EXCLUSIVE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DIARY BY NORTHER’S HEIKKI SAARI – PART 2

[This is Part 2 of Norther’s tour diary from their first-ever North American tour. Part 1 can be viewed here. Enjoy. -Ed.]

22.09.2008 Quebec, I’ imperial

Our next show was in Quebec. The place was this fantastic looking venue called I’imperial, but when we arrived to the venue, we heard from the local crew that (thanks to our schedule) we were running about 4 hours late. So very quick setup on stage, about 10 minute sound check and off to give room for the local support to play. It was a very big stage, so support band could set their gear up easily and we wouldn’t have to move anything. We tried to delay the doors to have some more time for sound-checking, but it couldn’t be done for some reason. This later bit us in the ass..

When Nefastus Dies goes on stage, we start our “backstage rituals” (More to come from these). Usually Pete entertains everyone with a bunch of crappy hard rock or death metal riffs that always end in crazy ass laughter. :) if that isn’t happening, we’re listening to good music to get the mood going. Artists like September, The Haunted, Slayer, Fun Lovin’ Criminals or others that get us all in good mood is a must before the show. :)

Anyways, show time. We rushed to the stage to kick off with “My Antichrist” followed by “Down.” One, Two, Three, Four… CHAOS… This would be the exact description of unleashing hell. Everything was totally fucked, instantly.

Here’s a short list what went wrong during the show:
1) Pete’s vocals weren’t working, although it worked perfectly during the opening bands. So during the first song, Pete rushed to Jukka’s mic to do the vocals, which was actually working.
2) Kride didn’t have anything in his wedge that he requested earlier, but it was there during soundcheck…
3) I had constant changes in my in-ear monitors during the whole show. I request only both guitars and some lead vocals, but suddenly, I would have keyboards, guitars or anything out of the blue blasting in my ears at full volume!! Everything was distorted, and because of that I couldn’t hear anything! Not even myself!!
Needless to say, everyone was totally pissed. The Nefastus Dies lead singer came to us and said: “Hey, what the hell was going on on stage? The only things coming out of the PA was keyboards and a snare drum!” We don’t care if stage is falling apart or whatever problems we might have. But, if that problem starts to affect to the audience (we play badly, sound is horrible etc, etc.) it really becomes a problem. I mean, people come in to these shows to see us, to hear us live. What they experienced during this show was not what we we’re there for. It is totally uncool when we get fucked in the ass on stage because of others’ mistakes!

So as this blog is public, we all would like to apologize to everyone who was present during this show. Thanks for attending, and sorry we couldn’t offer you the 110% we were there for. We’ll be back and will make it up to you.

23.09.2008 Ottawa, Maverick’s Bar

After Quebec, there was no fear at all that this next show or venue would be any better. We arrived to Ottawa one hour ahead of schedule!! This was actually the first time we were early, on time, and we had some free time to check out the city! Well, in one hour there is not much to see.

Had a little walk around with the guys and went to grab a coffee in Second Cup, a quick email check and off to Maverick’s.

The place itself isn’t really the biggest one, capacity only for around 300 people, but it was a nice surprise that the stage was actually pretty nice and big enough for us.

Backstage was this little room upstairs called “band room” with a table and three chairs, which is kind of weird, since there are five of us… No catering. We did get four bottles of spring water, four cans of Pepsi and a 12 bottle box of beer from the venue after requesting some soft drinks. Nice. Didn’t know that back in Ontario for a five-head band three chairs, four water bottles and four cans of Pepsi is a result of good calculation. ;)

Ok we got some more water after another request and the tour manager went to buy us a bottle of vodka, but still. Too bad we didn’t have any time to drink the vodka, since we had an early wakeup next morning and long travel to London. Actually we haven’t had any time at all for partying, which is a pity. But yeah, it’s not cool to travel from five to seven hours in a hot as hell car while having a terrible hangover, so we all think this is best for us. :)

So again, when Nefastus Dies started their set, we started getting ready for stage. This time, we were listening to Quo Vadis and old Wintersun stuff! Our driver is the ex-singer of Quo Vadis, so Jukka and him had a little comparison going on there :)

The show itself was really good!! I was feeling really good already during soundcheck! When sitting behind the kit, I felt like a god! :D I knew that I had to pull just the right strings to get this show done in the best way. After all, it’s the drummer’s job to keep the band rolling. Before the show I was feeling great, and so was everyone else! So we managed to pull off a kickass show in this intimate venue well packed with people. Btw, those people around Ottawa… they know how to enjoy a band! That was totally nuts! People climbing over each other just to get to the front row! And the mosh pits… Jesus Christ!! I must say, that these people know how to have fun! This was by far the best show of the tour!

More rather interesting news coming up! Right now on our way to London, we’ll keep you people updated!

Cheers!
Heikki