Yo!

Last weekend we did a small Finnish tour called "Kaljamaailmankiertue" with the German beermetallers Tankard. I had no idea what to expect from them since I had no idea about the music or the people. First of all they turned out to be some of nicest people we've met. I guess 25+ years in the business rounds off the rough edges.
Anyway, the first show was at YO-talo right here in Tampere on Thursday 26th. Tankard arrived to Helsinki around noon and our driver/soundtech/whatever Paukku was there to pick them and drive them to a hotel in Tampere. I did a normal day at work went home and walked a while later to YO-talo just to see that there's nothing I can do, so i just sat there drank a bit. I had the idea that I'd take Tankard to a local brewery/pub Plevna to get some local stuff, like "Plevnan Stout" or something but in the end we were running so late that once they had arrived to the venue and finished their soundcheck there wasn't much time to go anywhere anymore. So we ended up drinking at the venue. Since I don't drink the beer that much I went with vodka.

Tampere is not a good place to play during the weekdays. I don't know exactly why it is so, but it's really difficult to get people to go to a live show during the week. Maybe it's the nature of an old industrial town. Some people still go to a real work at 7 in the morning. This day wasn't any different. Only a handful of people showed up. A friend of mine who runs a record shop here in Tampere told me yesterday how it was strange that you couldn't get any presale tickets for that show. Their shop for example had presale tickets for the next show in Helsinki but not for Tampere. He said that it was something why some people living a bit further away stayed at home: "It's gonna be full anyway and we can't get in." Or maybe the combination of Tankard and Korpiklaani just wasn't interesting enough.

Third band opening the show was called Nation Despair. I guess they are from Tampere or close at least. They had a shit job playing to a small audience mostly sitting at the tables. For us it was a different story. The audience had moved to the front of the stage and we felt really comfortable there. It didn't feel like a half empty club since the stage front was full of people dancing and shouting. We did a good show too despite the fact that this was the first show in almost three months. We did one song from the new album as well. So YO-talo was the live debut of "Erämaan ärjy."

I had a full pint of vodka-orange juice on stage with me. Mixed maybe half and half. After the show I did a new one. And another one. After we had loaded our gear the lady and myself went to metal bar Hellä with a friend. I don't remember much. I think I was falling asleep at the table. We left home and stopped for a veggie burger. I think I was sleeping there as well.

Friday was supposed to be a normal working day for me. However, I didn't wake up. I don't know if I got up to shut off the alarm clock or not but I woke up at around 10.30 when Juho called and asked me when we are leaving to Helsinki. How do I know. I have to go to work. I got to the office around 11. Then left again at 14.30. I was very productive the whole 3 and half hours.

Destination: Tavastia, Helsinki.