Wednesday, September 19, 0:45, in the tour bus lounge, Detroit, MI.
The second stop on our long journey across the continent wasn't in St. Louis. That was a bit disappointing. Bus driver told that he was planning to stop in Rolla, MO so I went to check what's interesting in there. Obviously the only interesting thing there is a half-size replica of Stonehenge. However, in the end we stopped a bit earlier in St. Robert, MO which had even less interesting things to see. The most interesting was an USMC memorial with an M60 tank. And that isn't seriously THAT interesting. We parked our buses on the Walmart parking lot, went shopping for vodka, ice and everyone's choice of mixer. Mine was the usual, cranberry juice.
Even though we were abandoned basically in the middle of nowhere for a few hours we still managed to have a good time. Drinking, talking, watching Big Lebowski for the umpteenth time. Some of us even took a cab and actually went somewhere. "Somewhere" is a word that will not be explained any better. This is after all a TV show for the entire family.
Today we had yet another terrible drive to Detroit, MI. As usual, I woke up really early but for some reason managed to go back to sleep. I finally got out of the bunk around 3 in the afternoon and we still had 200km to go. We arrived late and there was the usual hassle of a local promoter adding local bands to the schedule that is already too tight. Whatever. The venue was the legendary Harpo's where obviously everyone has played. However, it has gone through the same demise as the actual city of Detroit. The place is huge though. PA is from the 70's. Huge. Like physically huge. And the stage was so high that the audience was standing at the back of the venue to see the bands. One part of the hall had a dance floor with lovely colour lights under it. I was watching Moonsorrow's show there when someone turned the lights on. Suddenly it was "Saturday Night Fever" allover again!
The area is bad. We were explicitly told not to go anywhere. "Don't walk anywhere, do not cross the street, do not stand on the street corner. You will get shot." In fact, the area is so bad that people do not go to the shows anymore. There was more people in than in Billings, MT but not much more. During the other bands quite a big part of them were actually even sitting on their seats. Jonne managed to get them up on their feet and at least come down in front of the stage so it didn't feel so empty. We played a decent set except Tuomas' wireless problems. We were cut short though. We didn't know that there was a curfew. If we had known that, there wouldn't have been local openers like that. We skipped two songs so it wasn't that bad, but still annoying.
And now you're up to date again.
Wednesday 19 September 2012
Monday 17 September 2012
Off days and stuff
Sunday, September 16, 2am, on the tour bus lounge.
I am trying another approach tonight. Not typing in my bunk, but in the front lounge. Let's see if I can stay up long enough to finish a blog entry this way.
Once in the middle of nowhere, aka Ramona, CA, I had nothing to do. As said before, there is a music store, so after about an hours pondering I finally got someone to go out as well. Those were Markus and Tuomas. Tuomas was a mistake. A fucking antique poof in a small old village full of antique shops. The other two trying to find beer and food and the third one going through every antique shop on the Main Street. The only street. Anyway not a good match. We finally got to eat something anyway and then returning to the venue we did indeed got rid of Tuomas. No offence. We had more important things to do. Laundry. Well, not really but there was a laundry next to the venue and we had dirty clothes. We equipped ourselves with dirty clothes and a 12-pack of Lime-a-ritas. I know, terrible stuff, but 8% of alcohol and sort of a decent taste is good enough for the poor people of Finland. Anyway, we were doing the laundry and getting drunk. Not bad.
The show wasn't bad after all. Of course we had to quit the alcohol at some point just to be able to play the show. In my humble opinion, Ramona was probably the best show we've played so far on the tour. The audience was not the biggest, but a good one, but the main thing was that we played a fucking tight set. We finally made the first "big" change to the set and changed "Ievan polkka" and "Ruumiinmultaa" with each other. Set was better this way.
This really isn't helping. I am falling asleep here too.
Monday, September 17, 1am, in the tour bus bunk.
Let's try this again now. Back to Ramona. The show was indeed nice and as promised the venue had a nice new shower. Like pretty much always and everywhere in the USA, the venue has nothing around it, no bars or any place else to spend the 2-3 hours between the show and bus call. I asked one girl where do people usually go in Ramona to spend their Friday evening. Her reply was: "Well, usually we go to Denny's." Not really a good option for us. For those of you who don't know what Denny's is: http://www.dennys.com
So it was once again a standard evening. I had a few cranberry-vodkas, but not much. I've pretty much managed to quit drinking beer. Had one with lunch in Ramona, today no beer at all. I am a boring old man. Went to bed early.
The next show was in Tempe, AZ. We've been there at least twice before. Every time in a crappy bar and honestly this place wasn't much different. Rocky Point Cantina. Outside looks like whatever Mexican/Southern USA building but it in fact is an open air bar. The stage was located in the only non open air room. Not the smallest of the venues we've ever been to. Not the worst, but the lack of shower... well, you know me and my venue categories already. I think I wrote earlier about showering with the kitchen dish washing thing in Joliet, IL. I noticed that this place had the similar thing in their kitchen so Markus and myself went to check the place. There was something cooking on the stove so clearly the kitchen was being used. Chef walks in while we're there and we ask if we can use the sinks and stuff to wash ourselves after the show and he says "Sure, I don't care". I went to check how things were working out for Moonsorrow guys washing themselves there after their show and the chef comes shouting at us "You can not do that while I'm cooking, you were supposed to come after the show." Obviously he hadn't realized that "after the show" means a different time for each band. Once we were finished and I was going to wash myself he had locked the door. Thanks.
Anyway, the day. We had a few friends visiting, some local Finns and some who just like Finns. They spent their day driving most of us around the place. Including record stores. Seriously, I will not buy another LP on this tour. Enough is enough. We even got some Finnish style buns as gifts, so once Marko made the coffee we were able to treat ourselves with traditional "pullakahvit".
Monday, September 17, 9:30am, in the tour bus lounge.
I obviously can not write much stuff in the evenings without falling asleep with my face on the keyboard filling the screen with "i"s like it did last night. And on the other hand I obviously can not sleep in the mornings. Woke up at 7 again.
Someone told us that the Tempe show was sold out. It most certainly did not look that way, but maybe they limit the number of tickets sold for the shows. I mean, it would make no sense to fill the bar area with people who wouldn't be able to see the stage anyway. The show was quite good I'd say. Stage was a bit too small for us but not too bad. I can only hope that our sound was better than with for example Tyr. That seriously lacked some balls.
