The beloved duo of the millennium turn, who haven’t performed in six years, is set to make a comeback. Nylon Beat, a popular Finnish pop group, will be taking the stage as the main act at the upcoming Helsinki City Festival. The festival is scheduled to take place at the Töölö football stadium, also known as the Bolt arena, on June 14–15.
The summer performance marks the third time in 21 years that Nylon Beat has been called upon to perform. The duo had previously done three gigs in 2007 and participated in ten festival gigs in the summer of 2018. However, despite being prominently featured in the summer of 2022 through Yle’s audio drama series, “I want to be Nylon,” they did not perform any gigs at the time.
The Helsinki City Festival isn’t just attracting audiences with Nylon Beat; there are also other co-stars lined up for the event. Out of the 42 performers, 30 are international artists, many of whom enjoyed their peak popularity around the same time as Nylon Beat.
Artists such as Basshunter, Günther, Las Ketchup, Basic Element, E-Rotic, and Pandora, who often perform at 90s-themed events in Finland, are part of the lineup. Additionally, Canadian DJ Deadmau5 and German DJ Robin Schultz are set to cater to newer nostalgia cravings. Local top names like Apulanta and Haloo Helsinki are also coming to Töölö.
The festival is organized in conjunction with the Sideways music festival at the adjacent Helsinki Ice Hall. Both the return of Nylon Beat and the Helsinki City Festival are part of the activities of concert organizer Loud n’ Live Promotions Oy. This comes after the company was accepted for corporate reorganization following a decision by the District Court of Ostrobothnia in January.
Kalle Keskinen, a promoter at the company, states that the company’s internal operating culture has been reformed. He believes that the ticket market for events has returned to pre-pandemic levels. He comments, “Our company’s new management team and our staff are very committed to our renewed operating model.”
Nylon Beat, formed by Erin Anttilan and Jonna Geagean, was one of the most popular pop names in Finland during its active years from 1995–2003. The duo, hailing from Eastern Helsinki, is known for their unique nasal voices. Some of their hits, composed by Risto Asikainen and Ilkka Vainio and written under the name Sipi Castre, are now considered classics.
Songs like “I fell in love with a loser,” “Teflon Love,” “12 monkeys,” “Hundred loan,” and “Blameless” were instrumental in shaping the modern Finnish pop sound, striking a balance between traditional Finnish rock and iskelmä. The duo’s albums have collectively sold more than 400,000 copies.
Following the duo’s disbandment, both singers embarked on solo careers. Recently, Jonna Geagea enrolled for chef training at Perho Business School, according to Ilta-Sanom.
Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the title of Nylon Beat’s song as “Seksi tuo ja taksi vie”. The correct title is “Seksi vie ja taksi tuo”.
