So it was time to get our Finnish asses back on the road again, and it was for two months this time. First part of this loooong tour would be 31 gigs in Europe with our brothers in misery, Swedens own Katatonia, and then we fly straight to North America to tour with Finntroll and Moonsorrow on a 23 gig Finnish metal tour.
Luckily we have already toured with Katatonia back in 2007 in North America and knew what easy going and great guys these are, so there were no worries that we wouldn’t get along on this tour. Well, as long as Mats Sundin doesen’t play in Katatonia, then everything is ok by us! Hahaha, I bet you know the ice hockey history between Sweden and Finland...well in fact I really hope you don’t!
Anyway, we packed our gear and people on the boat to Sweden and headed towards Stockholm where the tour bus was waiting. Everyone knows what the boat to Sweden is made for…: for drinking, partying and puking, and for our boys it was a succes. After a huge headache and buying about 100 bottles of beer and strong drinks for the bus (so the band wouldn’t run out of beer before leaving Stockholm), we finally arrived at the tourbus in Stockholm and loaded our gear in. The Katatonia guys dropped in one by one on the bus, we greeted our old friends and finally got going on the road heading south, away from Sweden to the first gig in Hamburg, Germany.
The bus was certainly a pleasant suprise, clean, good bunks, a toilet and two lounges. But when you are sharing space with 16 men in the same bus for a month, you really need to have a good bus to live in. Some of the band members went to sleep, but many got drunk right away, just to celebrate the beginning of the tour... Well, in fact there is always a good reason to celebrate… when the bus leaves, stops, if it’s a new city or... well, what ever!
We woke up in Hamburg the next morning beside the venue, Logo. In fact we have been playing in this same small club when we did our very first European tour in 2006. I remember from that gig that the club had mixed up the running order and put us as warm up band for that evening, well knowing that it only means shorter playing time and being able to get back in drinking habits sooner, it wasn’t a hard desision for us whether or not to keep that order.. yes its always music first as you see! Anyway, the club is really old and many names that are huge these days have played at this club back in the old days, and they still have pictures on their walls from bands like Queens of the Stone Age and HIM to mention couple. The gig was hot, tight and really crowded because it was sold out, not even a rat would fit
in. The first gig of the tours are always pretty hard because you got to
handle lots of new rental gear, new stage settings and stuff, but it was a good beginning for this looong tour that would take us through both the old world and the new. The first gig is always first gig and it only means one thing... party!
Second day and second gig. These first two gigs were in German and I have to say that this country hasn’t been the best one for us to play in these last years, but lately things seem to be changing. Lots of fans came to the show again and this gig was already easier to play, getting to know the new gear and set ups. Usually you can’t be sure if the gig places will even have showers, but this one did, and if you’re really lucky you can even get warm water. You dont know how happy 1 minute of warm water can make a man! First you sweat your balls off on the stage and then there can be no shower, or an ice cold shower. Everyone knows how it is to shower in ice cold water, and
at least all men know what cold water also does to the private parts, so to inform all the women around the planet... ITS NOT A PRETTY SIGHT!!
But tonight was good. We ate at the Indian restaurant next door and I got some great Palak Paneer. So it was a good gig, warm water, lots of fans, a good venue and good food, so this all means that its worth having a big drunken celebration until 8 am! Katatonia seems to take it bit easier than our guys, but then again its only the second day of tour.
The next two gigs were in Netherlands where we have always had great audiences and good gigs, this gig was again sold out so spirits were high. This club was called Doornroosje and we had never played there before, but there were fans already waiting for us outside the venue. Some of our boys came out from the bus looking more like zombies from the Dawn of the Dead, and I think they felt like it also. The Netherland gigs in Nijmegen and the P60 venue in Amstelveen were fantastic, as we thought they would be. Good
clubs and great audiences everytime in this country, hope to see you soon again!
We left the Netherlands after the gig and the bus headed towards
Belgium. I woke up early in the morning from the sound of a strange upset voice downstairs, a girl who had come to join the party on the bus last night had passed out and woke up in the wrong country!! Yes, these kinds of things can happen if you drink with our boys.. The bus dropped the unfortunate hung-over girl at the next train station and the bus moved on.
The next venue was a place we have played many times already, last time it was it was on our own headlining tour last December. Belgium has also always been really good for us and tonight hadn’t changed, sold out again!!!! The first band on the bill on this tour is from Germany, a band called "Long Distance Calling" – instrumental post rock with a really good atmospheric touch. The boys rocked the crowd really good and we hit the stage soon after them. I have to say that this line up with 3 really atmospheric melodic bands is a really good one, and should be interesting for the audience also because all of the bands are still totally different music wise. Katatonia played a fantastic gig and it started to feel like this tour will be a huge succes on all levels! Heja Svergie, time to party!
