Thursday, May 1, 2014

SA:On the road:Pariah’s Child World Tour / Europe part 4

Tuesday 22.4.2014-Saarbrucken, Germany
Another one of the places that we’ve been to before, actually I think we’ve played in most of the venues on this tour sometime before in our career. Nevertheless, nice backstage, good food everything is just nice at the moment. During the show a couple of our friends showed up and shot some pics and some video footage, we’ll do another thing at Pratteln as well and see if they can come up with something cool. Anyways during the show we played X-marks the spot for the first time live ;-) it went well I think…of course Tony couldn’t resist to fool around in the beginning of Tallulah and I seriously doubt that we’ll be able to start that song without any hassle for the rest of this tour or for however long it’ll be in the set. After the show we grabbed our stuff and prepared for a long drive to Paris.

Wednesday 23.4.2014-Paris, France
Back to the Bataclan. In the morning (yeah yeah, in the afternoon when I woke up ) I had some breakfast and then me, Tommy and Elias went for a short walk around to see if there was anything interesting…which there wasn’t. Back at the venue I opened google maps just to confirm what we just discovered and to my surprise I found out that the Pere Lachaise cemetary is just 1,6km away. Ok well then, since it would be closed at 1800 the only option was to leave straight after soundcheck…so me, Ville, Tony & Pasi walked there and visited Jim Morrisons grave, for me the bigger thing was however the tomb of one Mr Chopin. Anyways it was a nice walk and and a truly beautiful cemetary. On our way back we stopped for dinner which was really good. During the show everything else went totally fine (I had some random drop-outs from the midi wireless but nothing too bad) until the encore and San Sebastian, in the middle of the unisono my M3 tilted totally and I had to reset it (the same thing actually happened in Seinäjoki earlier this year) Anyway I finished the songs more or less with the SV-1, using and organ sound for the lead. It did sound a bit interesting. Well after the show we quickly met up with Joe the walker and his friend and took some pics outside of the bus before it was time to leave.In the bus we tried to play La Cucaracha with beer bottles. It kinda worked but going to bed was clearly the best option. Nighty night !

Thursday 24.4.2014-Ludwigsburg, Germany
We’ve played here before in 2005 but nobody remembered the place except for Ville. Well this time I think we’ll remember it better. Nevertheless the days was the usual, breakfast, checking e-mails and NHL scores etc etc In the evening we had a really hot show in front of a good crowd who seemed to enjoy it a lot. Before the show we had a meeting with some NBR people and we also hung out afterwards. The bus stayed at the venue for the next two nights so we had some drinks with the Trick & Treat guys before heading to bed.

Friday 25.4.2014-Off Day
During the day I went walking around by myself to get some time alone, walked for a couple of hours before I ran into Elias, Tommy & Tony. We went to a local shopping mall and picked up some stuff for our kids. Later we had dinner or actually I had dinner and the boys some drinks since they’ve already eaten. In the evening we watched some DVD’s in the bus and had some wine. Probably the easiest off-day so far. I ended the evening with a couple of drinks at the venue with the promotor.

Saturday 26.4.2014-Nurnberg,Germany
This was another of the places where we’ve been before, don’t remember what year. Nevetheless they’ve got new backstages (I think) with nice showers etc. During the evening we watched the Tappara-Kärpät game 7 (SM-liiga hockey ;-) ) and enjoyed Kärpät winning in overtime…except for Elias who is from Tapparas home town Tampere. After the show we signed a couple of autographs and took some pics before the long drive over the alps and towards Switzerland and Pratteln and Z7.