Afterparty was as usual. A few drinks in and around the buses. The security actually cleared the parking lot too, so basically there wasn't anyone except touring personnel left 30 minutes after the show. We left quite soon as well. We had a long ride ahead.
I am seriously pissed off at how this tour was set up. There are several reasons. I won't list them all here since they are not really for the general public to know anyway. However, one of them is the off days. I do not mind having an off day every now and then, when there is a good reason for it. How come the first off they was a Friday? With Saturday the easiest day to sell a show? Boise, Idaho was on our way anyway, but no show for some reason. And now we're having TWO off days in a row. We're driving from from Tempe, AZ to Detroit, MI. That is 2000 miles, 3200 kilometres. Why no shows in between? Amarillo, TX? Austin, TX? St. Louis, MO?
So yesterday was an off day. That means a long day on the bus that then later is parked outside of a motel where the drivers go to sleep and rest of us are left to entertain ourselves which ever way we can. If you're ten kilometres from the city centre (Amarillo, TX) like us yesterday, there's not much to do.
Mitja had a brilliant idea to take the birthday girl Melanie for a dinner with all or at least most of us. It was indeed a brilliant idea. Or would have been if he had picked some other place than The Hooters. I tried to warn him. Mel didn't appreciate his choice of a dining place, so we actually decided to move the entourage to a nearby Mexican. That is basically worth another blog. Shortly, food was good, but hardly worth the 3 hours it took!
I seriously was trying to stay up last night. We had a bus call at 3am. I thought again that if I manage to stay up until we leave I will be able to sleep longer and thus have a shorter suffering during the long drive. Well, I failed. Let's see where we end up spending an evening today. There was some talk about St. Louis, MO, but according to our driver it is too far.
Funny name for the day: Kickapoo.
I am trying another approach tonight. Not typing in my bunk, but in the front lounge. Let's see if I can stay up long enough to finish a blog entry this way.
Once in the middle of nowhere, aka Ramona, CA, I had nothing to do. As said before, there is a music store, so after about an hours pondering I finally got someone to go out as well. Those were Markus and Tuomas. Tuomas was a mistake. A fucking antique poof in a small old village full of antique shops. The other two trying to find beer and food and the third one going through every antique shop on the Main Street. The only street. Anyway not a good match. We finally got to eat something anyway and then returning to the venue we did indeed got rid of Tuomas. No offence. We had more important things to do. Laundry. Well, not really but there was a laundry next to the venue and we had dirty clothes. We equipped ourselves with dirty clothes and a 12-pack of Lime-a-ritas. I know, terrible stuff, but 8% of alcohol and sort of a decent taste is good enough for the poor people of Finland. Anyway, we were doing the laundry and getting drunk. Not bad.
The show wasn't bad after all. Of course we had to quit the alcohol at some point just to be able to play the show. In my humble opinion, Ramona was probably the best show we've played so far on the tour. The audience was not the biggest, but a good one, but the main thing was that we played a fucking tight set. We finally made the first "big" change to the set and changed "Ievan polkka" and "Ruumiinmultaa" with each other. Set was better this way.
This really isn't helping. I am falling asleep here too.
Monday, September 17, 1am, in the tour bus bunk.
Let's try this again now. Back to Ramona. The show was indeed nice and as promised the venue had a nice new shower. Like pretty much always and everywhere in the USA, the venue has nothing around it, no bars or any place else to spend the 2-3 hours between the show and bus call. I asked one girl where do people usually go in Ramona to spend their Friday evening. Her reply was: "Well, usually we go to Denny's." Not really a good option for us. For those of you who don't know what Denny's is: http://www.dennys.com
So it was once again a standard evening. I had a few cranberry-vodkas, but not much. I've pretty much managed to quit drinking beer. Had one with lunch in Ramona, today no beer at all. I am a boring old man. Went to bed early.
The next show was in Tempe, AZ. We've been there at least twice before. Every time in a crappy bar and honestly this place wasn't much different. Rocky Point Cantina. Outside looks like whatever Mexican/Southern USA building but it in fact is an open air bar. The stage was located in the only non open air room. Not the smallest of the venues we've ever been to. Not the worst, but the lack of shower... well, you know me and my venue categories already. I think I wrote earlier about showering with the kitchen dish washing thing in Joliet, IL. I noticed that this place had the similar thing in their kitchen so Markus and myself went to check the place. There was something cooking on the stove so clearly the kitchen was being used. Chef walks in while we're there and we ask if we can use the sinks and stuff to wash ourselves after the show and he says "Sure, I don't care". I went to check how things were working out for Moonsorrow guys washing themselves there after their show and the chef comes shouting at us "You can not do that while I'm cooking, you were supposed to come after the show." Obviously he hadn't realized that "after the show" means a different time for each band. Once we were finished and I was going to wash myself he had locked the door. Thanks.
Anyway, the day. We had a few friends visiting, some local Finns and some who just like Finns. They spent their day driving most of us around the place. Including record stores. Seriously, I will not buy another LP on this tour. Enough is enough. We even got some Finnish style buns as gifts, so once Marko made the coffee we were able to treat ourselves with traditional "pullakahvit".
Monday, September 17, 9:30am, in the tour bus lounge.
I obviously can not write much stuff in the evenings without falling asleep with my face on the keyboard filling the screen with "i"s like it did last night. And on the other hand I obviously can not sleep in the mornings. Woke up at 7 again.
Someone told us that the Tempe show was sold out. It most certainly did not look that way, but maybe they limit the number of tickets sold for the shows. I mean, it would make no sense to fill the bar area with people who wouldn't be able to see the stage anyway. The show was quite good I'd say. Stage was a bit too small for us but not too bad. I can only hope that our sound was better than with for example Tyr. That seriously lacked some balls.
Afterparty was as usual. A few drinks in and around the buses. The security actually cleared the parking lot too, so basically there wasn't anyone except touring personnel left 30 minutes after the show. We left quite soon as well. We had a long ride ahead.
I am seriously pissed off at how this tour was set up. There are several reasons. I won't list them all here since they are not really for the general public to know anyway. However, one of them is the off days. I do not mind having an off day every now and then, when there is a good reason for it. How come the first off they was a Friday? With Saturday the easiest day to sell a show? Boise, Idaho was on our way anyway, but no show for some reason. And now we're having TWO off days in a row. We're driving from from Tempe, AZ to Detroit, MI. That is 2000 miles, 3200 kilometres. Why no shows in between? Amarillo, TX? Austin, TX? St. Louis, MO?
