were happy with the results and there was immediately a demand for a follow-up next year.

1994

Wentus Blues Band (Finland)
Sweeney Todd (Finland)
CC de Plicque (USA)
Pepe Ahlqvist & Jarkka Rissanen ( Finland)
Bluesväder (Sweden)
J.Leino & Bluesguys (Finland)
Monaco Blues Band (Sweden)

We wrote a small notice in the Swedish bluesmagazine Jefferson about our bluesfestival in Finland asking for Swedish bands to get in touch with us. One week after that we received a big pile of tapes with various bands out of which we booked the two most interesting: For Bluesväder, nowadays named Knock-Out Greg & The Blue Weather, this was their first gig in Finland and after that they have become frequently spotted visitors in Finland. Monaco Blues Band, on the other hand, were already well known and had also visited our neighbourhood before and they were a little bit of a cult band with their coo outfit consisting of ZZ Top-beards and Blues Brothers clothing. Their performance that year with Jenny Bohman on vocals and harmonica is definitely one of the alltime top ten performances in the history of the Blues Party. Another memorable thing is Friday night's jam session with Wentus Blues Band, Pepe Ahlqvist and Jarkka Rissanen on Lapsteel.

1995

Blues Affection (Finland)
Rude Mood (Finland)
Mannish Boys Bluesband (Sweden)
Jukka Tolonen Trio (Finland/Sweden)
Lena Maate (Finland)
Bluestone (Finland)
Wentus Blues Band (Finland)
Tommy Cougar & Stingrays (Sweden)

Our main attraction Jukka Tolonen really delivered a superb concert on this warm night in August. Similarly, the Stevie Ray Vaughan-lookalike Tommy Cougar as well as Mannish Boys received great reviews in the local newspapers, but that just wouldn't do… the attendance was poor, there was a financial shortage and we thought that it was time for the Blues Party to call it a day. During the autumn that followed many people expressed their wishes for us to carry on with the festival. So with some minor changes regarding the time of the year for the festival, the venue and the choice of artists there was a follow-up to come: 1996->

1996

Los Waranas (Finland)
Heikki Silvennoinen (Finland)
Monaco Blues Band (Sweden)
Lena Maate (Finland)
Hot Pants (Finland)
Pepe Ahlqvist (Finland)
Wentus Blues Band (Finland)

The new venue was the Night Club Pigalle in Sokos Hotel Vaakuna, which had a large stage which made it possible to organize concerts with a higher profile. For the audience this was a perfect place since everybody was able to see the bands on stage. Top of the bill that year were Heikki Silvennoinen (known from the TV-series Kummeli), Monaco Blues Band and Wentus Blues Bands 10-year jubilee show (featuring Pepe Ahlqvist, a horn section as well as girls singing back-up vocals). Financially we got on our feet again and were able to start making up plans for the next year.

1997

Wentus Blues Band (Finland)
Dave Edmunds, Geraint Watkins, Billy Bremmer & The Refreshments ( UK & Sweden)
Knucklebone Oscar (Finland)
Mannish Boys Bluesband (Sweden)
TJ Wheeler (USA)
Wiley Cousins & The Well Hungarians (USA)

One of the highlights in the history of the blues Party is definitely Dade Edmunds gig in 1997. Together with Geraint Watkins, Billy Bremmer & The Swedish Refreshments he delivered the audience some high-class rock ´n´ roll that surely made the house shake. Even the STT-FNB news agency noticed Dave's visit in Kokkola. Later on, a live-cd was released which was recorded during this tour. On this year's bill there also was TJ Wheeler (USA) who didn't want to stop playing on Saturday night, so we had to force him off stage at 4 a.m.

1998

Tiger City Jukes ( Norway)
Urban Turban (Sweden)
Big Jack Johnsson & The Oilers (USA)
Two Timers (UK)
Lynwood Slim & Groovy Eyes ( USA/Finland)
Wentus Blues Band featuring Eero Raittinen) (Finland)
Clas Yngström & Sky High (Sweden)

Our sponsor deal with SAS made it possible for us to have a higher profile with the BluesParty this year. We invited bands from all of the Nordic countries, concentrated on contacts with the radio and in this way we got Teppo Nättilä from Radio Mafia as a speaker and Radio Extrem to record the concerts.
In musical terms this year was one of the most interesting so far. Tiger City Jukes from Norway and Two Timers from England (first gigs in Finland for both of them) charmed the audience. For Two Timers this meant the beginning og continuous gigs in Finland. The debyt gig for the Urban Turban in Finland also became memorable; The concentration of alcohol in the blood of some bandmembers made for instance the player of the keyed fiddle fall over his instrument on stage in a manner that according to the newspaper Keskipohjanmaa “surely wouldn have shocked the folkmusic researchers in Kaustinen”. UT managed to complete their gig after some of the players had left the stage in the middle of the concert and the Blues Party association established a prize named after one of the musicians, which handed over to musicians who have made themself a public nuisance through playing drunk at the Blues Party.

Big Jack Jonsson served us with genuine blues and played a long show in traditional Mississippi-style. Sky High also made a comeback in Finland and Clas Yngström played supremely guitar to a fully crowded nightclub.

