SA:On the Road: Olavinlinna, Savonlinna, Finland

Saturday 25.7. - Travel Day

Me & Tommy decided it would be a good idea to hitchike with our pyroguy Ari. Well,

I think it was ;-) Anyways we took the evening train to Oulu where we waited in a bar,

for an hour or so for Ari to pack his gear and pick us up, he did the pyros for the Amaranthe show at Qstock. Anyways we drove close to Iisalmi where we stayed overnight at our friend Mikas mansion. Did some beers & sauna and enjoyed the nice

summer evening.

Sunday 26.7. - Travel & Olavinlinna

Started the day with some 300km by car and then we arrived in Savonlinna. Tommy & I were dropped off at the hotel to get some sleep and a late lunch. Later it was time to go to the castle and do soundcheck. The venue was a really special one, there should be a report about it on our FB page somewhere. Our show tonight was a special one, we did two 45min sets with a 30min break in between. In the beginning of the 2nd set we did 5 acoustic songs…always interesting and scary at the same time ;-) All in all I think the show went well despite having a sitting audience which always is a bit weird for some reason. Our friends and fans were however very loud and into it so no complaints here…. After the show we had some drinks in front of the hotel before checking out the nightlife and catching up with some friends of ours.

Monday 28.7. Travel Day

Now it was Punky’s turn to drive and yours truly and Tommy riding shotgun. It took us most of the day to get back home….boring but  that’s how it is ;-) Eventually I got to my house and more or less went straight to bed. It was a hard but fun weekend. Next up

Tampere with NW & COB and Kuopio.

cheers,

Henkka

SA:On the Road: European Festival Run - Escape from the rain Tour ’15

Saturday 11.7. Travel Day

Thank God for the great connection to our hometown. The only flight

to Helsinki was at 0750 in the morning and since we’re flying to Vienna

tomorrow at 0825 we couldn’t make it with the overnight train ;-) Well,

one day in Helsinki getting wasted is one way to start this trip I guess.

Got up at 0600 and took the taxi to the airport with Tony where we met up

with Tommy. The other boys won’t be in Helsinki before the evening so we

have the whole day amongst ourselves….and what better way than to spend it

with friends. Me & Tommy went to our buddy Masi’s place and Tommy recorded

some cajun for a song…afterwards it was all Park and BBQ….and drinking :-) A truly

great day indeed.

Sunday 12.7. Travel & Masters of Rock, Vizovice, Czech Rep.

Got up after some 3 hours of sleep or something. We checked in at the airport  at around 0700 and went on our way. Got some more sleep in the plane and upon arrival we jumped into the reserved cars and enjoyed some 240km of driving to the MoR festival. Last time we played here there was a massive thunderstorm and the power for the backline was cut up…the only thing working was one microphone and the PA so Tony did start fullmoon as an a capella version….towards the end we got the power back and could join him, the audience helped us out and that was one of the special moments that you really can’t plan….disaster turned out great. Anyways, this time we didn’t have any bad weather….one surprise we got was that appeareantly this was supposed to be a Ecliptica show but someone forgot to tell us. When we realized that, and the last time we played the album through from the start to end was in May…..we had some discussions to do….at the end we decided that since the poster said special Ecliptica 15th anniversary show we’ll roll with it , don’t wanna dissappoint the fans….We started the show with Don’t say a word got get everyone going and continued with Ecliptica front to back….at that time we realized we still had time so we threw in The Wolves die young on the spot and everyone seemed happy ;-) After the show we spent some time talking with the NW guys and relaxing and then it was time to leave for the hotel. Our driver got a bit lost but at the end we found our way and had a couple more in front of the hotel just chatting and enjoying the nice weather….

Monday 13.7. Travel & Szene, Vienna, Austria

Up and away just after 0800 so it wasn’t too bad, I even managed to get some breakfast at the hotel. A repeat of the 240km drive from yesterday and we found our hotel (yes, drivers lost again) in Vienna. We all went out to a nice lunch and then the crew headed to the venue to set up the show. The band guys all got to have  some R & R and sleep a bit as well. The venue was only 650m away from the hotel so we walked there just before 1700 and the soundcheck…which was  a bit delayed since our rented gear arrived about an hour later than agreed ;-) Anyways it was nice to be back on a small stage in a hot club and in the evening we pulled off one of the best shows we’ve ever done….at least that’s how we felt about it afterwards…it was nice to get a good sweat on and kick some ass. Afterwards everyone felt kinda beat so we headed back to the hotel and ended the night with some drinks and watching telemarketing on tv. A couple of fans walked in on us at the hotel lobby and we took some pics and signed some stuff…..They where a bit shocked that we were watching that telemarketing shit….well, life on the road is different, I’ll tell you that.