So yesterday was an off day. That means a long day on the bus that then later is parked outside of a motel where the drivers go to sleep and rest of us are left to entertain ourselves which ever way we can. If you're ten kilometres from the city centre (Amarillo, TX) like us yesterday, there's not much to do.
 |
| View from where the buses were parked. Mitja Harvilahti in the centre. |
Mitja had a brilliant idea to take the birthday girl Melanie for a dinner with all or at least most of us. It was indeed a brilliant idea. Or would have been if he had picked some other place than The Hooters. I tried to warn him. Mel didn't appreciate his choice of a dining place, so we actually decided to move the entourage to a nearby Mexican. That is basically worth another blog. Shortly, food was good, but hardly worth the 3 hours it took!
I seriously was trying to stay up last night. We had a bus call at 3am. I thought again that if I manage to stay up until we leave I will be able to sleep longer and thus have a shorter suffering during the long drive. Well, I failed. Let's see where we end up spending an evening today. There was some talk about St. Louis, MO, but according to our driver it is too far.
Funny name for the day: Kickapoo.
Friday 14 September 2012
Californication
Friday, September 14, 2:15am in the tour bus bunk, back of the venue in Santa Ana, CA, Thin Lizzy in the headphones.
We have a late bus call today. And I mean late. 9am. So we basically would have a perfect opportunity to get wasted and go crawling at the local bars. If there were any. There is nothing around here. Anyway, back to business again = San Francisco.
DNA Lounge is sort of a nice venue. A bit strange perhaps with all the stairs and a drum riser so high that the bass drum is next to your head. Although I have to admit that I am a dwarf. With a normal classification of mine the venue would fall into the category "Shithole" since it has no shower. However, it has a nice toilet with a big sink and warm water, so I can live with it.
I often write that "I didn't really go anywhere" and I still did go somewhere. In San Francisco I seriously didn't go anywhere. Some of our guys were going shopping and I walked with them to the nearest street corner but felt that the shop was too far and returned back to the bus. So the furthest I left the bus/venue combination was 30 metres or so. Don't get me wrong. I love walking around the foreign cities. San Francisco is even one of the more interesting ones. Sometimes I just feel too lazy. And having been there already 3 times before this one sort of makes think "Naah, seen it already."
San Francisco show was one of the really good ones. The audience was amazing. We were good too, but they were crazy. More action than I've seen in a while. Ville did again his now sort of usual appearance during "Happy Little Boozer". He joined the chorus, then stagedived and the audience got him back on the stage in time for the next chorus. Excellent.
Afterparty? I do not know. I sat 2 hours till the bus call in the pizza place next to the venue chatting with a friend. It was a good party.
And this spot right here is where I fell asleep last night
Friday, September 14, 10:45am in the tour bus at the Walmart parking lot, eating self made tofu-cheddar-avocado burger for breakfast.
From San Francisco it was another sort of a long drive to West Hollywood, CA. We've been to West Hollywood/Los Angeles now four times and every time at a different venue. This time we were at one of the legends, Whiskey-a-Go-Go aka The Whiskey. I didn't really know what to expect. I guess I wasn't expecting much nothing and therefore I wasn't really that disappointed either. No showers though.
Every time we've been in the area we've also went to Rainbow Bar & Grill. Never before seen Lemmy there, but always Ron Jeremy. This time they were both there. Anyway, there probably is a lot to see in the area, but the day was mostly spent at Rainbow. Even if it has a such legendary status that probably draws in lot of tourists too they still have really reasonable prices and good food. At least during the day. "Going somewhere" part wasn't much different to San Francisco. Whiskey, Rainbow and the bus parking were all within the radius of 300 metres. Even if I didn't go anywhere I probably still didn't miss much.
The venue wasn't sold out. That was a bit disappointing. The capacity is 450, with all the guests we had 475 people in but you could still buy a ticket from the door so technically it wasn't sold out. Close to at least. Sadly, the show wasn't as good as San Francisco. I guess the audience never really sees it the same way we do. What is "worse than yesterday" for us may be the best they've ever seen. Differences are marginal anyway. Ville was on stage again. No stagediving this time. The sign on the wall said something like "You stagedive and you go home". However, he did a dance with Jonne with both falling on the mic stand. My first thought was "And now there goes a rib or two." Both survived.
Afterparty was at Rainbow. Once again meeting some old friends and making a few new ones. And drinking awfully strong gin & tonics. I am trying to quit drinking beer. An occasional cold beer is always good, but beer as a main liquid for several days really messes up my stomach. So hard liqueur it is. Just bought 3 litres of cranberry juice from Walmart. Perfect mixer for vodka.
Santa Ana, CA is only an hour's drive away from West Hollywood. It is strange to have shows so close to each other, especially when today's show is just 2 hours from Santa Ana in Ramona, CA. We always tend to think that there will be no one to see us. Santa Ana proved us wrong. Really nice venue with two(!) showers and in house catering! Technically it was good too, big stage and all. The place is also quite big so it was definitely not full, but a good crowd anyway. Moonsorrow guys complained after their set that the sound on the stage was terrible, lots of echo and boomy low frequencies. We had none of those problems. We had a nice stage sound. Afterwards we were talking about that with the tour damager... I mean manager, and he said that it is easily understandable since Moonsorrow is awfully loud on stage. I've always thought that we're loud! Well, live and learn.
Afterparty was at a local bar. No wait, it wasn't! Why not? Because there was fucking nothing around there. So we ended up sitting in Moonsorrow/Metsatöll bus. Moonsorries had two female guests, Finns, obviously old friends, and they had brought them for example a bottle of cake flavoured vodka. That was strange. Anyway, as you can see from the beginning of this blog entry, I didn't stay long.
Today we're playing in Ramona, CA. We met the promoter at The Whiskey. We spoke about the venue, "The Main Stage", and I mentioned that it is once again one of the venues that fall into the category "Shithole", since it has no shower. His reply was "We have now!". Nice. Glad that I could insult him anyway.
Other than the venue there's not much in Ramona. One street town. There is a small guitar store though. We'll see what we end up doing there. Probably nothing.
We have a late bus call today. And I mean late. 9am. So we basically would have a perfect opportunity to get wasted and go crawling at the local bars. If there were any. There is nothing around here. Anyway, back to business again = San Francisco.