1999

Rolf Wikström (Finland)
The Blueprints (Finlad)
Kari Mäkinen Band (Finland)
Knut Reiersrud (Norway)
Cajun Du Nord (DK/SWE/NOR/FIN)
Louisiana Red (USA) & Wentus Blues Band feat. Pepe Ahlqvist (Finland)
Lefty Willie & Strings (Finland)
Suuri Satamaorkesteri (Finland)

The subsidy from Nordiska Kulturfonden this year made it possible for us to invite Nordic bands that we only had dreamt of to play on our festival. Rolf Wikström hadn't been playing in our region for 15 years and for Knut Reiersrud this was the first performance in Finland in his own name. Tha Cajun-band Cajun Du Nord, with musicians from 4 of the Nordic countries, was also an interesting feature. Lefty Willie was entertaining the crowd in the pub and has ever since been one of our “standard features”. Heikki Kossi was also here filming Louisiana Red And Wentus Blues Band, and that would later become the “Mississippi-Nedervetil” TV-dokumentary. The concert was never used in thedokumentary even though it was an unforgettable gig that culminated in a jamsession in which for instance Pepe Ahlqvist, Knut Reiersrud, Pelle Linström and Calle Lindholm Participated.

This year we also extended the festival to include a record fair which was mainly arranged and run by Reijo Holm. The fair turned out to be a great success and it has ever since been arranged in connection wit the Blues Party.

2000

Eero Raittinen & Pekka Gröhn (Finland)
Bluesology (Finland)
Keystone Cops (Finland)
J.J.Nybergh & The Milkcows (Finland)
Blueass blues Band (Sweden)
The Nightporters (UK)
The Yardbirds (UK)
Sly (Finland)
Blues Blackmail (Finland)
Börge “ Biceps” Jenssen (Denmark)
Otis Grand (UK)
Texas Twisters (Norway)

In the year 200 we found our way back to Hotel Seurahuone again since sokos Hotel Vaakuna had closed it's doors for good. Hotel Seurahuone had once again renewed itself with a ne owner and staff that made us feel at home. We had two stages (one in the nightclub and one in the Corner's Pub). In spite of this, it was an unsatisfactory solution for both the audience and the bands. Yet, we had an unforgettable party. Our problems allready began 2 days before the Blues Party because Yardbirds guitarplayer Gypie Mayo had become ill and they were forced to candel their gig. The finnish tabloid press wrote about this and the whole Friday night fell flat. The band that saved the night was the Nightporters who made everybody dance with their wild and energetic performance. Their gig is one of the most memorable ever. The heroes of Saturday night were the local Blues Blackmail who put on an amazing show that made the foreign musicians raise their eyebrows. Their dream of playing at the blues party came true; something that they confessed in the newspaper Keskipohjanmaa later; Ever since they started playing together their goal was to perform at the bluesparty. Otis Gand didn't save any sweat as he played for the expectant audience. As usual, he wandered around amongst the audience playing his guitar and charming them.

Yardbirds made up for their cancellation half a year later through playing for us at Hotel Seurahuone on Easter Sunday. This is one of the greatest popconcerts ever in the history of the town of Kokkola. Never before has any concert inspired so many musicians in Kokkola as than. In many people's opinion this was the best concert ever in kokkola.

2001

Fat Back Groove (Finland)
Wentus Blues Band (Finland) featuring Sven Zettenberg (Sweden)
Lazy Lester (USA) & East Side Soul (Sweden)
Ville Leppänen & micke Björklöf (Finland)
Helge Tallqvist & Deep Blue Divers (Finland)
The Holmes Brothers (USA)
Little Jenny & The Blue Beans (Sweden)

The next year we changed the location once more, the new venue being Sokos Hotel Kaarle (formely Kanttarellis).Even this year the problems seemed to follow us; Sven Zettenberg got ill and had to cancel the same day he was scheduled to play and the Holmes Brothers never showed up due to the terrorist attacs at the World Trade Center a few weeks earlier. Eric Bibb arrived on one day's notice and saved the Saturday night for us. His performance was magical. The newspapers praised him and he sure was worth it.

Lazy Lester's visit was also unforgettable. Being a keen fisherman, he went fishing early in the morning to the river Sunti that runs through the city centre of Kokkola. There he was standing in his cowboy hat with his casting rod on a Friday morning when people were on their way to work. Naturally, he didn't catch any fish but he maintained that the water is full with minerals as it is in Louisiana (where he come from), and that there is a lot of fish in it. Lester talked continuously during the whole weekend, invited the young Olli Ontronen onto stage to play harmonica-solo and danced with the ladies in the audience until it was closing time. When he left town, he forgot his suitcase at the hotel.

Jenny Bohman who had earlier visited us together with Monaco Blues Band came over with her band The Blue Beans this year (first all-girl band in the history of the Blues party). They played with more guts that many men and naturally they had to play a great number of encores.

2002

Sky Wings (Finland)
Two Timers (UK)
Hungry John (Norway)
Erja Lyytinen & Dave's Special (Finland)
Jump 4 Joy (Sweden)
T-Model Ford (USA)

As we now organize the 10th Blues Party, we just we just want to thank everybody who has made it possible for us to arrange the festival. We want to thank all the musicians, sponsors, cultural foundations as well as all the audiences throughout the years. Further more, we want to thank everybody who have participated and helped us out with the arrangements. You have all done your share towards creating unforgettable moments and besides we have been able to put kokkola on the bluesmap. Scandinavian Blues Party has found it's place in the autums darkness. Let the good times roll!

2003

Tönsberg Blues Band (Norway)
Wentus Blues Band (Finland)
Wilko Johnson Band (UK)
Knock-Out Gre & The Blue Weather Feat. Sven Zettenberg (Sweden)
Wristshakers (Finland)
Bluesology (Finland)
Knucklebone Oscar (Finland)
Bon's Balls (Finland)

We had a great party once again. Saturdays main act, Knock-Out Greg feat. Sven Zettenberg, was an unforgettable show and they made it clear that there is some world class blues artists in Sweden. Doctor feelgood legend Wilko Johnson's show was really energetic and full of rock ´n´ roll power!

At the same weekend Blues Party Association organized Rock Club at the west Coast Bar. It was a big success and West Coast Bar staff demanded to continue this tradition.

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