Back in 2023, Finnish rapper and singer Käärijä (stage name of Jere Pöyhönen) rose to fame with his mind-blowing performance of ‘Cha Cha Cha’ at the Eurovision Song Contest. A year later, the singer went on his first-ever European tour, having gained a steady fanbase across the continent. Pöyhönen made his first stop in the Netherlands on October 14th, 2024, and on October 14th of this year, he came back for his second tour. The ‘Eurodisko Tour’ was brought to Tilburg’s 013, with the fans’ outfits turning the entire crowd green in support of their favourite artist.
Those in attendance tonight didn’t have to wait long to be entertained by support act Little Sis Nora, who took to the stage at 19:45. Little Sis Nora is one of those artists everyone knows, even if they don’t realize it. Why, you may ask? Well, because Little Sis Nora, stage name of Nora Ekberg, is the little sister of Swedish DJ AronChupa, known for hits such as ‘I’m an Albatroaz’. This is the song Ekberg started her set with tonight, and it became clear that she’s actually the song’s vocalist, despite not being credited for that back when the song was released in 2014. Halfway through the song, Ekberg was joined on stage by two dancers dressed in all black and wearing balaclavas with cat ears. For the next 45 minutes, Poppodium 013 would be transformed into a real rave. This fit perfectly in the Dutch scene, especially as she continued with tracks like ‘GABBA GABBA’ and ‘MDMA’. The Dutch love their hardstyle, and many people in attendance could be seen jumping and dancing to the beats. In between performing songs from her discography, including multiple collaborations with her brother, Ekberg spoke to the audience, telling them about how Käärijä asked her to join him on this tour and how she answered: “for you, my friend, I will do anything”.
In between the songs ‘COOL LIKE THAT’ and the iconic ‘The Woodchuck Song’, it was time for a commercial break. Ekberg and her two dancers were frozen as a voice-over told the audience how Ekberg has been making “great music since 2014”. Another voice-over several songs later introduced the song ‘Rave in the Grave’, talking about a deceased grandmother partying six feet under. This isn’t the only track in Ekberg’s discography that includes the word ‘rave’. The second is ‘Rave in My Garage’; it seems that Ekberg can turn every room into a rave, including 013. The singer ended her set with ‘Hardstyle Fish’, during which she shouted out “are you a baby shark? No, you’re a motherfucking hardstyle fish”, and another performance of ‘I’m an Albatroaz’.
Music played in between the sets of Little Sis Nora and Käärijä himself, but the music suddenly died down at 20:50, ten minutes before the singer was expected to be on stage. It was no surprise then that it was someone else’s task to entertain the crowd for the next ten minutes: Häärijä, Käärijä’s friend with the bowl-cut in the yellow suit. Häärijä took the stairs down towards the pit to get up close to the fans and high-five those in the front rows. When he returned backstage, the words “Eurodisko loading, still processing, almost ready,” sequentially appeared on the LED screens while the song ‘2000’ from the Boyband EP played. A voice-over then said, “Hello Europe, welcome to Eurodisko,” followed by Pöyhönen’s own voice talking to the voice-over: “Tell them this night is the best night ever!”. One by one, Pöyhönen’s guitarist and backing vocalists went on stage, all donning the same haircut. When Pöyhönen himself appeared, he opened his show with the unreleased banger ‘Hell Yeah’, followed by a performance of ‘Disko Balls’ that featured a dancer on stage wearing a giant disco ball on their head. After continuing with ‘#eurodab’, a collab with Croatian singer Baby Lasagna, Pöyhönen asked the audience whose first Käärijä concert it was: “why now?” The singer then noticed a little kid in the front row and crouched down to talk to him, which was very wholesome.
Pöyhönen continued the set with ‘Ja Eller Nej’, a collaboration with Swedish DJ Basshunter, who unfortunately couldn’t be here today “because he never answered [Käärijä’s] message”. Pöyhönen made little jabs like this throughout his entire set, making the audience laugh in between the songs. Another artist that couldn’t be here today was, unfortunately, Dutch singer Joost, who many fans had expected to make an appearance for the next song, ‘Hyvää puuta’. Someone who did make it on stage was, of course, Häärijä, for the performance of ‘Mic Mac’. Besides taking time to perform both music and stand-up comedy, Pöyhönen was also down to sign things and take selfies with people in the crowd (while staying on stage).
Seven songs in, it was time for ‘Ruoska’. Halfway through the song, the singer left and returned without his vest on, but with a person donning a latex suit and mask and crawling across the stage. Pöyhönen stepped on their back while performing the final part of the track. For this explicit moment, the singer apologized to the little fan afterwards before continuing with ‘People’s Champion’, which flowed effortlessly into ‘Huhhahhei’. While so far the songs had all been upbeat, as most of Käärijä’s discography consists of rave-, hip-hop-, and rock-inspired tracks, the performance was toned down for ‘Autiomaa’. The singer performed this song entirely on his own as he asked the fans to light up the room with their flashlights. “We are together, we are one big family,” Pöyhönen stated. “What we have here, we have only love”. Of course, this softness didn’t last long, as after this performance Pöyhönen motioned for the crowd to part and let him walk to the B-stage to perform ‘Klo23’. A small moshpit even formed during this track! On the B stage, he noticed it was a fan’s birthday, and so the entire crowd sang the Dutch ‘Happy Birthday’ song for them. After this short interlude, the singer continued with ‘San Francisco Boy’.
Back on the main stage, the show continued with ‘Sex = Money’. Afterwards, Pöyhönen asked a fan on stage who had been asking to do so ever since ‘Hyvää Putaa’. This fan had apparently performed ‘Europapa’ on stage with Käärijä at Paaspop, and was allowed to do so again tonight. He also performed Joost’s part in the song ‘TRAFIK!’. The fan’s energy was truly admirable. Käärijä had crowned himself the night’s superstar, but this fan surely wasn’t far behind, even shouting for the audience to “open it up!”. As the fan made it back into the crowd, Pöyhönen went backstage to put on a new vest in which he’d perform ‘Vantaalainen’, a cover of Kuuma’s song that he recorded for a Finnish TV show, and ‘It’s Crazy It’s Party’. Yet another outfit had to be put on for the final part of tonight’s show: the green bolero from his ‘Cha Cha Cha’ performance. It was no surprise then that tonight’s encore would begin with exactly that song. It’s been three years since it was released, and yet the song hits just as hard now. The singer was gifted a ‘Käärijä’-logo-stamped tie afterwards, which he immediately wore, and pink fairy wings that he put on Häärijä. Finally, Pöyhönen ended tonight’s show with a solo performance of ‘I Miss Us’ as he thanked the crowd, forming a heart with his hands as he lovingly looked out over his adoring fans. The Eurodisko album is yet to come, but the ‘Eurodisko Tour’ seems to have been a great success, at least in Tilburg.