DNA Lounge is sort of a nice venue. A bit strange perhaps with all the stairs and a drum riser so high that the bass drum is next to your head. Although I have to admit that I am a dwarf. With a normal classification of mine the venue would fall into the category "Shithole" since it has no shower. However, it has a nice toilet with a big sink and warm water, so I can live with it.
I often write that "I didn't really go anywhere" and I still did go somewhere. In San Francisco I seriously didn't go anywhere. Some of our guys were going shopping and I walked with them to the nearest street corner but felt that the shop was too far and returned back to the bus. So the furthest I left the bus/venue combination was 30 metres or so. Don't get me wrong. I love walking around the foreign cities. San Francisco is even one of the more interesting ones. Sometimes I just feel too lazy. And having been there already 3 times before this one sort of makes think "Naah, seen it already."
San Francisco show was one of the really good ones. The audience was amazing. We were good too, but they were crazy. More action than I've seen in a while. Ville did again his now sort of usual appearance during "Happy Little Boozer". He joined the chorus, then stagedived and the audience got him back on the stage in time for the next chorus. Excellent.
Afterparty? I do not know. I sat 2 hours till the bus call in the pizza place next to the venue chatting with a friend. It was a good party.
And this spot right here is where I fell asleep last night
Friday, September 14, 10:45am in the tour bus at the Walmart parking lot, eating self made tofu-cheddar-avocado burger for breakfast.
From San Francisco it was another sort of a long drive to West Hollywood, CA. We've been to West Hollywood/Los Angeles now four times and every time at a different venue. This time we were at one of the legends, Whiskey-a-Go-Go aka The Whiskey. I didn't really know what to expect. I guess I wasn't expecting much nothing and therefore I wasn't really that disappointed either. No showers though.
Every time we've been in the area we've also went to Rainbow Bar & Grill. Never before seen Lemmy there, but always Ron Jeremy. This time they were both there. Anyway, there probably is a lot to see in the area, but the day was mostly spent at Rainbow. Even if it has a such legendary status that probably draws in lot of tourists too they still have really reasonable prices and good food. At least during the day. "Going somewhere" part wasn't much different to San Francisco. Whiskey, Rainbow and the bus parking were all within the radius of 300 metres. Even if I didn't go anywhere I probably still didn't miss much.
The venue wasn't sold out. That was a bit disappointing. The capacity is 450, with all the guests we had 475 people in but you could still buy a ticket from the door so technically it wasn't sold out. Close to at least. Sadly, the show wasn't as good as San Francisco. I guess the audience never really sees it the same way we do. What is "worse than yesterday" for us may be the best they've ever seen. Differences are marginal anyway. Ville was on stage again. No stagediving this time. The sign on the wall said something like "You stagedive and you go home". However, he did a dance with Jonne with both falling on the mic stand. My first thought was "And now there goes a rib or two." Both survived.
Afterparty was at Rainbow. Once again meeting some old friends and making a few new ones. And drinking awfully strong gin & tonics. I am trying to quit drinking beer. An occasional cold beer is always good, but beer as a main liquid for several days really messes up my stomach. So hard liqueur it is. Just bought 3 litres of cranberry juice from Walmart. Perfect mixer for vodka.
Santa Ana, CA is only an hour's drive away from West Hollywood. It is strange to have shows so close to each other, especially when today's show is just 2 hours from Santa Ana in Ramona, CA. We always tend to think that there will be no one to see us. Santa Ana proved us wrong. Really nice venue with two(!) showers and in house catering! Technically it was good too, big stage and all. The place is also quite big so it was definitely not full, but a good crowd anyway. Moonsorrow guys complained after their set that the sound on the stage was terrible, lots of echo and boomy low frequencies. We had none of those problems. We had a nice stage sound. Afterwards we were talking about that with the tour damager... I mean manager, and he said that it is easily understandable since Moonsorrow is awfully loud on stage. I've always thought that we're loud! Well, live and learn.
Afterparty was at a local bar. No wait, it wasn't! Why not? Because there was fucking nothing around there. So we ended up sitting in Moonsorrow/Metsatöll bus. Moonsorries had two female guests, Finns, obviously old friends, and they had brought them for example a bottle of cake flavoured vodka. That was strange. Anyway, as you can see from the beginning of this blog entry, I didn't stay long.
Today we're playing in Ramona, CA. We met the promoter at The Whiskey. We spoke about the venue, "The Main Stage", and I mentioned that it is once again one of the venues that fall into the category "Shithole", since it has no shower. His reply was "We have now!". Nice. Glad that I could insult him anyway.
Other than the venue there's not much in Ramona. One street town. There is a small guitar store though. We'll see what we end up doing there. Probably nothing.
Wednesday 12 September 2012
Hippieville, OR
Tuesday, September 11, 13:00 in the bus somewhere in Northern California.
Northern California. One of the most beautiful places I've ever driven through. Already on our first tour here I fell in love with the scenery. This morning that also had a nice smokey flavour since there was a forest fire up on the mountains.
Last night we played the Hawthorne Theatre in Portland, OR. Venue's not even close to the downtown area. I guess the area is indeed called Hawthorne. Hawthorne Boulevard is another one of my favourite areas in the USA. Sort of a hippy village with a rather European feel to it. Or should I say Canadian. Nice bars, coffee places, little shops and first and foremost: Crossroads Music. A used vinyl record store that hosts several sellers under the same roof. We've been there every time we've visited the area and every time I've also found something interesting to buy. This time was no different. Prices are rather reasonable as well. I had a big pile of LPs and 12" singles with only $70. As regular customers we do get a discount nowadays too! Blackfoot, The Johnny Van Zant Band, Blackfoot, etc.
I didn't wander far from the venue. There is pretty much everything you need really close. In Vancouver I didn't have a single drop of alcohol and right next to the venue in Hawthorne was a Fred Meyers store with probably the beverage section you'll find in the USA I decided to reward myself with Blackthorne cider. Nice. And later also some Strongbow. It was a sort of a long day again, waiting for the showtime, but not that bad. Nice sunny weather and cider.
Venue again is not the best possible. It is sort of a nice and comfy for others, except the bands. Basically no backstage at all. No private toilet, let alone a shower. Still I sort of like the venue, probably mainly because of the surroundings though. If there is one venue that I am willing to forgive it's showerlessness it is Hawthorne Theatre.