So, it was time to leave Belgium and head over to the UK, home of
death-doom, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and of course Duran Duran!! The bus arrived at the ferry somewhere around 5 am and everyone had to get off the bus and go through a pass port check, why??? Do you really suspect something from a noisy bunch of dirty hippies that look like they just escaped from a mental asylum??? Well, anyway I went back to sleep while many of the boys went to the ferry to buy 8 bottles of red wine and 2 litres of Vodka, but
hey you can’t stop good partying when its going! I woke up in Manchester as the bus was trying to back up into a really small street behind the venue. I seriously don’t understand how these drivers can handle huge traffic, an enormous nightliner bus with a big trailer and manage not to crash it. Finally when the driver got the bus and trailer into place after a few minutes of backing and going forward he came out and wiped the sweat from his head. I saw he was wearing a ZZ-Top shirt and couldn’t resist the temptation to tell him that it took so much time to back the buss that I grew myself a beard as they’ve got! He told me with his English accent to "FOK OFFFF!", so another day and another gig.
UK is a strange place to tour, you might end up playing a gig in a great venue, or you can as easily find yourself playing in the smallest and sweatiest corner of a pizza place on the same tour. Tonight’s gig place was excellent anyway with a huge backstage and a shower with a big boiler, so enough hot water to go around. Quick soundcheck, something to eat at a near kebab joint and then waiting for the gig. Usually you get dinner from the venue, but many times you get buy out money instead which basically means: "Chef has real people to serve at the moment, so heres the money, get your own food you dirty hippie!". Some people watch films on the tour bus, some
do interviews and some just get drunk while waiting for the gig. I haven’t seen that much reading of books though, maybe it’s a lack of intellect... no, it can’t be that for sure! And as long as you can read the label on the bottle how much alcohol it contains, or if the food you bought from the shop is for dogs or cats, then that’s enough. No one is here to win the Nobel prize anyway, we are here to rock!!!
The gig is a blast, no problems before the gig, or on stage, but that can all change in a second as you will see later... Anyway, we have been playing quite a lot of gigs in the UK the last couple of years. First warming up for Apocalyptica in huge venues and playing some festivals, then doing our own European tour also going through the UK during last december. So we already have built up a pretty good fan base here and lots of fans seem to appear at all the gigs of the tour. Seems that finally people are becoming interested in listening other kinds of music than songs about fucking Vikings or dragons, cheers to that!!!
The gigs in Manchester and Nottingham are great but then we hit London and the venue just explodes! The show is sold out and we can see huge amounts of our fans in the audience, all is looking great, until... just a few minutes before the gig my guitar decides to give up its working contract! Also a few minutes before the gig our keyboardist is still nowhere to be seen. A quick phone call and he says he is on the bus on his way to the gig place, good timing considering that the gig starts in a few minutes. But none of this is
anything new to us, and luckily we can borrow a spare guitar from the Long Distance Calling guys. Even our keyboardist arrives backstage when the intro tape is already playing.
So, straight to the stage and trying to look calm even your pulse is
somewhere around 250 because of all the problems. But after all the gig, the playing and the sound, turns out fantastic tonight and the London audience is LOUD!
Quite soon after Katatonia have ended their set the bus comes back to the venue and its time for a quick load out. The traffic in this city is
unbeliveable, so there is basically no way to keep the bus standing for very long beside the venue and that’s why you have to leave the city fast. I guess I don’t have to mention that the after party of the London gig was also... LOUD!
I woke up next day from the sound of people talking outside the bus and lots of people walking by looking like members of Manowar, lots of leather, long hair, black clothes, carrying bags of alcohol. Today’s gig is a bit different because it’s a festival, a Metal Festival called Hammerfest 2. The festival is sold out so hopes are high until we realise we are playing last on stage 2 at 1:20 am... meaning that if there is anyone who hasn’t already passed out by then, then he or she is so drunk that it doesen’t matter if there was a monkey playing banjo on the stage. Anyway it made a nice change from the tour routine to walk around the festival area and see other bands too.
By the time we hit the stage it was all we were afraid of, too many people were already dating sandman or were passed out in the bushes outside or lying in a bush between somebody’s legs at this time of night. Well all of those, especially the bush between the legs, would be much better options than seeing us live tonight.. There were huge problems again with the gear, and my guitar that was supposed to work now wouldn’t make a sound. And then suddenly, just before the gig, our other guitar player’s guitar also stopped working! So we were, as they say... fucked!! Somehow we managed to do the gig anyway, loaning some guitars from other bands and playing an awful
sounding gig to a few people and a dog, but sometimes things just go like this and you have to move on knowing that next gig is gonna be a blast again, hopefully..
Next day and next gig is in a city called Cardiff. The thing I love about touring in England is the old cities, cathedrals and castles. After the "Spinal Tap´ish" gig at Hammerfest and having a pretty good fight on the buss to clear some air, this morning felt like there is nothing to do but have a good day! The sun was shining when I stepped out of the buss and the first thing to be seen is an enormous old castle next to the venue. I went down to the club beside and was cursing the small steps downstairs, knowing that loading the gear down here will be a trail of bitter tears covered with some finnish curse words, like PERKELE, SAATANA JO NYT ON VITTUJEN VITTU MITKÄ
PORTAAT JUMALAUTA!!!, I know you get the picture. Well, who cares when there’s a castle next to the venue and that is where I headed straight away. It was a great castle with a fortress, and I spent several hours walking around the area and in the Cardiff Castle planning to buy one of these with the money from the new album sales.. yeah right, its more about affording a burger in Burger King where I was headed next for another healthy meal. We are flying straight to America after this tour, so its time to get used to these Burger King meals.
