The Spyro does Lapland!
24.03.2010
In the middle of a freezing cold March The spyro was to go for our first tour towards Northern Finland. The four-gig mini tour was arranged together with Clarkkent, a band with whom we had already played one gig before. The first gig was to be in Turku. So we picked up our designated driver Pekka, and headed on the new highway.
In Klubi (Turku), My Forever opened the night. The Spyro played second, and Clarkkent had the headliner spot. A good opening for the tour, even though the crowd wasn’t as big as expected… After the show we decided to get well acquainted with the Turku night life, and found out that all the people were in a student party in another club (too bad for us). The night ended up being fun enough, with some quite interesting interpretations of a Foo Fighters’ song in the karaoke :)
After a refreshing night in a hotel in Turku, Pekka turned the van towards Kokkola. While the weather was horrible, the atmosphere in the back of the van was hilarious… tour life just brings out the best of us :) The Rock Pub in Kokkola is a great place and the staff is all you could hope for. And there was a sauna in the back stage, sweet!
Again we had a good night’s sleep in a hotel nearby the venue, and were fresh to start our journey to Rovaniemi early in the morning. In Rovaniemi we got to visit Hapes brothers shoe shop Haavikon Kenkä, too bad we didn’t get any sponsorship to renew our gig outfits :) We also visited the Lordi Square, and that’s all I’m gonna say about that. Before the show we also had a chance to stop at our accommodation (Hapes brothers house), and again the sauna was warm! Café Tivoli in Rovaniemi was to be our main show of the tour - and as a small but enthusiastic crowd of people had shown up, it was probably the most energetic of the gigs on this tour so far.
On Saturday morning before leaving to Kemi, we did some shopping in Rovaniemi. Simo bought himself a cool set of Ludwig Vistalite drums, and Pekka the driver found an antique cash register (approximately from the 1920’s). With the new gear the van started to be quite full (and heavy!) when we started our way back. But not back home, since there was yet another gig to be done in Kemi!
For the last gig of the tour, the Clarkkent boys had prepared a small prank for us. We played last this time, and as the intro tape was nearing the end, Simo noticed some weird white powder all over the drums… WTF?! So when the first beats of Hostile Voices were let loose, the drums gave a cool visual effect straight from the eighties :) Thanks guys…
At least the “Rokki Polliisi“ guys who had come all the way from Oulu to Kemi to see The Spyro perform seemed to enjoy the evening. And they were kind enough to give Toni a lift to Oulu so that he could take the morning flight back home. Pekka had also taken the night train to Helsinki, so on Sunday morning there were only four of us to eat some poronkäristys for breakfast, and start the long drive back to square one. Even though the van started to make some scary noises when turning, we finally made it home.
Again another fun and exciting journey with the band, can’t wait to head out to the Baltics in summer 2010!