We did indeed play a tighter set yesterday. Songs had quicker starts and we sort of kicked ass in general too. Audience was great too. Lots of crowdsurfing and stagediving. There was a minor fuckup with Kalle's wireless and my monitor's cable was broken as well. Other than that, all was good. Except for the bottle shower of course.
We had a sort of an early bus call at 1:30. We did have some old friends sitting with us till then. Rather relaxed evening. Since the drive to San Francisco is rather long and the long days sitting in the bus lounge are slowly eating you from inside I tried to stay up late so that I would sleep late too. I sort of managed. I did stay up late, so that went well, but I still woke up after 5h of sleep. Seriously annoying. We're still at least an hour and a half away from San Francisco and I've already been up for almost 5 hours. This is getting rather boring.
Anyway. We're on our way.
Northern California. One of the most beautiful places I've ever driven through. Already on our first tour here I fell in love with the scenery. This morning that also had a nice smokey flavour since there was a forest fire up on the mountains.
Last night we played the Hawthorne Theatre in Portland, OR. Venue's not even close to the downtown area. I guess the area is indeed called Hawthorne. Hawthorne Boulevard is another one of my favourite areas in the USA. Sort of a hippy village with a rather European feel to it. Or should I say Canadian. Nice bars, coffee places, little shops and first and foremost: Crossroads Music. A used vinyl record store that hosts several sellers under the same roof. We've been there every time we've visited the area and every time I've also found something interesting to buy. This time was no different. Prices are rather reasonable as well. I had a big pile of LPs and 12" singles with only $70. As regular customers we do get a discount nowadays too! Blackfoot, The Johnny Van Zant Band, Blackfoot, etc.
I didn't wander far from the venue. There is pretty much everything you need really close. In Vancouver I didn't have a single drop of alcohol and right next to the venue in Hawthorne was a Fred Meyers store with probably the beverage section you'll find in the USA I decided to reward myself with Blackthorne cider. Nice. And later also some Strongbow. It was a sort of a long day again, waiting for the showtime, but not that bad. Nice sunny weather and cider.
Venue again is not the best possible. It is sort of a nice and comfy for others, except the bands. Basically no backstage at all. No private toilet, let alone a shower. Still I sort of like the venue, probably mainly because of the surroundings though. If there is one venue that I am willing to forgive it's showerlessness it is Hawthorne Theatre.
We did indeed play a tighter set yesterday. Songs had quicker starts and we sort of kicked ass in general too. Audience was great too. Lots of crowdsurfing and stagediving. There was a minor fuckup with Kalle's wireless and my monitor's cable was broken as well. Other than that, all was good. Except for the bottle shower of course.
We had a sort of an early bus call at 1:30. We did have some old friends sitting with us till then. Rather relaxed evening. Since the drive to San Francisco is rather long and the long days sitting in the bus lounge are slowly eating you from inside I tried to stay up late so that I would sleep late too. I sort of managed. I did stay up late, so that went well, but I still woke up after 5h of sleep. Seriously annoying. We're still at least an hour and a half away from San Francisco and I've already been up for almost 5 hours. This is getting rather boring.
Anyway. We're on our way.
Monday 10 September 2012
Violators will be ventilated
Monday, September 10, 1:40 at night.
We're sitting on the tour bus waiting us to depart "lovely" Vancouver, BC. I guess the city is nice, but the area where Rickshaw Theatre is located must be the worst area I've ever been to. I guess there is a reason why Vancouver is sometimes called a drug capitol of the North America.
Anyway. It's been a while since I wrote anything. I've been just too lazy and on tours it so often happens that these little things like opening your laptop become just too huge tasks.
Day off in Ontario, OR. Ontario has a Walmart and several little stores and restaurants around it so it wasn't that bad! Mitja, Matson and myself packed some drinks and food for a picnic down to the riverside. However, this (or that, since we're in Canada right now) is the USA and you just don't walk to places like that. "Private property. No trespassing. Violators will be prosecuted." So we decided to walk to Idaho and try that side of the river. We had a little more luck there but not much. Basically all we could access was the little dusty area under the highway bridge. Still, it was a picnic so we did have beers there.
Rest off the day was spent mostly in and around the buses. And in the motel pool. And every now and then popping back in Walmart to get more drinks. However, that particular Walmart had no hard liqueurs so I had a brilliant idea and posted our location and problem on our Facebook page. Some of us also took a cab to an actual liqueur store and returned with several bottles of vodka and whiskey. A bit later a man shows up with 5 bottles of vodka. Facebook worked. However, later the dude turned out to a bit of a... well... not a person I'd like to be associated with. Then a while later a young couple showed up with some more vodka, so we really had more than we needed. Oh well, it is better to have too much than to run out at a critical moment. Oh yeah, I did manage to do some laundry too!
At midnight we continued again towards Seattle and arrived there rather early. Seattle's Studio 7 is not my most favourite venue, but it is actually at least decent. Mainly because it has a shower. It is located several kilometres from the actual city in a rather scruffy sort of industrial area, or at least a former industrial area. We've been there now on all of our North American tours and I have to admit that area is changing. More and more nice little shops and coffee places. And a Starbucks Headquarters where I went to have my breakfast. I am a sucker for their blueberry muffin. Muffin sucker. EEeheehehhehehhee! Eehhe! Eeh! Eh?
Once again I spent the day just around the venue. It was a nice sunny day, so I set myself outside in a chair with a Neal Peart book and Rush on my headphones. I have to admit that during the day I took a drink or two too much and wasn't really playing that well. Nothing serious, but didn't really feel comfortable. Show was good though. 450 people in that venue. That was quite a lot. Really cool. And also one of the "all ages" shows so it was good to see younger people in there too. We had plenty of time to do whatever we wanted after the show. Bus call was at 6 in the morning. As usual, once the audience was gone the upstairs bar was open for the bands and the crew. I had the worst ever gin&tonic there. How can you mess up a gin&tonic? I quite quickly lost my interest in that party and went to bed.
I woke up this morning when we were approaching the Canadian border. Crossing was surprisingly painless. Let's see how it will be this time. We should be at the border any minute now. Today was a boring day. Being tired and mostly just watching TV most of the day. It was rainy too and that always takes my mood down. Crew/band entrance to Rickshaw Theatre is in an alley behind the venue. I really wish I'd have a "smell-o-cam" with me so that I could share the stench with you. That was bad. On top all was urine. Then all the waste from the surrounding buildings. And then something that I don't even want to know of.
