So, Saturday was going to be Donington Rock Club in a small town of Kouvola. Actually, Kouvola is now the 10th biggest town in Finland with almost 90000 inhabitants. However the "real" Kouvola is still a small and ugly eastern-block-kind-of town of 30000 people. In the beginning of this year six small towns in the area joined together and are now known collectively as Kouvola. From rags to riches. Not.
The club itself is next to the towns main square that is always empty. At least it has been empty every time I've been there. My spouse used to work in Kouvola so I know what I'm talking about. No, wait. Correction. Once there was some action when a bouncer of the local bar was beating the shit out of their client. He deserved it, no doubt. As a matter of fact, Donington is located in the downstairs of that same bar. At least they had an elevator so the load-in wasn't too bad.
I still have to go back a few hours. Already on Friday we had decided to go eat something nice when we leave the hotel at noon on Saturday. Risuparta, the monitor tech, knew a good place close to Järvenpää at Haarajoki or something like that. The place was an old gas station and the yard was full of old tractors and other machinery. The place was quite nice in fact. Food was good as well. When I first went to ask if they had anything vegetarian on the menu the reply was just blank stare but after all they did prepare a good vegetarian pasta meal. I had noticed that there was a biker theme in the place and for example the chef was easy to imagine riding a Harley. Another man arrived to help him and looked like that as well. Since I have no problems with people being bikers, shoe salesmen or Jehova's witnesses I didn't realize that there was anything wrong until someone from Tankard said that they don't like the place because the people there are nazis. They were right. The guys were actually wearing these white power shirts under their vests so the place really wasn't that good after all. Note to self: avoid.
Back to the venue. Donington was the smallest of the three in every sense. Venue, stage, backstage. I guess the audience was maybe the same size as in Tampere but since the venue was smaller it seemed to be perhaps fuller. Falchion opened the evening. This was the first time I saw them with their new guitarist Toni "Tökäri" Tieaho who will actually be joining us as a guitar tech during the summer festivals. The audience didn't really warm for them. The place was still half empty as well.
At one point when planning this tour we decided that we will headline the Kouvola gig since Tankard must leave for the airport soon after the show. That would have caused us some extra problems since our gear was traveling with them so basically they wouldn't be able to leave before we had finished and the gear loaded in the car anyway so we changed the original plan and decided that Tankard will headline after all. Then we realized that the daylights saving time thing will happen that night and will steal another hour from the travel time to the airport. So we finally just decided that both Falchion and us will do really short sets so that Tankard will have at least 75 minutes. Falchion also started really early, soon after the doors were opened so that didn't really help them to get much audience.
So, we did a short set of about 45 minutes I think. The place or least the floor in front the stage was packed and we had a good show. Not perfect but good standard show. Someone throw an empty glass to the stage and the latter part of the show I had to stand mostly still since I was barefoot as usual and didn't really want any glass in my feet. The audience seemed a bit disappointed to the short set but Tankard saved the day I think. They once again did a solid set and I don't think no one in the audience was that disappointed anymore.
Afterwards it was time for a quick load out and driving 200km to Tampere on a really slippery roads. I hadn't really slept enough during the past few days. The three sleeping drunken musicians at the backseat didn't really provide much entertainment to keep me awake but luckily Risuparta stayed awake on the front seat. At least the guys had been drinking beer and we had to stop every now and then so I could also step out to get some freezing air on my face. After I had dropped everyone off I was home at 6 in the morning. A warm bed comes in handy in times like that.
Showing posts with label Tankard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tankard. Show all posts
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Hämäläisten talossa
So, Friday afternoon and off to Tavastia. I was driving. I gathered the locals meaning Hittis, Juho and Matson from Tampere and Pirkkala and drove to Valkeakoski to pick up Kauno. We stopped to get something to eat and drink in Hämeenlinna. Some beer was included. Not for me though, I was driving. We arrived to Tavastia well on time and like so often we had nothing to do. Tankard guys were hanging around and getting drunk at the backstage. Some of us joined them. Matson and myself went out for shopping and I managed to find a really ugly Hurriganes t-shirt for 4,99€ and the new Eläkeläiset EP for 6,99€.
We did a soundcheck after Tankard. We started it as 5-piece since Jonne hadn't arrived yet. He did arrive during the soundcheck. By the way, I've started to wonder why the hell are we nowadays so slow with everything. Soundchecks, change overs, whatever. We should do something about that. Definitely.
