Sunday, February 16, 2014

SA:On the road:Finland 15th anniversary part 3 11.2.-16.2.2014

Wednesday 12.2.2014 Lutakko / Jyväskylä

Rolling Rolling Rawhide. Some of the shorted drives of this trek and after a stop at a truckstation
for coffee and cigarettes we finally get to Jyväskylä. The band headed out for dinner and when we got to the point where nobody was hungry anymore it was time to take a nap. Around 1800 we walked to the venue where our crew had set up the stuff for soundcheck. The only ”out of the routine”-thing today was a quick photoshoot at 1900 before the doors opened. A quick dinner at the venue and the I took a walk with our new drumtech Suikkari. I run out of deodorant so i needed to get some….which I managed to do. After that I tried to watch the Sweden-Czech Rep. icehockey game and actually was able to watch some bits of that before it was time for work ;-) Tonight was a really hot show (which I like) and some excited people enjoying or performance, so all was fine and dandy. Throw in a quick aftershow sauna with Elias and you have a happy dude. Ended the night with a couple of ciders in our room while watching the classic Dinner for One and Roadhouse. Easy going, for a reason that you’ll see below.

Thursday 13.2.2014 Kylpylähotelli Rauhanlahti / Kuopio

Was pretty tired when I woke up to the alarm clock at 0930, nevertheless Tommy joined me for breakfast and then, finally: Finland-Austria olympic ice hockey. Jiiihaaa. Of course we had to leave before the end of the game but I think it ended 8-4 to Finland. Another short (around 2h) busride later we arrived in Kuopio.Tonight we’re playing in a spa/hotel so this might be interesting. I plan on catching some Ice Hockey games during the day and early evening. We’re gonna start to play very late I think it was around 2230. I’ll let you know how this works out, now it’s time to do some e-mail interviews before we arrive in Kuopio.
Watched the Slovakia-USA and Canada-Norway hockey games, took a nap, some lunch and dinner later on, how was your day ? We played at the hotel night club which was a bit interesting, having to walk through the audience to get on and off stage etc. but it was entertaining that’s for sure. Midway through the set some old timer started to yell out his lifestory which was really weird, he even wanted to tell his story in Tony’s microphone when given the chance but just in case you get some ideas: Our shows are not open mic or amateur hour even if we sometimes play in nightclubs. What an idiot. Other than that the fans seemed to enjoy the show and everything went well. Our backstage was in one of the conference rooms downstairs so naturally we ended the night with evening drinks, watching crap on youtube on the big screen that was featured in the room.

Friday 14.2.2014 Rytmikorjaamo / Seinäjoki

Up at 0930 and the bus started moving towards Seinäjoki @ 1000. Some coffe & cigarette breaks later we got there and as usual it was straight to the hotel for the band. I had a really good nap on the bus so it was easy to just focus on hockey and dinner. Punky our trusty Production Manager / Light designer, hooked up the big screen in the dressing room so we could enjoy our great hockey team beating Norway. During the show my M3 melted down for awhile, as I looked down on it the screen just showed some random commodore 64 graphics, luckily it worked after rebooting. This was during the end of W & R btw. I remember that we had some problems with the midi wireless here last time so it might be connected to that somehow since the M3 totally jammed and was non responsive to anything else than turning the power off. After the show I met my one of my sisters and her friends before it was time to go to the hotel.

Saturday 15.2.2014 Logomo / Turku

One of the better venues in Finland and  a really nice way to end this part of the 15th anniversary tour. Started from Seinäjoki at 0900..etc etc…arrived…since we were going to drive home after this we canceled most of the hotel rooms of course it helped knowing that the backstage here @ Logomo is great so no worries about not being able to rest or even worse, not being able to watch hockey. Spent the day doing basically nothing, but by this time you already know this is how I prefer to spend the showdays. Somehow playing for about 2 hours every night requires a bit of an effort so you need your rest to keep the energy level up. With the brutal schedule in Latin-America I know that’s gonna be one big sleepfest when we’re not on stage ;-) One of my other sisters showed up for the gig and my main concern was of course about the M3, but it worked fine so hopefully that’s the last we hear about that crap. My plan was to renew my setup after this world tour so I’d need the damn thing to work for another 2 years…please….pretty please ?