Rickshaw Theatre itself is quite nice venue. Not a decent backstage behind or even close to the stage but a sort of a nice one in the old projector room up in the back of the hall. And there also is a shower downstairs so it is indeed a decent venue. I didn't watch other bands today except a bit of Moonsorrow. They always deliver the goods. Brilliant band. We did a decent set today. The breaks between the songs have started to stretch again but I already gave Matson a lecture on that. Let's see how that will be tomorrow.
Border now.
We're sitting on the tour bus waiting us to depart "lovely" Vancouver, BC. I guess the city is nice, but the area where Rickshaw Theatre is located must be the worst area I've ever been to. I guess there is a reason why Vancouver is sometimes called a drug capitol of the North America.
Anyway. It's been a while since I wrote anything. I've been just too lazy and on tours it so often happens that these little things like opening your laptop become just too huge tasks.
Day off in Ontario, OR. Ontario has a Walmart and several little stores and restaurants around it so it wasn't that bad! Mitja, Matson and myself packed some drinks and food for a picnic down to the riverside. However, this (or that, since we're in Canada right now) is the USA and you just don't walk to places like that. "Private property. No trespassing. Violators will be prosecuted." So we decided to walk to Idaho and try that side of the river. We had a little more luck there but not much. Basically all we could access was the little dusty area under the highway bridge. Still, it was a picnic so we did have beers there.
Rest off the day was spent mostly in and around the buses. And in the motel pool. And every now and then popping back in Walmart to get more drinks. However, that particular Walmart had no hard liqueurs so I had a brilliant idea and posted our location and problem on our Facebook page. Some of us also took a cab to an actual liqueur store and returned with several bottles of vodka and whiskey. A bit later a man shows up with 5 bottles of vodka. Facebook worked. However, later the dude turned out to a bit of a... well... not a person I'd like to be associated with. Then a while later a young couple showed up with some more vodka, so we really had more than we needed. Oh well, it is better to have too much than to run out at a critical moment. Oh yeah, I did manage to do some laundry too!
At midnight we continued again towards Seattle and arrived there rather early. Seattle's Studio 7 is not my most favourite venue, but it is actually at least decent. Mainly because it has a shower. It is located several kilometres from the actual city in a rather scruffy sort of industrial area, or at least a former industrial area. We've been there now on all of our North American tours and I have to admit that area is changing. More and more nice little shops and coffee places. And a Starbucks Headquarters where I went to have my breakfast. I am a sucker for their blueberry muffin. Muffin sucker. EEeheehehhehehhee! Eehhe! Eeh! Eh?
Once again I spent the day just around the venue. It was a nice sunny day, so I set myself outside in a chair with a Neal Peart book and Rush on my headphones. I have to admit that during the day I took a drink or two too much and wasn't really playing that well. Nothing serious, but didn't really feel comfortable. Show was good though. 450 people in that venue. That was quite a lot. Really cool. And also one of the "all ages" shows so it was good to see younger people in there too. We had plenty of time to do whatever we wanted after the show. Bus call was at 6 in the morning. As usual, once the audience was gone the upstairs bar was open for the bands and the crew. I had the worst ever gin&tonic there. How can you mess up a gin&tonic? I quite quickly lost my interest in that party and went to bed.
I woke up this morning when we were approaching the Canadian border. Crossing was surprisingly painless. Let's see how it will be this time. We should be at the border any minute now. Today was a boring day. Being tired and mostly just watching TV most of the day. It was rainy too and that always takes my mood down. Crew/band entrance to Rickshaw Theatre is in an alley behind the venue. I really wish I'd have a "smell-o-cam" with me so that I could share the stench with you. That was bad. On top all was urine. Then all the waste from the surrounding buildings. And then something that I don't even want to know of.
Rickshaw Theatre itself is quite nice venue. Not a decent backstage behind or even close to the stage but a sort of a nice one in the old projector room up in the back of the hall. And there also is a shower downstairs so it is indeed a decent venue. I didn't watch other bands today except a bit of Moonsorrow. They always deliver the goods. Brilliant band. We did a decent set today. The breaks between the songs have started to stretch again but I already gave Matson a lecture on that. Let's see how that will be tomorrow.
Border now.
Friday 7 September 2012
Montaña del Norte
September 5, 13:00, outside of Manny's, Billings, Montana.
I will be extremely surprised if there will be an audience today. This place is in the middle of nowhere. Sorry to say this, but I am so not looking forward to today's show. I really wish that this place's proves me wrong. I wouldn't mind being wrong this time.
September 7, 1:30, on the bus in Salt Lake City, Utah.
We just started our 2-day journey to Seattle, WA. That means a day-off tomorrow. That will be spent in Ontario, Oregon. Lovely place. Hankasalmi of US of A. Anyway, back to business = Billings, MT.
Billings is the biggest town in the state of Montana with just over 100000 people. The entire state has just a bit under a million people. Funny place. Manny's is located at the outskirts of the city. Not really much around it. Some of us decided to walk to centre or whatever that was. They were away for 4 hours so I guess it was quite far. Or they found a bar. I didn't do much. Tried to read a bit out in the sun. And a bit later walked with some Moonsorrow guys to get some pizzas for the evening.
Pre-sale was 60. Not much. But then again, it was more than I expected. Venue had nothing for the bands except the stage. Not even a dressing room, let alone private toilet or a shower. The other end of the building had a casino and they were sharing the restrooms so at least they were ok. Surprisingly the show was at least decent. There was maybe 100 people in the end, which is not that much, but all of them were really appreciating what was going on on the stage. Not my favourite show, but not the worst either. Although it seems that someone stole Jonne's stage shirt at some point...
Afterparty? Well, it was a standard one. Next to the buses with some extremely drunk/high local people. Not much to write home about really. I went to bed early. Way before bus call.
Today, which was actually yesterday, Thursday, I woke up early. Not unexpected since I went to bed early and never really sleep that much on tours. I've taken a habit to sit with our driver during those morning hours when no one else is up yet. Interesting chats, lovely landscapes. This morning we for example passed a really interesting looking Hell's Half Acre, a lava field. Slowly others were getting up as well and started to demand a toilet stop. Easier said than done. The first possible place was closed. The entire town was. At least the only highway exit was and we had to look for the next option. We finally found a place and a certain member of our band who'd been quite wasted the night before was also up now and wanted to drink more. I don't usually say no to early morning excess alcohol consumption so I joined him shopping for alcohol. At least we were out from the states with max. 3,2% alcohol in standard grocery store beers and stuff.