Anyway I am writing this almost two weeks after the shows so I can't be expected to remember everything. At least not in the correct order. At least I remember something. Like that while we were just hanging around at the backstage I heard an old Ne Luumäet song through the wall. At first I though that "oh, they are still rehearsing here" but when I saw the lead singer Joey Luumäki eating dinner at the same time with us I realized that he's actually playing at Semifinal, a club in the same building. It was of course not Ne Luumäet but Joey Luumäki & Tappajatomaatit. I used to be a big fan of Ne Luumäet back when they were still active. I had to go and check when was their show time but unfortunately it was mostly the same as ours.
Third band on bill was Entwine. Definitely not that suitable opener for Tankard or us. And they are even bigger name in Finland than either of us. Anyway, Entwine was there for reason. I guess it is safe to say this already. They were there to play a show to our manager so that he could decide whether he wants to add them to his roster or not. I don't know how that went though. I actually watched their show which I almost never do, as you all know. I guess they were good. Not my type of stuff. Aksu, our producer and their drummer, was ill and had a terrible fever of almost 39C. He did a marvelous job.
Tavastia was not full but it was still a totally different story than YO-talo. Maybe 300-400 people perhaps. So we had a brilliant audience but the band wasn't really up to a par. To put it mildly, I guess the company of the beer drinking monster called Tankard wasn't doing us any good. Depending on who you ask, one of us either stage dived or fell from the stage. I'd say fell. The show went on though...
We were booked to spend the night in a hotel in Järvenpää, courtesy of "sadanpäämies, herra isoherra, orankutanki, keskitysleirin komentaja" Savijärvi. That's 40 kilometres from Helsinki so I honestly didn't drink that evening since I had to drive. Some of us woke up early enough for the hotel breakfast. Apart from Andy, Tankard did not. However, when we were leaving around noon, herra isoherra Savijärvi arranged them a late breakfast and even played some barrel organ. Talk about service!
Destination: Donington, Kouvola
We did a soundcheck after Tankard. We started it as 5-piece since Jonne hadn't arrived yet. He did arrive during the soundcheck. By the way, I've started to wonder why the hell are we nowadays so slow with everything. Soundchecks, change overs, whatever. We should do something about that. Definitely.
Anyway I am writing this almost two weeks after the shows so I can't be expected to remember everything. At least not in the correct order. At least I remember something. Like that while we were just hanging around at the backstage I heard an old Ne Luumäet song through the wall. At first I though that "oh, they are still rehearsing here" but when I saw the lead singer Joey Luumäki eating dinner at the same time with us I realized that he's actually playing at Semifinal, a club in the same building. It was of course not Ne Luumäet but Joey Luumäki & Tappajatomaatit. I used to be a big fan of Ne Luumäet back when they were still active. I had to go and check when was their show time but unfortunately it was mostly the same as ours.
Third band on bill was Entwine. Definitely not that suitable opener for Tankard or us. And they are even bigger name in Finland than either of us. Anyway, Entwine was there for reason. I guess it is safe to say this already. They were there to play a show to our manager so that he could decide whether he wants to add them to his roster or not. I don't know how that went though. I actually watched their show which I almost never do, as you all know. I guess they were good. Not my type of stuff. Aksu, our producer and their drummer, was ill and had a terrible fever of almost 39C. He did a marvelous job.
Tavastia was not full but it was still a totally different story than YO-talo. Maybe 300-400 people perhaps. So we had a brilliant audience but the band wasn't really up to a par. To put it mildly, I guess the company of the beer drinking monster called Tankard wasn't doing us any good. Depending on who you ask, one of us either stage dived or fell from the stage. I'd say fell. The show went on though...
We were booked to spend the night in a hotel in Järvenpää, courtesy of "sadanpäämies, herra isoherra, orankutanki, keskitysleirin komentaja" Savijärvi. That's 40 kilometres from Helsinki so I honestly didn't drink that evening since I had to drive. Some of us woke up early enough for the hotel breakfast. Apart from Andy, Tankard did not. However, when we were leaving around noon, herra isoherra Savijärvi arranged them a late breakfast and even played some barrel organ. Talk about service!
Destination: Donington, Kouvola
Friday, 3 April 2009
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.
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.
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