Aftershow we took some quick showers and packed ourselves into the bus and the long ride
home…

…and finally in the morning we arrived back home, having dropped Elias  & Tero off
at Tampere (with the gear for the Latin-American Tour), and Pasi @ the trainstation in
Oulu. Now we have 2 weeks to enjoy what’s left of the Olympics and enjoy domestic life
in between interwievs before it’s time for the next adventure which will last almost 4 weeks
during which we’ll get to see 6 countries and the ever so lovely Frankfurt Airport ;-)

until then, 
I remain,

Henkka

40 comments:

  1. I got nothing more to add than - thank you for this Finnish tour. Dunno if I would have made it out of this couple months without all these shows to look forward to. I don't want to go back to reality but you gotta do what you gotta do, right? Try to get some rest before South America and try to have fun there despite the killer schedule. Hopefully Pasi's enthusiasm will keep you going. ;)

    Hopefully I'll see you again this summer...or at the very least in September in Seattle. For now I'll just put away my Kauppinen Mafia shirt and only bother you guys online (sorry about that in advance!)

    Thanks again from the bottom of my heart.

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  2. Cool! Rest well. See you in Brazil.

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  3. I´ve been waiting for this blog post, yay! You guys rocked in Kuopio, for me that was one of the best nights ever! <3 And that old guy WAS creepy...! I´ll really miss Sonata while you guys will be on tour abroad, but lucky me got to see your show twice and Pariah´s Child will be soon released, I´m really looking forward to it and I´m sure and that will aid my "separation anxiety" :D Keep safe and try not to get too exhausted. All that travelling, playing in shows and jet lag, I can´t even imagine how tiring it must be... I hope you´ll have a great little vacation with your family, and I hope you´ll update this blog when abroad so us fans in Finland will know what you guys are up to and how you are doin´:) Lots of love! <3

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  4. Kinda disappointing to hear that about the old timer. I mean, I pay good money for concert tickets and I expect for things to be spiced up by some random guy talking. What else am I supposed to listen to at a concert?

    Sarcasm aside, I love the new video, thought the big SV post on here was interesting to read, and can't wait for the new album :D

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  5. Geez, I hope you don't run into any assholes like that here in Atlanta.

    In light of Cloud Factory, though. Is there going to be a video for that song as well?

    Anyhow, enjoy what time off you have left.

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    1. Cloud Factory: There might be some "lyric" video of some kind but not a music video...the second (and last for the moment) music video from this album will be the song Love our third single

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    2. When i looked at the list of the album songs first time, i laughed very much because you have been in sonata arctica like 15 years and now you did a song called "love"! :D ok ok i just have bad humor but i feel like every band has at least one song called "love"... anyway, can you tell us is that a ballad? :)

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    3. Yes, that is indeed a cheesy ballad ;-)

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  6. It's been very enjoyable 2,5 weeks, thank you for a great tour and great shows! Now I'll have to learn again how to live a normal life, without you guys :)

    Somebody said (You? Tony? Can't remember...) that there will also be a Pariah's child tour in Finland, does that mean mostly summer festivals or will there be more shows later on? And I'm gonna ask (even if I think I know the answer, you don't know or at least won't tell ;) ) is there any chance to see you in Finland before the Midsummer? Or do I have to wait until fall before I get to see you in Texas?

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    1. The idea for now is to play club shows in Finland with Pariah's Child as well.When is still an unknown factor, next year at the latest.

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    2. Awwwww... I hope it won't go as long as till the next year, that's way too long time to wait :) Oh well, I know you guys are always worth waiting.

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  7. Hi Henkka!
    First of all. congratulations for the tour and "The Wolves Die Young" is , in my humble opinion, one of the bests songs that you guys have ever made...
    but I was watching the performance from the Jyväskylä's show
    the crowd look so damn slow !
    Is the public always like that?
    (Sorry for asking, but i'm curious as hell)

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    1. I'd say that's pretty much what an excited crowd in Finland looks like, we're a bit different up here ;-)

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    2. Wow, really?
      I thought that will all these power-metal bands in finland ... it would be all... noisy and "god blesses metal power" .. ;)

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  8. take a rest before latinamerica ;3 and what is the surprise for the end of the year? a clue? n_n

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    1. It will happend in the beginning of the fall and will not be touring related.