Even though these long drives on the bus usually turn into a bit of a drag, this morning went rather nicely. Drinking alcohol, listening country music and enjoying scenery. And honestly, I did fall asleep every now and then too. Around 13:30 we finally arrived at the venue, The Complex. Really nice venue. Korpiklaani Venue Review Department recommends. Internet told me about the state's biggest used vinyl store but is was a bit too far and I again had to do some testing with my wirelesses.
Side note - Details about wirelesses. For years I've been using Shure wireless systems. Not the cheapest, but extremely reliable. Now the rules are changing and the old analog systems around 800-820MHz are becoming illegal and we're all supposed to move our shit to new 2,4GHz area. I got myself 2 sets of the state of the art Line6 XD-V75. The first few shows were fine. And since then, the last 30 or so, they've been cutting. More or less, but always. Finally, during the show in Billing, MT I came to a conclusion that that it is the vocal mike that is conflicting with me. Which actually fits the time line since that thing arrived a bit after my Line6s. Once I came to this conclusion we tested this thing yesterday and lo and behold! It was the vocal mike. There were no channels that wouldn't overlap on those two devices. I was sort of furious at Line6. Who the fuck makes a system like that? But then:
Revelation, part 1 - Reading a manual CAN help. Once I actually read my Line6 manual, it clearly says that mine is a next generation version and it should never be used in it's RF2 mode if there are older units, like Jonne's XD-V30, still being used in old RF1 mode. Manual also mentions that a computer connected to my XD-V75 via it's USB link can be used to update the firmwares of the older version to comply with the the RF2 mode. However, V30 can not be updated. Bummer. Further reading reveals that I should be able to switch my transmitters to work in the old RF1 mode and the problem should be solved. We'll work on that today. RTFM.
Back to Salt Lake City. I didn't go far from the venue, only to the shopping/restaurant area nearby to eat a veggie burger and drink sangria. That may sound gay (no offence), but the others were drinking margaritas! Even though the venue was nice, we didn't really hang out there. We spent most of the day in and around the buses, having an occasional beer every now and then.
Once again I had no idea of what to expect audience wise. It is a sort of big city, at least if you count in the metropolitan area, but still, I had no idea if folk/pagan metal or actually any metal would draw a crowd there. Well, it did. It was a nice crowd. Not packed, but decent. A very responsive and appreciative audience for every band. Although I didn't see the local opener. Our set is becoming stabile or as some would say stagnant. It is a tight package nowadays.
Afterparty was hilarious. For some. We had a quick bus call, but still managed to fill the other bus with people and dance so that the bus was bouncing up and down.
And here we are now. Up to date again.
I will be extremely surprised if there will be an audience today. This place is in the middle of nowhere. Sorry to say this, but I am so not looking forward to today's show. I really wish that this place's proves me wrong. I wouldn't mind being wrong this time.
September 7, 1:30, on the bus in Salt Lake City, Utah.
We just started our 2-day journey to Seattle, WA. That means a day-off tomorrow. That will be spent in Ontario, Oregon. Lovely place. Hankasalmi of US of A. Anyway, back to business = Billings, MT.
Billings is the biggest town in the state of Montana with just over 100000 people. The entire state has just a bit under a million people. Funny place. Manny's is located at the outskirts of the city. Not really much around it. Some of us decided to walk to centre or whatever that was. They were away for 4 hours so I guess it was quite far. Or they found a bar. I didn't do much. Tried to read a bit out in the sun. And a bit later walked with some Moonsorrow guys to get some pizzas for the evening.
Pre-sale was 60. Not much. But then again, it was more than I expected. Venue had nothing for the bands except the stage. Not even a dressing room, let alone private toilet or a shower. The other end of the building had a casino and they were sharing the restrooms so at least they were ok. Surprisingly the show was at least decent. There was maybe 100 people in the end, which is not that much, but all of them were really appreciating what was going on on the stage. Not my favourite show, but not the worst either. Although it seems that someone stole Jonne's stage shirt at some point...
Afterparty? Well, it was a standard one. Next to the buses with some extremely drunk/high local people. Not much to write home about really. I went to bed early. Way before bus call.
Today, which was actually yesterday, Thursday, I woke up early. Not unexpected since I went to bed early and never really sleep that much on tours. I've taken a habit to sit with our driver during those morning hours when no one else is up yet. Interesting chats, lovely landscapes. This morning we for example passed a really interesting looking Hell's Half Acre, a lava field. Slowly others were getting up as well and started to demand a toilet stop. Easier said than done. The first possible place was closed. The entire town was. At least the only highway exit was and we had to look for the next option. We finally found a place and a certain member of our band who'd been quite wasted the night before was also up now and wanted to drink more. I don't usually say no to early morning excess alcohol consumption so I joined him shopping for alcohol. At least we were out from the states with max. 3,2% alcohol in standard grocery store beers and stuff.
Even though these long drives on the bus usually turn into a bit of a drag, this morning went rather nicely. Drinking alcohol, listening country music and enjoying scenery. And honestly, I did fall asleep every now and then too. Around 13:30 we finally arrived at the venue, The Complex. Really nice venue. Korpiklaani Venue Review Department recommends. Internet told me about the state's biggest used vinyl store but is was a bit too far and I again had to do some testing with my wirelesses.
Side note - Details about wirelesses. For years I've been using Shure wireless systems. Not the cheapest, but extremely reliable. Now the rules are changing and the old analog systems around 800-820MHz are becoming illegal and we're all supposed to move our shit to new 2,4GHz area. I got myself 2 sets of the state of the art Line6 XD-V75. The first few shows were fine. And since then, the last 30 or so, they've been cutting. More or less, but always. Finally, during the show in Billing, MT I came to a conclusion that that it is the vocal mike that is conflicting with me. Which actually fits the time line since that thing arrived a bit after my Line6s. Once I came to this conclusion we tested this thing yesterday and lo and behold! It was the vocal mike. There were no channels that wouldn't overlap on those two devices. I was sort of furious at Line6. Who the fuck makes a system like that? But then:
Revelation, part 1 - Reading a manual CAN help. Once I actually read my Line6 manual, it clearly says that mine is a next generation version and it should never be used in it's RF2 mode if there are older units, like Jonne's XD-V30, still being used in old RF1 mode. Manual also mentions that a computer connected to my XD-V75 via it's USB link can be used to update the firmwares of the older version to comply with the the RF2 mode. However, V30 can not be updated. Bummer. Further reading reveals that I should be able to switch my transmitters to work in the old RF1 mode and the problem should be solved. We'll work on that today. RTFM.