So, it was a pretty small club tonight in Cardiff. We had a quick soundcheck and then headed back to the bus because there was basically no backstage. The gig was sold out again and every band rocked the place tonight, so it was a great gig!! Until… our second guitarist steps away from the stage after the last song and hits his head straight on the really low arch of the exit and blood pours all over his face and the stage, pretty METALLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can hear Markus yelling out loud in Finnish " PERKELE, SAATANA JO NYT ON VITTUJEN VITTU MIKÄ LAVA, JUMALAUTA NYT TULEE RUUMIITA!!! Not going to translate that either, nothing very nice. Well, at least tonight all the gear worked on the stage and we could play a good show, which was nice. There’s always a reason to party, and this time it was Markus hitting his head on the stage couse it means there is will be a huge headache anyway next morning, so what the hell!
There was only one gig to go in the UK for this tour and the last one was in Wolverhampton before hitting back to the mainland. Quick load in and then all the daily routines – bathroom, breakfast, internet, coffee, beer, alcohol, bathroom again, sex (if available), drugs (if possible)… ok, maybe you shouldn’t believe everything in this blog..?? I spend a couple of hours trying to find out what the fuck was the problem with my guitar because it always seemed to work during soundcheck, but playing the gig it was broken again! Dave from Long Distance Calling seems to be our saviour on this tour
and he checks again that what the fuck is wrong with my guitar. He has also been helping Katatonia out guitar teching for them on a couple of gigs, so the guy really knows what hes doing. He finally finds what the mysterious problem is in the guitar and fixes it!!
Well, im not going to bore you more with the guitar stuff. The gig is pretty good, not that many people tonight but enough to have a party and get ready for the boat back to the main land, which means you can buy more alcohol for the buss. Mikko and Kai buy 12 bottles of red wine again, so they can have a civilised talk about French poetry and maybe, just maybe have a tiny taste on the way to Luxemburg that night.. yeah right, more about that next.
We were in Luxemburg for the 12th gig of this tour. I woke up feeling like a zombie from all the headbanging but quickly I remind myself that there is only 42 gigs to go Juha, so get your ass up from the bunk now!!! Went downstairs on the bus to put my shoes on and happily found out that my shoe is somehow wet and totally red inside??? A quick smell and yes, it seems to be full of that red wine from last night.. Yes, if you are going to pass out, don’t pass out with a glass of red wine in your hands!! Thanks band mates! At least the venue is fantastic, big stage and a good backstage with loads of food to eat. I went to wash my shoe so it could dry up before the gig. Mikko comes to apologise for what happened last night during their
poetry session. Well, they are old shoes anyway and no use to take them to a cleaning place now. All the small shoe problems seem to fade away when I enter the shower, the water is colder than a polar bear’s ass and my brain feels like it freezes up totally. I honestly saw fucking white and blue stars spinning in my head when I was taking the shower. Well, at least I’m awake now, or dead. Markus takes a shower next and from the crying and yelling it sounds like some one is being killed in there!
Katatonia ends their soundcheck and they sound awesome, its gonna be a great evening! We do a quick soundcheck and everything feels good, stage sound and all. Sometimes it all just seem to work if you forget the fucking deadly shower, but it’s a good place, good food, nice people at the venue, professional sound engineers and good stage monitors. So tonight I could actually hear the whole band playing on the stage and not like it is so often when you only can hear one guitar that sounds like a fart through bad monitors...
During our gig I saw Katatonias guitar technician, a great bloke called
Soldier, on the side of the stage and I just couldn’t resist doing a joke on him.. I started to wave to him as if there was some problem and he rushed to the stage. I yelled to his ears "what the fuck your doing on the stage mate???", Soldier, being an English gentleman greeted me with kick on my ass and yelling in a jolly English accent "You foooking prick!!!". I just did the same joke on the other crew guy called Jimmy couple days before, and when he rushed to the stage I just talked Finnish to him, haha, poor Swedish guy.
Anyway, the gig turned out great, the crowd really digging in. We haven’t played in Luxemburg before so I didnt know what to expect, but the audience was great and lots of our own fans had come to this gig too. Many people were asking “why did you play such a short set?”, but when you are warming up bigger bands that is just the way it goes folks. But I hope we can add Luxemburg on our next own headlining tour and play a good full set for all the fans.
Next 10 gigs are going be in France, Spain and Italy where we have played a few times before so we know these are going to be fucking great shows ahead again. The weather is also getting much warmer – when we left Finland there was 1 meter of snow and -25 degrees. So now its +22 and the sun is shining. The tour has been just fantastic so far and it really feels like this is going to be the best tour we have done so far with sold out concerts and a really great line up! A huge thanks goes to our Katatonia and Long Distance Calling boys and all the crew for standing the Finnish madness... and its only one and a half month to go, PERKELE!!
-Juha