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  9. Henkka, I caved and both tickets for both shows in The Netherlands, any chance of a few different songs in these two setlists?

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    1. Still don't know about the European Setlist but we have some new stuff and around 2 hours worth of old songs so we might finally get to the point where we shuffle the setlists from show to show

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    2. Sonata Arctica 15th anniversary concert tour is approximately 2 hours? someone of you guys still are doing solos in the show? (:

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    3. We haven't done any solo spots yet on this tour ;-)

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  10. That would be great!! Shuffeling the setlist, you got my vote!
    Totally unrelated to touring, but I was curious, about half of the Tricjy Beans demos have later on been recorded as actual songs with production and everything, ever a chance another one of them will ever see the light of day like that? I love "Im hunted" and "apartment 54"
    Keep up the good work, the new single is awesome!!

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    1. No idea about the old Tricky Beans stuff, you never know if some of those songs pop up at some point....

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  11. Henkka, when you used Wildfire III as the intro for the shows during the SGHN tour i thought "Damn... that means they won't play it live..." Now you are using another intro that we could hear in the Pariah's Child previews on youtube, then that means you are using another song as intro that you won't play live? :( I hope it's not the epic long one
    Sorry for bad english, hope to see you guys soon in Chile

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  12. There are parts of the epic Larger than Life in our new intro, and yeah at least for the moment we're not playing it live.

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    1. It's a little bit rude if I ask you guys to not play Tallulah in Chile? xD Three shows in a row it's a little bit too much for a ballad lol

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    2. No I don't think it would be rude, however I wonder what the other 2000+ fans would think about that ;-)

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    3. I'm really thinking about bringing a "I'M PETROUSHKA" sign for the show in Chile so you can say "FUCK YOU" to me for being too annoying ;) My best wishes for you!

      PS: as a keyboard player this was one of the greatest moments of my life, thank you for that https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t31/893229_10200573684725361_672420212_o.jpg

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    4. I'll give you the thumbs up if I see that sign in Chile ;-)

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  13. Henkka! Could you rate this setlist for the tour in Latin America?:

    The Wolves Die Young
    My Land
    Blinded no more
    Sing in Silence
    Draw me.
    Misplaced
    White Pearl, Black Oceans...
    Kingdom for a Heart
    Wolf & Raven
    Recoking day,Reckoning Night.
    In the Dark
    Fullmoon
    Paid in Full
    Victoria's Secret
    Last Drop Falls
    They follow
    Gravenimage
    Cinderblox
    Land of the free
    The Cage
    Don't Say a Word.

    Already heard a thousand times in your interviews that did not change the set or only add a song from the new album but did not lose anything asking you haha. Good luck and thank you very much

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  14. Not really sure what you want me to say here ? We're gonna play a lot of the stuff you mentioned on your list if that's what you ask.

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    1. I know that. I just change some songs and I'm asking you if you guys can do this setlist?

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    2. I wish I could but I don't want to ;-) We're gonna stick with the set that we have planned....and you will love it ;-)

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    3. Hennkka, I hope this is not an annoying question: you guys have clearly stated that you'll be focused on the first 4 albums for this anniversary, then why are there 3 songs from SGHN and only 2 songs from both WHG and Reckoning Night? This is not a complain, but just a curiosity.
      Cheers!

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    4. Well, we're playing 20 songs of which 13 are from the first four albums so ;-)

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    5. Good point! :) Anyway it's a great setlist indeed! See you in Italy in a couple of months! Thanks for the answer:)

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  15. Henkka is really you ? this blog :o

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  16. hahaha agree! Also whatever you do end up liking me haha

    PD: very good cloud factory. we celebrate the return of the long "solos". See you in Argentina

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  17. Hi Henkka! So sad I won't be seeing your anniversary tour. I live much too far away. You guys are playing a lot f my faves on it. When you hit Canada in September, Toronto to be specific, do you think you will play Sing In Silence? That song has gotten me threw a lot in my life and I've never seen it live. If you don't, it's ok. I'll love whatever you play.

    So how's everything going with you and the boys? Hows Pasi liking his first tour with Sonata so far?

    Hope all is well.
    Much love - Nikki

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    1. I have no idea what will happend in the fall regarding setlist etc. All is well and we're just getting ready for our first show in Monterrey,Mexico. Pasi is having the time of his life !!

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