June 15–16 Song Festival Grounds

Rock Summer 25 will be held

27
Feb

Festival Rock Summer 25, held on June 15 and 16 on the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds aims to celebrate in lively sprits one of the monumental events of the hot and very special summer of 1988 – Rock Summer – Glasnost Rock 88.

The bash that brought many popular foreign artists of the time to Tallinn gave the youth behind the “Iron Curtain“ for the first time the chance to feel as part of the world. For musicians it offered a face to face contact with the audience thirsty for rock, who – to artists’ biggest surprise – not only knew their songs by heart, but sang them along!

“Although it is impossible to restore all that now, quarter of a century later, and that is not our aim, we would still wish to create that undescribable feeling as much as possible. For former fans to live it through again and younger ones, who have only heard about it from stories told by their parents, to have an opportunity to feel it for themselves for the first time in their lives,” explains the promoter Jüri Makarov the idea of Rock Summer 25. ”The best way to describe this succession of generations is probably the fact that the master of ceremony of this year’s festival, Ivo Linna, will share this position with his son Robert, who at the time of the first festival was just a five-year old kid, but now is with his band Elephants From Neptume on his way to the premier league of Estonian rock.

The festival will be held two days on three stages. There is something to cater to the needs of music lovers of all tastes and ages and there will also be a nostalgic nod to the times 25 years back. The artist, who already in 1988 dared to shout out openly “Freedom to Estonia!“ – Sakari Kuosmanen from Finland will make his appearance with his fellow-musicians at this year's festival as well. The ever colorful John Lydon & Public Image Ltd. will refresh their friendship with the Song Festival Grounds also. From Estonian artists Ivo Linna & In Spe have decided this time to share the stage with choir singers.

“As negotiations with many artists are under way, the line-up of the festival is not complete yet, but we can confirm 15 names this far,“ Makarov says and promises that the list will definitely be twice as long comprising 30–35 artists.

In addition to the names already mentioned the confirmed artists are as follows: Duff McKagan & Walking Papers (USA), Sharon Corr (Ireland), Mumiy Troll (Russia), Aura Dione (Denmark), Skindred (UK), Zucchero (Italy) and Bryan Adams (Canada). Estonian music is so far represented by Sinine, Marya Roxx, Dramamama and Metsatöll. In addition to the two open air stages, the EDM (electronic dance music) tent will contribute to the festival mode with DJs such as DJ Andy C (UK) and others.

Information and line-up are constantly updated at www.rocksummer.ee.

So – the non-profit society Summeri Korraldamise Klubi and the former organizers of Rock Summer festivals have decided to commemorate the festivals that took place on the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds in the years of 1988–1997 with a 2-day festivity called Rock Summer 25. So that former festival-goers and performers could once again feel that indescribable festival feeling, bring along their children who now can bring along children of their own and why not even their parents and together experience and make history.

RS25 IN NUMBERS
2 days
3 stages
10+ Estonian artists
20+ international artists
20+ hours of music: all kind of rock, heavy metal, rhythm and blues, soul, metal, grunge, hip-hop, pop, house, reggae, electronic dance music and a bit of nostalgia from the time 25 years back

ROCK SUMMER 88
Glasnost Rock – Rock For Peace!
August 26–28, 1988
Festival was held under the auspices of the Estonian Peace Committee
Estonian artists G.G.G., Lainer, Singer Vinger, Ultima Thule, Rock Hotel, Ivo Linna with In Spe & Kiigelaulukuuik, Vitamiin, Mahavok, Seitsmes Meel
International artists La Torre (Argentina); Citron (Czechoslovakia); Mamba, Eppu Normaali, Leningrad Cowboys/Sleepy Sleepers, Juice Leskinen & Huhtikuu ’88, Pave Maijanen (Finland); Balkan Air (Italy); Dinamik, Dialog (Russia); Leather Nun and Sky High (Sweden); Big Country, Public Image Ltd./PiL, Steve Hackett (UK)
Headliners Big Country, Public Image Ltd./PiL, Steve Hackett, Ivo Linna with In Spe & Kiigelaulukuuik
Masters of ceremony Ivo Linna (Estonia), Joke Linnamaa (Finland)
Organizers Estonian Philharmonic Society, Estonian Club of Rockmusicians Muusik, Radio One (Finland)
Estonian newspaper Sirp ja Vasar wrote “The miracle was there on the Song Festival Grounds from Friday noon to the late hours of Sunday, to be observed and even captured on an international level... It feels strange to praise our own, but what to do if a hundred of press people, guest musicians and their managers – in a word, everyone coming from outside Estonia, couldn’t help but marvel the seamless organization and surprisingly peaceful audience of this event of giant proportions... Rock festival, the organization of which all guests deemed as extraordinary, was done really by a group of dare devil enthusiasts... Artemy Troitsky, music critic from Moscow and Nikolai Meinert, sociologist from Tallinn came in their radiotalks to one and the same conclusion that it would have been impossible to do a festival like that anywhere else in the Soviet Union yet!“ (02.09.1988)