Monday, August 24, 2015

SA:On the Road: More Than Fest, Slovakia & Tampere, Finland

Friday 21.8. Travel & More Than Fest
Our last weekend together this year and the end of the tour as well so this was
bound to be an interesting one. Well, no sleep until the holidays, right ? Got up at
0500 back home for the 0520 cab ride to the airport. Met up with Tony & Tommy and
got to Helsinki alright. We had a tight 1,5 hour change but since the rest of the guys already started with the check-in of the luggage before we arrived, we had plenty of
time to have some breakfast…and beer. A couple of hours later we landed in Budapest.
Our 200km vanride was taking quite long since we had a flat tire but luckily the driver had all the right gear and a spare one so we got to the festival without any other problems…so far ;-) It was somekinda amphitheatre, outside as is the custom during
the summer. Other bigger bands on the bill where Helloween and Kreator….Since our 
show ends at 2130 we have to get to our hotel in Budapest straight away in order to try to catch at least a couple of hours of sleep. Our lobby call tomorrow is at 0400 so you can imagine how that’s like ;-)

Anyways, the show went really well and we watched a couple of songs from Halloween before we left. Upon arrival in Budapest the driver of course got lost and we spent over an hour driving around the block…thank you very much ;-) At 0225 I got into my room after making sure everyone got their keys and our shuttle was ordered for 0400.

Saturday 22.8. Travel & Tourending show @Pakkahuone, Tampere, Finland
0400 after one hour of sleep (mind you the other boys did maybe sleep 10min more at the most so we were all at the same situation. Of course the shuttle was too small even though we specifically asked told them that we have 9 people and around 20 bags. No problem we took an extra cab on the side and headed for the aiport. The usual hassle, nothing too bad and we were on our way. Slept a bit on the first flight from Budapest to Munich…and then some more on the flight to Helsinki. Well in Helsinki we were picked up by our bus so we had the opportunity to sleep. Of course there was a bunch of things to take care of for the Tampere show….I did that and then tried to rest for a bit.

The Show in Tampere was a really special one, just as planned. We played for about 2,5 hours. The whole of Ecliptica for the last time, some acoustic stuff and most of the Pariah’s Child material that we’ve been playing during this tour. In addition to that we had the Preacher doing live speeches which was funny as hell…at least to us ;-) Eventually the show was over and we spent the next 2 hours having drinks and saying goodbye to everyone. This was also the last show for Punky, he’s moving on to other things. At 0115 we went to the night-train for the last time this tour. Since the restaurant car was closed we went to bed, tired but happy. In the morning we woke up in Kemi and this World Tour was over and done with.

So, thank you all who came to the shows and made this the best World Tour for us so far. We did a lot of interesting shows, some really special ones and went around the globe….almost 160 shows in 1,5 years…I think the total count of countries was close to 30. We’ll be off the road until February when we head out to the US & Canada with Nightwish and Delain. The Next SA update will probably be when we start working on our next album in January….until then there will be some Silent Voices stuff going on as well as Klingenberg Syndrome 2…which will be finished by the end of this year at the latest….more about that later…

For now and on behalf of the Sonata Arctica band and crew, Thank you all 
very much !!! See you soon again !!

cheers,
Henkka


ps.yes, I’ll post some pics from the summer shortly ;-)

24 comments:

  1. I've seen a good number of those 160 shows (13! Are you guys tired of me yet?) so I'm happy. And also happy there will be some SV and KS going on because a whole year without anything from you guys is a grim, grim prospect.

    btw, have you heard that your Alesis has been getting some fame of its own after last night? ;) https://instagram.com/the_keytar_adventures/

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    1. Haha, that's awesome...my guess is that Masi had something to do with that...have to get it on FB ;-) Thanks for letting me know !!

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    2. ah, i'm glad someone mentioned that :D I was gonna say something but I wasn't sure how to phrase "hey your keyboard go an instagram?" in a normal way..

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    3. I am glad I was at one of those 160 shows, the songs from Pariah's sound great live. Have a great vacation :)

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  2. No, I have to thank you!
    Thanks for the great shows in the past that I could experienced! :D Thanks for the music that inspires me and accompanied me in all aspects of life! :D You all are an important part of my life ;)
    The last show in Tampere must been amazing. Unfortunately I wasn't been there :(
    It is a little bit sad that Punky is no longer part of the "Family" but I'm sure, he is doing right. Wish him all the best! :D
    Now enjoy the free time! Relax with your familiy, which so often was without you ;)
    That will be a long, hard time that I have to do without live shows of Sonata Arctica. But I'm looking forward to the new stuff :)
    And maybe I can see Silent Voices for this year yet. I'm curious ;)
    And also the project Klingenberg Syndrome 2 sounds interesting :)
    Take care and have a good time ...
    Promised ... I'll see you again!
    Keeping live music alive!
    Ilona

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  3. No reason to feel sad, Punky is and will always be a part of the SA family, he just won't go out on tour for now...rest assured, all is well !!