Back to Salt Lake City. I didn't go far from the venue, only to the shopping/restaurant area nearby to eat a veggie burger and drink sangria. That may sound gay (no offence), but the others were drinking margaritas! Even though the venue was nice, we didn't really hang out there. We spent most of the day in and around the buses, having an occasional beer every now and then.
Once again I had no idea of what to expect audience wise. It is a sort of big city, at least if you count in the metropolitan area, but still, I had no idea if folk/pagan metal or actually any metal would draw a crowd there. Well, it did. It was a nice crowd. Not packed, but decent. A very responsive and appreciative audience for every band. Although I didn't see the local opener. Our set is becoming stabile or as some would say stagnant. It is a tight package nowadays.
Afterparty was hilarious. For some. We had a quick bus call, but still managed to fill the other bus with people and dance so that the bus was bouncing up and down.
And here we are now. Up to date again.
Wednesday 5 September 2012
Lyötiin mustaa kepillä
Wednesday, September 5, 3:33AM, tour bus bunk.
Been either too tired or lazy to write anything during the day so I'll use the night for that instead. Let's see how long I can stay awake. First, let's go back to Lawrence, Kansas. The venue, Granada Theatre, was better than I expected. Big stage and a shower! Didn't have to build our own. The day was hot again. Like really hot. Matson had gone out with whoever and found a record store. Marko and myself go out to visit that too. We ended up walking a few extra miles and still didn't find it. We return to the bus, sweaty as hell, to ask better directions and it turns out that we indeed had passed the shop TWICE and still hadn't seen that. Well, we found it eventually. Got myself couple of old Lynyrd Skynyrd compilation albums. Nothing spectacular, but still nice.
Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from the show. I mean the attendance. However, it turned out to be a good one after all. Even in Lawrence, Kansas there are people who are willing to pay to see us. Nice. However, there also was the stupidest woman/girl ever attending. Standing in the front row and filming 2/3 of the show with iPad. Seriously. I mean. Seriously.
After the show we were sort of trying to find a place to have a drink. Some did, I didn't. Well, I did, but not in a bar. Luckily we have a good stock of beer on the bus and always nice people around.
Well, I can't really stay up now.
Back. 11:30. Somewhere in Montana. Internet doesn't work. What a surprise.
Yesterday we were at Marquis Theater, Denver, Colorado. That was a nice venue even though the stage was too small and low. Right across the street there was a bar/pool hall that had a 24h happy hour. So of course I ended up drinking cider and shooting 9-ball with Ville for several hours. I won $9. Whoohoo! Doubled my tour budget!
I did manage to do a couple of interviews too though and even went to Cheesecake Factory with Melanie when she had a break from her work. I am a big cheesecake enthusiast but for some reason I've never been to one. It's good that I went now. Their cheesecakes are almost as good as those I make... And definitely just as filling. I ate one slice and was done for the day.
Our set was a decent one. Audience was crazy. Especially some chicks screaming the whole time. But I am of course so used to THAT. Because of the new regulations on the allowed frequencies I was forced to change my old reliable Shure wirelesses. So far the Line6s have been nothing but trouble. Cutting like hell. There's been probably a handful of shows when they've been ok. Yesterday finally after changing bass and transmitter I had to finally switch to cable. And Kalle had to do the same a bit later. Well done Line6! There were also all kinds of other problems through the entire show. Nothing huge, but annoying nonetheless.
Afterparty was at the same bar we were earlier and it was like earlier, cider and pool. Bus call was at 2 and surprisingly we actually had everyone on the bus at 2. Or close at least. I had a couple of beers, went to bed and now you're up to date.
Been either too tired or lazy to write anything during the day so I'll use the night for that instead. Let's see how long I can stay awake. First, let's go back to Lawrence, Kansas. The venue, Granada Theatre, was better than I expected. Big stage and a shower! Didn't have to build our own. The day was hot again. Like really hot. Matson had gone out with whoever and found a record store. Marko and myself go out to visit that too. We ended up walking a few extra miles and still didn't find it. We return to the bus, sweaty as hell, to ask better directions and it turns out that we indeed had passed the shop TWICE and still hadn't seen that. Well, we found it eventually. Got myself couple of old Lynyrd Skynyrd compilation albums. Nothing spectacular, but still nice.
Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from the show. I mean the attendance. However, it turned out to be a good one after all. Even in Lawrence, Kansas there are people who are willing to pay to see us. Nice. However, there also was the stupidest woman/girl ever attending. Standing in the front row and filming 2/3 of the show with iPad. Seriously. I mean. Seriously.
After the show we were sort of trying to find a place to have a drink. Some did, I didn't. Well, I did, but not in a bar. Luckily we have a good stock of beer on the bus and always nice people around.
Well, I can't really stay up now.
Back. 11:30. Somewhere in Montana. Internet doesn't work. What a surprise.
Yesterday we were at Marquis Theater, Denver, Colorado. That was a nice venue even though the stage was too small and low. Right across the street there was a bar/pool hall that had a 24h happy hour. So of course I ended up drinking cider and shooting 9-ball with Ville for several hours. I won $9. Whoohoo! Doubled my tour budget!
I did manage to do a couple of interviews too though and even went to Cheesecake Factory with Melanie when she had a break from her work. I am a big cheesecake enthusiast but for some reason I've never been to one. It's good that I went now. Their cheesecakes are almost as good as those I make... And definitely just as filling. I ate one slice and was done for the day.
Our set was a decent one. Audience was crazy. Especially some chicks screaming the whole time. But I am of course so used to THAT. Because of the new regulations on the allowed frequencies I was forced to change my old reliable Shure wirelesses. So far the Line6s have been nothing but trouble. Cutting like hell. There's been probably a handful of shows when they've been ok. Yesterday finally after changing bass and transmitter I had to finally switch to cable. And Kalle had to do the same a bit later. Well done Line6! There were also all kinds of other problems through the entire show. Nothing huge, but annoying nonetheless.
Afterparty was at the same bar we were earlier and it was like earlier, cider and pool. Bus call was at 2 and surprisingly we actually had everyone on the bus at 2. Or close at least. I had a couple of beers, went to bed and now you're up to date.
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