Let me first of all thank everybody involved in this circus on the road! Each and every one of you is truly amazing. I want to recap some highlights from this tour for you, my perceptions, however twisted, some may say. Ok, no more BS, here it comes!
After having done the Great Britain leg of Sonata Arctica's Unia tour this spring, we were again invited to share the stage with our Finnish friends, this time to do the rest of the European tour; visiting fourteen different countries with a wide variety of listeners and audiences. Supporting this band has been a tremendous thrill for us, playing big audiences and nice venues and music halls.
Without Sonata Arctica and Vanishing Point though, kicking it all off for us was ProgPower Scandianvia in Copenhagen Denmark, the last day in October, also known as Halloween. Playing these festivals is always a pleasure for us. This night we played together with bands like Vanden Plas and Secret Sphere. A nice way to start a three week run of Europe it was, though this was the smallest venue on the entire tour and not the best sound-wise due to the construction and shape of the venue. Kudos to Lars from Intromental for pulling it off so successfully.
After a red eye flight back to our capital, the second day, in Oslo's Rockefeller Music Hall, we also got an extended set from Sonata Arctica due to a DVD shoot, which you all can witness in April if all goes as planned. The home crowd was awesome, and the gig came out swell with good reviews and happy times!
After saying goodbye to friends and loved ones, we joined our newfound friends from Australia (Vanishing Point – what's the point?) on our shared tourbus, and made instant bonds.
From that point on we were in touring mode, and though I can only speak for myself, the tour could go on forever for all I cared. Stockholm was next, in a nice venue named Tyrol, followed by day off in Hamburg on our way to Holland. Due to the driver's rest policies, which are so strict there's no way you can argue with him, we had to pass Copenhagen, but could not reach Hamburg. We were stuck in Northern Germany for most of the day, on a truck stop in the middle of nowhere, but some of us decided to look up the train station and head into Hamburg for a good time; meaning a Brazilian steakhouse and a few beers…
Playing Holland is really good for us, and this wonderful country with its even more wonderful people has become much like a second home to us. The crowd is very appreciative and lively, and we always get to meet new and old friends. Only drawback in Utrecht was that the streets are so narrow – we had to park the bus far away.
The following day we played Paris, city of assaults. True story, visiting Montmartre and Sacre Coeur briefly, Ronny and I got assaulted by a group of Africans wrapping me up in an American flag trying to steal both wallets and wristwatches. Darn bandits! Good gig at Elysee Montmartre though – hopefully we will return soon.
Another day off, and our driver, Berti, had a good idea. In Toulouse, south of France, where we were set to play after returning from Spain a few days later, there a venue with amazing hospitality. A big warm thank you to everyone at Le Bikini who not only gave us power for the bus, but also supplied food, shelter, red wine and a great but exhausting game of football against Tricky(ex-Massive Attack) and his band. We had a great time away from the touring routine, and will indeed be back for more Crème Brulee from Buffalo Grill…
Playing Spain was a first for Pagan's Mind, and what a great turn-up and amazing crowd. The Spanish are very grateful and respondent to everything happening on stage and with the music, probably the most receptive audience I've ever played for. Both Razzmatazz 1 in Barcelona and La Riviera in Madrid were packed with a two-thousand-plus capacity. Bilboa was a Sunday show and therefore a smaller crowd, but we managed to win the bullfighters over by treating them to a pagan version of "Two Minutes To Midnight". Spain was a thrill of a lifetime, the promoters were great – and we might be back soon from what I hear.
Finalement, on revient a la France. Le Bikini Club in Toulouse with again the greatest hospitality a band could ever ask for. The venue is fresh and new, since the old was totally demolished in the great chem-plant explosion a few years back. Great crowd, so please forget everything you ever heard about the French people being arrogant. Our bus driver spent the day fixing the defect ball bearing for our trailer, which resulted in the whole travel party and nightliner being stuck in a roundabout in Madrid a few days before. Thanks again to Sonata Arctica and crew for the rescue; we were able to carry our heaviest gear on their truck for a couple of days.
Italy was a nightmare logistically, but the amazing crowd made up for the fact that we had to pack our backline out in the rain. We did a lot of press since it was our first time in the country. The venue in Piacenza is an old theatre with the traditional stand-up toilets, which I had a hard time using. I was stuck with one thought in my mind; where to aim? Oh well, the show went well and the crowd ate from our hands!
Back in Vienna, for the second time this year, awakens feelings inside me since I do have roots here. I have family here, most likely cousins at my own age, but due to post-WWII attitude etc., I never got to meet them. What a pity.