Sunday 27.4.2014-Pratteln, Switzerland
We’ve played here quite a few times before, this is our 8th headlining show here in Z7. As before, the food here is excellent, the people and the venue are also very nice with washingmashines and all so it’s always a pleasure to play here. We also have a film crew here tonight to do some shooting of a couple of songs and what have you. Anyway time to get my laundry done and take care of some e-mail business. The New York Rangers will play Philly at 1800 but I doubt I can get the stream to work with this internet (a bit too slow) we’ll see…I would love to watch the game. Amazingly the internet worked for almost the whole game ;-) The show was really great and a lot of fun, of course Tommy managed to hurt his finger banging on the drums….poor guy it really looks like hell, hopefully he’ll be able to play tomorrow. We also played Love for the first time and it worked.

Monday 28.4.2014-Trezzo, Italy
It’s raining like hell. Actually it has been raining all night while we were driving as well so…Nevertheless this is one of the places we’ve never been to before. Really nice venue and we also had an awsome dinner :-) During the day we didn’t really go anywhere, just hang out at the venue.Our Italian fans are loud and crazy and this show was a nice hot maniac party. Before the show we had a short meet & greet and I did 2 interviews with Elias. We also got some nice cheese & wine from our friends in Trick & Treat. Thanks guys ! Afterwards we really had to howl ass and get going towards Budapest.

Tuesday 29.4.2014-Travel Day Italy-Hungary
When I woke up we were still driving and I guess we arrived late in the afternoon and parked the bus outside of the venue. Our drivers managed to have their rest and a few beers. Some of the guys headed towards the city and the other bunch, me included, headed for the shopping mall nearby. We got some food and bought some drinks. After getting back to the bus and hanging out for awhile it was time to search for a restaurant and have dinner. We did find a really nice one not too far from the bus and it was really cheap, the food was excellent and everyone was really happy after that. Finished the night at the bus with a couple of drinks and Django Unchained…what a fucking great movie !!

Wednesday 30.4.2014-Budapest, Hungary
Oh beautiful sunshine ! Got up just before soundcheck, had a really good nights sleep so I feel very much alive at the moment. We’ve played at this venue many times before and it’s always been great so I really look forward for tonight. After a short interview and a very great dinner it was time to relax a bit backstage and rest before the show. We switched the setlist a bit as we’ve done every day so far. The food was once again awesome and the show was the hottest so far, according to Tero we had +30 degrees celcius on stage. Afterwards we took a bunch of pictures and signed some stuff on the way to the bus.An all night drive towards Prague, hopefully we can get some sleep since the road is really bumpy.

Cheers,
Hank

22 comments:

  1. Man, Tommy has been getting hurt a bit too much lately! Take better care of him :P

    Good to know things are going well and you're having fun (and eating well!) ;)

    How does X work out live for you guys? I thought you weren't going to play it because of the preacher tracks so...I guess there's still enough stuff for you to play to keep it interesting?

    Also, both you and Elias keep going on about unisonos and...um, I've never really heard the word used in this context before! What is it, if I may ask? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With unisonos I'm refering to the parts where Elias and I play leads at the same time and we both play the same melody....

      Delete
    2. Aha, thanks :) thought it might be something like that but always better to ask ;)

      Delete
  2. Can't wait to attend to your show in Madrid next week.

    Hope those changes in the setlist won't affect Tallulah. Nevertheless, whatever songs you play it will be great :D

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey there, how are you doing? My girlfriend and I had a really great time in Trezzo(Italy), the show was amazing, we were there since 7 am and we eventually got the first row.
    I was the curly hair guy screaming and trying to greet you guys on stage. At some point you and Tony did and it was awesome :)
    So..I have a question: I read here you hung out basically everynight after the show, so why didn't you do it in Trezzo? It wasn't even raining anymore :-)
    Anyway we all had a great time, so thank you so much :)
    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unfortunately we had to leave for Budapest and couldn't hang out after the show...

      Delete
    2. Oh I see..so it was due to the schedule. I hope next time you guys will! :)
      Thanks for the answer :)

      Delete
  4. Awesome to hear that you guys are playing X Marks The Spot live! I think it's one of the best songs on the album :)

    You've said in previous posts that you prefer to rent a SV-1 at each location instead of bringing your own with you. Doesn't the expenses add up for renting at every show or is it even more expensive to your own with you as luggage? Or do you get some kind of discount because you play in a famous band?

