On the 21st of April we headed to Tampere after work with Baobab (Baoban), Tommy, Väiski and our street team's leader Jonna (Jonathan). Bob, Kalle and Mikkis took another car, because Mikkis is such a hardcore teleseller that he needed to go straight back to Helsinki after the gig in order to go working in the morning. We got to Tampere around 6 pm and started carrying our stuff inside this legendary gig place, YO-talo. I had the hardest time trying to hang our huge backcloth, because YO-talo's roof was so high. I borrowed some crappy ladder to reach higher, which wasn't such a good idea, because I was swinging back and forth all the time. Fortunately, our famous albino-driver held me still with his big ass monkey arms. Thanks Baoban for your support!
We had some difficulties during soundcheck, because there was some amateur behind the mixing desk who just kept complaining about everything. Usually, we are one of the easiest bands to make soundcheck with; it's one song and that's it. There are no, "can I have more hi-hat to my monitor please".
After the soundcheck we went to eat something and then came back to the gig place to have a couple of relaxing beers before the show. First band to play was called Ruinside; a great local heavy metal band. They played very well and had an amazing singer, but the sounds were just crap, because this ass muncher behind the desk. At some point it sounded like there was no PA system on at all.
After Ruinside, it was our turn to climb up to the stage. The gig went ok, but there wasn't so much feeling, because we had to turn down our amps so much. I had difficulties to hear what the guitarists were doing. After the show Mikkis, Kalle, Jonna and Bob headed back to Helsinki. Me, Väiski, Baobab and Tommy decided to go and see what's going on in Tampere during night. Almost all places were empty but Henry's Pub, where we saw a house band play some cover songs and met some old friends from our home town.
The next day we headed to Turku. The drive there was probably the weirdest one ever. In fact, it was so weird that I can't even say anything about it out loud. So, I suggest that you make your own conclusions of what might have happened. Here's a quote from Tommy: *Sound of spreading something* -Kukkuu?, thyi, thyi, thyi.
Once we arrived to Turku, it was the same routine: carrying stuff to the gig place called Klubi and going to the nearest fast food place to eat our poor stomaches too full. We were all pretty excited to be in Turku, because there was this other band called 'Monitors Alive' playing too. We've been playing many times with those fucks and it has always been freakishly fun.
We had a hotel room in Turku nearby the gig place: a good place to talk shit and have a few beers before the showtime. It was around 10.30 pm when we started our gig. The sounds were just great although my monitor wasn't working properly all the time. We had just an amazing feeling during the show and left the stage with huge smiles on our faces.
Our driver Baobab met some old friend of his and we all went to this cheap ass bar after the show. After about an hour in a bar I was feeling pretty tired and decided to go sleeping earlier than the others.
Next day we went to eat some fast food again, but luckily I found a salad from the menu list. I really didn't feel like eating kebab or hamburgers that day. Then it was time to get on the road again and head to Kerava. Before Kerava we stopped in Hämeenlinna to pick up our own mixing engineer Aki and another car to carry borrowed PA system. We arrived to Kerava at 6 pm and started the same routine again. Sounds were great and everybody was pleased. At this point we all started to feel a bit tired, because of the last few days. Fortunately, there was only one gig ahead the next day. Kerava's show went great, although I had this huge spotlight shining in my eyes all the time, which eventually gave me a huge headache. I left home quite immediately after the show and slept like a baby.
Then it was time to play some rock music in Forssa. Once we left Järvenpää behind we noticed that everything wasn't as it should be with our beloved band wagon, the ED-mobile. We stopped the car and saw that we had a flat tire. Nice. And of course, there was no extra tire with us. Nice. So, we called our dear friend "Harri", who gave us a lift back to our rehearsal place to pick up an extra tire. After about one hour we were back on the road again. In case, you wanna know more about this friend of ours, come to see one of our shows and we'll tell you a horrible story during the show.
Once we got to Forssa, we had a nice reunion with the owner of Blue Pool, Matti. He's with no doubt one of the easiest going guys there are, when it comes to bar owners. After the show this same guy took us to see some other bars in town and almost everything was free. Huge thanks Matti for taking such a good care of us!
The gig was probably the best of all four. Or at least our faithfull driver, schnauzer's son, Baoban said it was. People seemed to enjoy our 'give all you got although you're dead tired' performance nicely. Once we got to our hotel after the show, there were big and spicy hot dogs waiting for us. And there was lots of rejoicing.
Then it was time to relax couple of days, finally. But once I had closed my eyes, it was already Tuesday and time to get packing again. Here are some more videos and pictures from the tour. I'll try to write more stories here this week.
Leo
