An afterburner – or Life after the Seminar
Anthony Shaw
Friday night at Helsinki Finnbrits can be a raucous time (think earlier incarnations of the Parcels of Rogues choir, or busy Folkclub evenings) but nothing as colourful and varied as on 26 September 2025.
As the after-party for the FB Federation Seminar (this year focussing on illustrators and their images, The Bigger Picture) the programme included 3 very different, but all very engaging acts. First up, and obviously with most visual colour, came the ‘sketching to music’ event, with music provided by the very artful Bold Articles (this time a trio) playing delightful acoustic Irish melodies as well as two songs in Gaelic. The activity was led by Parish Joshi who introduced all the coloured pens and pencils one could lay hands on, gave some basic instructions (“choose a colour, choose a sign or symbol to start with”) and we were away for 30 minutes or so. It was a genuinely liberating activity, letting the mind wander with the music, and hoping one’s fingers followed.
The Bold Articles play to an attentive audience – photo by Anthony Shaw
Next was the most ambitious programme of the evening, a series of three monologues inspired by and telling about the life of English writer and humorist Alan Bennett. Still active in his 90s, Bennett continues to pen his acerbic thoughts on modern life, especially life in London, from the perspective of a Leeds born son of a butcher. Himself inspired by Bennett’s words, Turku Society’s David Stokes had written his monologues using the author’s words as well as his own to illustrate scenarios maybe less well known to a Finnish audience, but true to Bennett’s style fully described and presented. And all offered in a very convincing West Yorkshire accent, except when he slipped into recounting Bennett’s association with Pete (Cook) and Dud (Dudley Moore), two fellow BBC comedians of the mid 20th century.
David Stokes and Alan Bennett – – photo by Anthony Shaw
Lastly were the two old Helsinki classmates, who have both graced Finnbrit premises frequently, but never before together as a duo under the name Paracetämol – Sami Oksanen and Anton Salokoski. Mainly guitar and bass based, but on occasions introducing the blown-keyboard melodica and the quirky vibraslap (see Anton Salokoski in the picture hitting it on the left) – the music is described on the internet by AI as ‘jazz-tinted instrumental’. With influences from Malian Tuareg songs as well as Finnish rockabilly, led by Sami Oksanen’s powerful guitar Paracetämol they played their own instrumental tunes and offered a rousing but never raucous end to a night of entertainment that was full of vibrant sound and vision. Even David Bowie would have been impressed!
Paracetamöl including the vibraslap – – photo by Anthony Shaw