    Greetings from Sweden! Fullt ös!

    PS: Larger Than Life has some amazing orchestrations in it, who arranged it? And is it software synths or did you hire an orchestra to play the parts? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When we're flying (like in South America) it's cheaper to rent it at every location and now in Europe when we go by bus I've rented one for the whole tour...The orchestration for LTL was made by Mikko Mustonen and he's using software synths...

      Delete
  5. Hi Henkka,

    After 14 years listing to Sonata Arctica, it was awesome finally see you play live guys.
    I did a little "photo report" with pictures I took with you outside the Bataclan : http://twitpic.com/e2jdng

    I saw an old interview in which you speak french. So I was just wondering, how did you learn your french ?

    Thanks again for the show in Paris and I'm looking forward to see you in Lyon on sunday !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I studied french for a few years in school as a kid but I really never learned it and the little I picked up is mostly forgotten by now ;-(

      Delete
  6. Hello Henrik!! I've been to your show in Trezzo the other day, it was my first one in my whole life and I couldn't choose a better one! You guys totally rocked (and the trick or treat guys too, Conti is just crazy, where can you find a singer who comes in with a toy guitar and a pair of huge rabbit gloves? xD they surely found a new fan), and I managed to get pretty close the stage too, I was in the third or fourth row (I was probably the only one with a white shirt, metal shirts are all black!). The new songs were really cool, the best part was in Tallulah when Tony sang "I see her walking hand in hand with long-haired drummer of the band" and he and Tommy stared at each other for a moment, so it might really be him ahahahah
    Happy to hear that we are crazy! :) I heard that you didn't stay for photos and autographs cause we were too many, is it true? I did get surprised when I turned back and saw the venue was full!
    And thanks again, it's been an awesome night! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know how many of you were outside, we were told to get on the bus and not get off so...

      Delete
  7. Hi :-) You did a fantastic concert in Trezzo, I enjoyed it a lot :-D but... Why didn't SA take some photos with fans after the show? :-(

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Henkka, I'm so happy the shows are sold out. Your effort deserve it!! But I need to ask you something a little late.... I need to know if you and the others received a paper bag which contained some gifts I made for the band. I gave it to someone of your staff ( long blond hair man thin and tall) when you got into the van in Buenos Aires outside the venue.Sorry I didn't ask before, my internet server was crazy. Thanks for all you give us, Sil.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah we did get the bag, thank you very much !

      Delete
  9. Hi Henkka!

    I hope you were able to see the Rangers - Flyers Game 7. They never make it easy for us but they pulled it out! The Penguins are going to be really tough so that should be a very good series.

    P.S. The new SA website looks fantastic, I love it!

    Enjoy the home stretch of the European tour and kick some ass!
    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I hope you had a great time in beautiful Prague aswell!! I'm looking very forward to your show in Vienna tonight =)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hey henkka where will the pratteln footage be used for?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We'll see how it turned out, maybe a live video of some song or something but I don't know yet.

      Delete
  12. Thank you so much for the answer! You made me happy. ( as always) You're a great person sharing and paying attention to us. I'm unconditionally with SA. SIL.

    ReplyDelete
  13. hey henkka! we are looking forward to your show in Barcelona on monday ! it'll be my first time to see you guys and i'm really exited ! i've waited so long for this jajaja I saw that you've changed Tallullah and put Love instead... :/ it's not that i don't like Love ( in fact I think is the cutest thing on earth :) ) but Tallullah is so magical.. i've expected to hear it live since the first listening jajaja. Anyway I'm sure that the show will be
    incredible so see you on Monday ;)

    P.S: I'm going to wear a selfmade tshirt ( i couln't get anything official so i manged to create my own SA shirt jajaja ) it would be fantastic if you can sign it after the show! it would be my little SA treasure jajaja

    cheers :)

    ReplyDelete