On the edge

So we're late again. The bus driver was saying that he's sorry and had to sleep but we told him not to worry. We had a load-in time already quite early in the afternoon but we just called the organizer and told him that we're going to be late for about an hour and a half. No problem there.

Northeim show was a bit different show for us. Apart from the festivals we've never really played as a support band. And I don't count Paganfest either since it was like a touring festival. This time we were clearly supporting In Extremo and Die Apokalyptischen Reiter. We've met Reiter already many times but In Extremo was a new experience. We were also a bit nervous because Jonne and myself are fans of them and we had this idea that this was actually sort of a showcase thing because there's been some talk about us supporting In Extremo on several shows later this year. So we thought we should try to give a really good impression to them. Being late doesn't really help.

Being late was not really a problem after all because when we finally arrived In Extremo was still doing their soundcheck so basically everything was running late anyway. The venue was Waldbühne which is a really nice open air amphitheatre built in the 1930's. We walked in and In Extremo singer waved for "hello" from the stage. Nice gesture. We didn't really much to do so we got our keys to the nearby hotel which we were using as a dressing room. At one point I wanted to get a new In Extremo hoodie and went with Jonne to check their merchandise. I asked if the support band will get any discount and they gave Jonne and myself hoodies for free. Nice discount.

It was really interesting to do the soundcheck since we could see all the stuff that In Extremo has on the stage, pyros, flame throwers etc. Smoking was NOT allowed on stage and this time even Hittavainen agreed on that! We were wise this time and moved my rack to the center of the stage and eventually I had no wireless problems this time.

Our show was surprisingly good considering the fact that we were sort of an extra band on the bill and the audience apart from a few members was clearly there only for In Extremo. We played a good solid set and got some movement in the audience so it was a good show. Reiter played next and were really entertaining as usual. I think their vocalist is among the best performers there is. Great show. Next was the headliners. They were nice enough to pose for pictures and everything before the show. I was taking a picture of the others and accidentally stepped on their drummers feet. Sorry. Once again they were really good. I've seen them a few times already but this was the first time after Summer Breeze 2005 when I actually had time to see the entire show. Both bands should actually be bigger internationally but I guess the German language is a problem with some people. Rammstein managed to get huge internationally and they sing in German. Why not In Extremo? Finnish festivals - book them. Tuska 2009?

After the show when I was already getting quite drunk I actually had a small chat with In Extremo singer "Das letzte Einhorn". Seemed like a nice bloke and the fact that he was still talking to us was a good sign I guess! At one point he actually said that he had heard that we are going to do some shows together later this year so maybe he knows more than we do. There was also a person from the local radio trying to do some kind of an interview with him and us as well, but I don't think he really got much out of it.

That was the mini tour. Next morning we were already flying back to Finland. Now we've heard that the shows with In Extremo are "almost 100% sure" so it's going to be an interesting end of the year for us.

"Today your love, tomorrow the world." No, that wasn't right. Tomorrow: Kuopio.