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    1. I'm curious who you'll get now to do your light shows :) (did i mention i'm a light tech as well? at least... on my way becoming one :P) Yeah I already saw it coming that Punky was gonna quit but still i'm gonna miss his awesome lightshows... Tell him the fans also salute him for all the years of faithful service in the Sonata family!

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    3. I don't know who'll be the next in line to do our lights...time will tell....and I will tell Punky a big hello from the fans.

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  4. On my behalf thanks for the 10 shows I've been at, of which 6 during this tour (I think... 2 during stones, 2 anniversary shows, that leaves 6 for this one). Also thanks for those I have not been at :D

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  5. ...dang, managed to post too early... but I was saying something like thanks also for those shows I have not been at, and thanks for existing in general. See you in the future too!

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  6. Good to get some time off man. The shows have been great as always. Enjoy it and we'll see you guys in the US next year. Bringing the Jager for you again, this time in bigger bottles.

    Question is though, you gonna have some Silent Voices merch or hints at it during your time here? Would be cool to see that.

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    1. I don't think there'll be any SV merch on the SA tour...sometimes we've sold some SV cd's but that's about it. Jäger...hmmm.. I can already feel the hangover ;-)

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    2. If you guys ever get around to making some shirts and other merch I call dibs for selling it in my store lol

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    3. Hah! Ill share the hangover with you while we travel. Stick your tongue out at me again during Wolf and Raven and I may have to do something drastic, like bring heavier booze :D

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    4. I'll think Jäger is just about heavy enough for now ;-)

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    5. Hah. Right on man. Talk to you soon.

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  7. Gosh, it's kinda hard to realize that the tour is finally over now and there won't be any new Sonata stuff for the next few months...
    Nevertheless, you guys more than earned your break. As I've always been one of those who told you to take it easy, I won't start crying now, promise! ;)
    Your poor keytar! Whatever did it do to you?! Instead of not working every now and then, of course.... Ah well, seems like Masi is already treating it better than you were :D
    Btw, does the Moon keychain still exist? I fear it might already have fallen apart, lol.
    Anyhow, time to bother the family now, so they'll be happy to see you off when the next tour starts ;)

    Take care, of yourself and your loved ones.

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    1. The Moon keychain still exist of course, I'm no dragging it with me anywhere 'cause I don't want to break it. No reason to feel sorry about the broken keytar....in this case I was the Judge, Jury and Executioner....It wasn't really anything it did but more what it said to me and in which manner...

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  8. Mitä keytaria meinasit nyt alkaa sit käyttää kun vetasit tuon alesiksen parkettiin? palaatko takas rolandiin?

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    1. En oo kyllä ehtiny miettiä tuota ollenkaan....en suunnitellu tuon hakkaamista paskaksi se ikäänkuin vaan tapahtu. Ehkä Rolandia ehkä ostan lisää Alesista....Helmikuu 2016 mennessähän se pitäis olla sitten itelläki tiedossa et millä vedetään...

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    2. Aivan :) Rolandit on mun mielestä paljon hienompia kun nuo alesikset :) ja se korgin keytar mitä tuo dragonforcen Vadim käyttää on kyllä heti niin ruma ku ollaja voi :D... semmosta viel oon miettiny et mitä purkkeja sulta löytyy siitä pedaalilaatikosta.. toki siin on se m3 homma mut mitä ne purkit on siin?

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    3. Mulla on Bossin pedaalit siinä: Blues Driver, Noise Gate & Digital Delay...sit siellä on viellä CME:n langaton midi sekä direct boxi....sekä kaks pedaalia, yks soundinvaihtoihin ja yks sustainia varten ja yks tommonen "työvalo" et näen vaihtaa soundeja jos lava on pimee....siinäpä se taitaa olla. Tuo boxi on niin paskana et mä uusin setupin kokonaan ensvuodelle, en tiiä vielä millä mä alan veteen...

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  9. Looking forward to your U.S. Tour next year. Want to catch just SA and Delain, hoping for longer sets!!:). Have a great remaining summer, fall and winter. Hope KS II makes it by the end of the year.

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