Tuesday 14.7. Travel Day

Check out at 1200, jiiihaa…I slept almost until then, got my shit together and left for the lobby. Actually I did buy a couple of albums on itunes before that, to have something new to listen to on the flights. Whitesnake: The Purple Album and Opeth: Pale Communium….At the airport we had lunch and drinks (this seems to be a reoccuring theme on our tours)….the flight was delayed so there was some time for more drinks….eventually we got into the plane and towards Bucharest. Appeareantly there will be a strike at the airport there tomorrow, fortunately we don’t fly out until Thursday so hopefull they sort it out before then….otherwise we might not make it to Bang Your Head in Germany on time. Anyways there’s nothing we can do about it so…no need to worry, we’ll take it as it comes. We ended the night by going out to dinner and celebrating Jonas our monitorguy since it was his birthday. Good food and some drinks…

Wednesday 15.7. Arenele Romane, Bucharest, Romania

Got to sleep rather late before it was time to get to the soundcheck. A really nice venue and after getting all the stuff checked out we headed back to the hotel. I went for a late lunch / early dinner with Pasi & Tony and then I had some time to sleep. Me & Elias did a couple of interviews and soon enough it was time to go back to the venue and prepare for the show. It was a really nice one but really hot even though we played outside. After the show we had a meet & greet before heading back to the hotel and trying to get to sleep. We got back at around 0130 and lobby call for tomorrow is at 0600 so you do the math ;-) No sleep ’til christmas.

Thursday 16.7. Travel & Bang Your Head, Balingen, Germany

Up and about, lots of hassles at the airport in Bucharest and in Amsterdam as well but

eventually we got into the vans in Stuttgart and headed towards Bang Your Head, Pasi’s basspedalstuff got lost on the way so he had to borrow a sansamp to play through…This was a day that was hot as hell but we had some fun. There were a lot of technical hassles during the show but somehow we managed to pull through, not our best one though. I guess shit happends every once in awhile ;-) Afterwards we stayed at the festival for some time and hang out with friends before it was time to go to the hotel and hang out some more.

Friday 17.7. Travel Day

A rather uneventful day, van to Stuttgart, flight to Berlin, flight to Helsinki & a delayed flight to Kemi. I was home around midnight and ready to get to bed….tired but happy, I think this was a good run. Next stop Savonlinna in a week.

cheers,

Henkka

Bottle Message 2.7.2015

A couple of things for now, the new Silent Voices single is out, you can get it here:

www.silentvoices.net

…and then I asked to contribute to this project as well, check it out:

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/vivaldi-metal

Cheers,

Henkka

...and yes, still working on the KS2 album, there has been some delays due to my hectic schedule but nevertheless it will be ready (and hopefully out) before the end of the year).

SA:On the Road:Onnisfest, Kiiminki Finland

Saturday 27.6.2015

This was a special one, a big company in Finland threw a summer party for

their peeps and partners. A whole bunch had gathered in the middle of the forest, next to a creek…a truly beautiful place indeed…other acts on the bill was for example Pandora so the setup was indeed interesting. We left from home in the early afternoon since the place was only around 130km from where we live. I drove there with my car and Tommy & Tapsa (backline tech of the day) joined me. Upon arrival it was raining like hell…luckily it stopped for a bit while we were playing and by the time we left we had sunshine…The show itself was a quick one and after loading the gearvan we headed back home. On the way we got hungry so we stopped for some burgers. Also featured were a couple of hockey players (Niinimaa & Kukkonen) showing off the Finnish Championship Cup, Poika….so all in all it seemed that the organizers tried and succeeded in pleasing everyone…and of course there was an open bar as well. Anyways, this was a really different kinda show but a lot of fun and it’s always nice to be back home around 2 hours after the show ;-) The next stop will be a string of dates in Europe, 4 shows in 5 days….which will be a nice change of pace from the 1 show per weekend summerstyle.

cheers,

Henkka