Gasometer is a very nice huge venue built inside some old gas tanks of huge proportions. They have an awesome light rig and good PA system. The audience was really good this night too; we were on a roll, literally speaking.
Also a second time for us in Hungary this year, the venue was packed and people were pleased. Mission accomplished! We played the Petofi hall, in a beautiful park, and even managed to sneak away and go into the city centre for a few hours.
In the middle of the night we were brutally woken up by the Slovenian border patrol, telling us to clear the bus. There is absolutely no way you don't agree to what these guys command you to do. They X-rayed the bus – no idea what they were looking for - then smiled, shook our hands and told us we could go on. They never asked to see our passports though…
The Slovenians really sang along to the lyrics and were ecstatic at times. Nice people, we got rid of a lot of merch in Maribor and made new friends. If Holland is a second home for us, I guess Slovenia is a third.
Off to Munich and Backstage. Thanks to Manuela and Mara (a stunt driver, I swear. She made me wet my pants, reminded me of the road rage in the Taxi-quadrilogy) we went downtown for sightseeing and ended up at a Hofbrau. Back to work; soundcheck and gig, which actually turned out really good for us - Germany is most of the times an awkward experience for us to play. Where the Dutch embrace our slightly progressive music, the Germans hesitate a bit more, but the allover experience this time around is that we gain more and more dedicated fans here too, hence the very good response as well. Our soundman, Spiess-boy, heard a Pagan's Mind song over the aftershow disco PA the night before, which he liked, so we threw it in the next night, meaning the show started with "Alien Kamikaze" (usually our set closer) and included "Entrance To Infinity". "Alien Kamikaze" seemed to work better when adrenaline flows in the end of a show, so for the rest of the tour we put it back last.
We have good friends in Switzerland, who take such good care of us when visiting. This was our second time in Z7, Pratteln, one of Europe's premier venues, and it was packed with its 1500 capacity. Really good catering and a well run club, good light rig and a talented local light tech, a good crowd and nice and friendly people – what more can a bunch of Vikings ask for away from the cold native land? On our day off in Switzerland, Sonata Arctica truck driver Kalle invited me to the Slipknot show in Wintertour. F&%/ me!!! I was totally blown away! Never ever did I expect them to be that tight sounding with such amazing sound, stage presence and lights. I felt like a 16 year old kid getting the kick of his life at his first rock concert. Phew! What can I say? Cumbayah!
Back in Germany and Saarbrucken, we meet old friends, had a good show and a fun time. This is also where Bus-Berti is from, and he brought his wife and kids to the show.
Next we had to leave for Belgium's Antwerpen. The venue is called Hof-ter-lo, which in Norwegian sounds like"hip-lint"! Watching our friends in Dimmu Borgir five years ago in this very venue on a day off from ProgPower Europe, I went backstage before they came off stage after the show, lying bare-backed and lifeless in the hallway scaring the shit out of them. Tough guys, yeah right, but very nice guys indeed! Big stage and good crowd, a tight band and good greasy after show burger made this an instant hit together with the good crew from Biebob in Vosselaar taking care of us.
Back in the Netherlands, our good friend Mick from Ibanez Europe brought along a bass for me to try. I was so pleased with the bass having tried it out together with my Ampeg, I decided to give it a go at the gig! Smooth baby, my new BTB 1306E – what an awesome machine! I am now an official Ibanez artist, ta-daaa!
On our way to Oberhausen's Turbinenhalle for the last gig of our wonderful tour, the handbrake broke. We went to a garage to have it fixed, then rolled on. The last show is always a bit melancholic in a way because you know it's the last day together with good friends, but it was also the opportunity to have some fun with Sonata Arctica! Our wonderful and hard-working tour manager, Jörg Michael from Twisted Talent, sat me up with a custom made SA girlie with his wonderful partners doing some very feminine make-up on me. Jörg sent me out on the Vodka song doing my special dance putting Tony off for a few seconds. Priceless! Hanneke, the princess of Holland, did awesome lights for us throughout the tour and made the last show unforgettable. Being the last show for us, and our merch guy Morten's birthday, we treated him to a song by his all-time favorite band, again Iron Maiden's "Two Minutes To Midnight". The crowd went haywire! An awesome (Speiss-boy's favorite expression) end to an awesome tour with awesome crowds, crew, bands, friends and management, and Mick from Ibanez!
Thank you, and see you soon again!!!
Steinar