SunriseAve ITALY

by Sunrise Avenue Diary

Home sweet home

 Monday, 14 December 2009 at 16:54

Welcome on board to Lufthansa flight LH/5C4HZS from Munich to Helsinki. We have a strong tail wind and we will land in Helsinki in 65 minutes. The weather in Helsinki is like a perfect winter evening. Snowing, -5 Celsius. No wind.

I get “post-tour-depressed” every time I go home after a longer trip. I love home for sure, but it’s just the way you have been whipping your own ass for the whole trip and then it finally doesn’t matter if you have any clean stage pants or if you get a bit ill. You suddenly don’t have to worry about your throat or cleaning your hands like an idiot after every door handle. I heard some artists sleep with their TV on after the tours just to have some noise as they’re used to the crowd around them in the night. I have tried it a few times. It helps. It’s amazing how I actually didn’t get ill during the whole tour even though almost everyone else did.

You’re also so used to the guys around you from wakeup until the nights last cigarette and it’s hard to be alone in the huge bedroom tonight. Sure we had a soft-landing-period from the tour by traveling a week in Greece, Albania, Russia and Germany. Actually it was everything but a soft landing. The time goes by so slowly when there’s nothing to do. We had only 3 shows this week and still we had to travel 7 days. A lot of time for nothing.

Last shows of the tour

Even though the first two shows in Austria were a bit of a shock for us, it got better the further it went. Of course Sami was really sick the first two AUT shows, but the better mood started in Graz (mostly because of the great crowd) and all was super good in Vienna, Salzburg and even the small city (it’s a city??) of Dornbirn rocked really great.

It was a bit difficult to adapt to the smaller shows after the huge German crowds. The stages were also very much smaller and there was no support band either. Sure even the first two the nights were ok, but my point here is that we could have done better. But I hope everyone thought it was worth coming to see us.

Then the Swiss show was the only one left before we took off home for one day. The night in Zurich was a perfect ending for a perfect tour and if I had emotions taking control of me a few times on the tour before, that night was very very emotional. I could not sleep at all the night before and I just had a short nap before the sound check. The Zurich club was super cool and the audience was just so damn loud.

After the show we had a little party with the guys around & inside the bus. We actually didn’t sleep at all with Riku & Sami and we must have looked fresh on TV in Athens the same night ;) But it was worth it.

You know we recorded all the shows from Helsinki to Zurich and we will release the stuff one way or the other early next year. The samples we already listened on the way sounded really good. I didn’t know you really sing SO loud. On stage you can’t always hear it but on the recording it really comes across well. I’ll let you know when / how the live stuff is available.


We started this week on Monday by flying to Tirana, Albania. We performed at this political event where the biggest star was the Albanian prime minister himself. We also met the minister of culture at his office and he told us that Albania is now actually one of the new candidates for the EU and they are really trying to join the Schengen countries next year to make their tourism business easier. If I am totally honest, they still have a lot to do and there are many walls to break. But it’s nice that they flew us over and we got to perform to the supporters of the big guy.

The strangest thing was that there were some young people gathered in front of the stage before our show and the security people dragged them away. The focus was on the political things but still I have never seen anything that before. The stage was full of the minister’s balloons and stuff and I really felt strange swimming in all the campaign promotion stuff. And sure it started raining and the stage had no roof ;) When we started, there must have been 100.000 listeners. I guess there were 10.000 left after the last song. I partly blame the rain ;)

At the airport we were treated like diplomats. We’ve been at the diplomat lounges and private airport vans before, but this time nobody checked our bags and we just walked into a van that took us to the plane. As the metal detectors beeped at the security control, they said, “it’s ok” to us all. Cool ;) I hope our trip to the Tirana rock festival works out next year.

On Thursday we played in Moscow. This time we had no problems getting our gear (the instruments and stuff) into the country. Last time it took hours as they wanted to check every cable and mark it so we really bring it back too. The Moscow show was the last club show on the tour and even though the club was not sold out, I must say the night was very enjoyable and fun for us. And the ones who were there, rocked like hell. I actually don’t remember being that relaxed on stage for a long long time.

I don’t know what it is with Moscow, but the after party was rough again. I remember in 2008 when we were there, we didn’t sleep at all and we had this huge wrestling thing through the night. And the next day I had to enter the German Big Brother house with my hangover. I felt like dying…;)

Same wrestling championships took place again with no winners and no medals. Just a very tired gang flying away the next day. The crew and Osmo flew to Helsinki. The crew is off for the rest of the year from our dities and Osmo had a show in Turku (Fin) the next day. Karri and band flew to Munich where we got ready for an acoustic show at the Mediamarkt Christmas party. It was actually quite ok. They had A-HA as headliner and we played after them at this easy lounge.

Our set ended at 2:45 AM (In the night!!!) and poor Osmo had to leave to the airport right after to join this song-writing session in Poland today. The rest of us went to bed and now we are on our way home. I must say it feels very good. My mom is waiting for me at the airport because my car (my sweet sweet baby) is in her garage. I think she also wants to make this “mother check” on how I am doing. I will try to look healthy and well slept ;) Even though I am just the opposite.

Next week I will be really busy with interviews and some rehearsals Finnish TV show and stuff. On Friday and Saturday we will be in Zurich again for this TV show and an acoustic performance for charity.

The thought of my own bed, my own coffee machine, my own gym (only if I feel like it) and racing with my car against the falling snow fakes makes me happy.

Remember, You still need to be nice. Santa Claus can still abort all your presents if you lose it now!!!!

Samu

PS: My ice hockey team HIFK won almost every game when we were on tour. As soon as the tour ended, they only won one game. I am not superstitious, but hey..????