Sunrise Avenue – Damn Silence

Home Sweet Home

I wonder when it hits me. The post-tour-depression, I mean. Usually the first three-four days are mentally pretty painful after a tour. You’re tired and still mentally on the tour somehow and the daily business at home seems just too quiet.

 

I woke up in my own bed this morning and was very happy. I love the bed in the bus and also the good hotels too, but this is something else… I had these nightmares all night. There was an old wise woman who told me I have demons in my soul and the evil little creatures started coming out of my chest running all around the place. I had to wake up a few times to breath a bit and to drink some cold Finnish pure milk. Still I am feeling very happy. The trip we ended in Sunday in Munster with a huge party was the best journey I ever had so far. Usually after the trip, there are many weeks of grayness and emptiness but this time we’ll be busy again next week with the shows in Finland. I can’t wait.

 

What an ending for the trip it was. The shows in Frankfurt and Munster were just amazing and more than we could ever hope for. For the first time ever, everyone was healthy even at the tour ending and the mood at the back stage was just hyper great. At both shows the crowd reminded us again how great this “job” can be at it’s best. And even though everything fell apart in Musnter during the last song, the rock’n’roll mood in the room kept us going. I broke my most expensive camera objective, Riku broke my microphone and his guitar. I also destroyed a few other cameras with the champagne bottle, but what the hell. Just keep sending us the invoices in so we can report the stuff to our insurance company 😉

 

After the last show, the party was well deserved. It was nothing that crazy since everyone was pretty tired already, but I managed to win FOH mixing engineer Gorilla-Mikko in wrestling four times in a row. I hurt my knee a bit but that belongs to the battle. The last show also meant that we’d say goodbye to the Jim Kroft gang. Guys, it was a huge pleasure and we really hope to see you again soon. The trip with you & your entourage was the coolest holiday we ever had. Best of luck and all the best and a big THANK YOU!!!

 

I was supposed to go to New York for this week. Since my US visa hasn’t arrived yet, I will stay at home. I have nothing against that. The flight would have left less than 20 hours after my homecoming and I can really use some rest and home time now. New York and the challenges over there will wait 😉

 

We will continue with our Finnish shows next week. It’ll be cool to get in front of our home crowd after we’ve been rehearsing in Europe for a month 😉 In April we’ll also go to studio a bit to smell the new song ideas.

 

I seem to be very happy after the tours every time and after every trip I seem to say it’s been the best we ever had. I must repeat my own words again. Thank you every single one of you for making all this happen. You have no idea how happy these five guys from Finland & their gang are right now.

 

We had this little voting with the band & crew of the best Venue, Show, Crowd, Catering and Backstage on this trip. Everyone gave points to the top three and the winners are at the end of this blog. Everything was just amazing everywhere, but just to name the top. The battle within the categories was hard and tight and every city would have deserved the top position. The final points and explanations will go with me to the grave 😉

 

Now I will prepare myself for the night’s ice hockey game. Preparing means crawling on the sofa with a Pepsi MAX bottle. I hope I can manage. Go IFK! Quality time 😉

 

I will miss sitting next to our driver Sebastien in the front smoking my last cigarette of the evening before I go to bed to rest after a great experience on stage. Before I’d wake up to enjoy a new one the next day. I am one lucky damn son of a mother from Finland…

 

Thank you everyone so much & see you very soon!!

 

 

Samu & Boys & Crew

 

 

PS. Check out the festival dates on our website http://www.sunriseave.com. We are adding more shows weekly and as soon as we are allowed to announce them. Looks like a busy summer 😉

 

Results of the “Best Of” voting

 

Best Venue / Arena

Frankfurt, Germany

 

Best Crowd

Prague, Czech Republic

 

Best Show

Hamburg, Germany

 

Best Catering

Bratislava, Slovakia

 

Best Backstage

Den Atelier Club, Luxembourg

 

The Rock ‘n’ Roll moment of the trip

Osmo on the way to Frankfurt

 

Samu, solistul trupei Sunrise Avenue: “Hollywood-ul este unul dintre cele mai legendare basme din lume”

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Vedete de talie internationala au facut SHOW la VOCEA ROMANIEI. Top cele mai frumoase momente VIDEO

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Sunrise Avenue vor dulciuri made in Ro pentru bunica din Finlanda – Old

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De vorba cu…Sunrise Avenue (Interviu Urban.ro)

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Bratislava & Prague

We are inside a huge “ball” today. It’s an arena called Jahr Hundert Halle (Check it out http://www.jahrhunderthalle.de) in Frankfurt, Germany and we are sold out today with 5000 viewers. Not a bad comeback to Germany after a few weeks. We have only two shows left and the crusade to new countries has been just amazing. As I have said before, we were not one hundred percent sure if we’d have an audience in the “new cities” we went to on this tour but especially after last night in Prague, we realized we need to keep on doing longer tours outside the “typical” Sunrise Avenue countries too.

 

We had our last day off on Wednesday in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. I received the Slovak Ice Hockey shirt (Saying SUNRISE AVENUE 1 in the back) last year from the Slovakian fan club after the show in Vienna and I had taken it with us on the road. I first thought of wearing it myself on stage, but the hockey shirts are just so hot that I had to skip that. Sami said the heat is a bit easier for him since he’s in the back and he’s sitting anyway, so we gave him the honor wearing the special costume. The Majestic Club in Bratislava was probably one of the best sounding clubs on this trip and also it was very rock’n’roll. We had only one HUGE back stage room together with our crew and the Jim Kroft gang and all the guests and we had to eat our dinner and lunch sitting on people’s luggage. The catering had come from a great French restaurant by the city castle. We told the catering guys that we’d vote for the best catering & audience etc. after the tour and they were hopeful that they’d win. Let’s see. It was damn good!

 

In Bratislava we also had our last day off on this trip. I did some interviews and meetings in the afternoon and in the evening we went bowling. Was not my night… You can read the results on the previous blog.

 

Thank you all for the great night in Bratislava. I hope to get back to you soon. There are some plans on the table already, I know.

 

This tour has been my first visit to Budapest and Prague. I will definitely go back to both of them. Yesterday in Prague was so super cool. First of all the weather was warm and sunny and the mood downtown was nice. My mom had told me that I’d fall in love with both Budapest and Prague and she was right. Moms usually are 😉

 

We’d never been to Czech Republic before with the band and as we checked the ticket pre-sales before the tour, we were very surprised. The club has been upgraded two times to a bigger venue and even the final big club was sold out. The show was amazing. I don’t know why, but at least I felt like home all the way and the crowd, just like in Bratislava too, welcomed us very friendly. I also had my first Superman experience on stage as some sweet girls gave me a Czech flag and I wore it on my shoulders like superman. I fixed it around my neck so tight on Hollywood Hills that I had some difficulties to breather. I had a little panic before the encore, because none of the crew guys was able to open it. Finally Karri (guitar tech) was able to loosen it a bit. “Hey little sister who’s the Supaman ;)”

 

We will be back in Czech in the summer at the Mala Skala festival and I also heard there might be a trip there even sooner. Hope it works out.

 

Today we are in Frankfurt and there are only two shows left until we go back home. We’ll, I have a flight to New York already on Tuesday, so that means I’ll only sleep in my own bed for one night. We got a real catwalk again tonight. I have a feeling we will have fun again tonight.

 

Thank you all for the great two evenings again and hope to see you soon!!!

 

Hugs,

 

Samu

 

 

PS: It’s so great that most of you behave so well at the shows and also after the shows outside the venue if we sometimes come hang out with you to take pictures and stuff.  There haven’t been barely any fights on this trip between the audience members. Still I must say that all insulting behavior, sexist and other “grabbing” is totally uncool. Luckily this doesn’t happen to often. You, who felt like putting your hands too close in Bratislava after the show, you’re not welcome anymore. I hope I remember you face. You are very disgusting!

On The Way To Bratislava

We just crossed the “water border” of Buda and Pest. The capital of Hungary used to be two separated cities in the past separated by the river Danube, but now it’s Budapest, one of the old continent’s prettiest cities. I’d been to the Budapest airport at least ten times waiting for our connecting flight to Greece or somewhere, but now we finally got into the city. Our driver Sebastien told us that Budapest, Bratislava and Prague are definitely worth checking out and he wasn’t wrong about the first city at all. I have been to Bratislava but to Prague never. I think I will need to do a little trip to both city centers.

 

Before the tour I felt really unsure if we’d get any audience in the “new” countries such as France, Holland or Hungary, but now all the doubt is gone. I can’t describe how great the night was again tonight. The club was very rock ‘n’ roll tonight. It was a bit cold when we arrived in the morning and the locals said they usually have metal and heavy metal bands only. Looked like that. Don’t get me wrong, it was cool.

 

(As I am writing this blog, I am sitting next to Sami. We are listening to American country music LOUD and we’re dreaming of the road trip through North America, the one we’re gonna make later this year. NY, Miami, Nashville, Oklahoma, Las Vegas, LA and San Francisco. At least. Sami is the sweetest guy on the planet. He is one of the very few guys who can really start crying when he hears a beautiful country song. Dixie Chick’s Traveling Soldier always gets us both…)

 

Anyway… I had a few interviews today with local media. It’s so amazing that even here in Hungary they have played Fairytale Gone Bad already years ago and everyone knew how to sing Hollywood Hills from start to end. Why the hell haven’t we been here before? Well, good that we’re here now. Thank you all for a great great evening and from the bottom of my heart I hope we’re back in our “language cousin” country soon. Thank you Hungary!

 

Austria has always been one the countries where we have felt like home. We have played tens of shows and many great festivals from Klagenfurt to Vienna and from Graz and Linz to Innsbruck during the last years. The Austrians have two very cool summer festivals where we have attended, twice at both of them. The famous Nova Rock and the ever-great Donau Insel Fest where we are going again this summer.

 

We had two shows in Austria on this tour. In November we played in Vienna and now it was Linz’s turn in Upper Austria. We have very good memories from the city. We have spent even a few off days there. As we got into the venue in the morning, I felt a bit tired in a funny way. Every time there is even a tiny signal from the throat that something could be wrong, it hits me and I start to worry. Luckily this time I had just slept bad and after the great show and a good night sleep after Linz, I felt like a new man again today. When we entered the stage in the morning in Linz, there was a HUGE flag in the opposite side of the room from the stage. The flag said: “Austrian audience never fails.” Who ever said those words must have been smart.

 

The strangest thing happened during the show in Linz. It was super hot during the show, but suddenly I felt this freezing breeze on stage. They had opened the door somewhere probably because we were running out of air in the room. I had been sweating very much until that and it felt like a million knives on my skin. I ran down from the stage in the keyboard solo on “I Don’t dance” to Karri and told him to do anything to shut all the doors in Linz… Was spooky.

 

It’s a shame this was the only club show in Austria this spring, but it’s good to know that we’ll be back in a few months in Vienna in the middle on the river Danube again.

 

Tomorrow is a day off in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. I have some interviews in the afternoon and a few meetings, but the rest of the day is free. And the boys have the full day off, so you can just imagine the noise in the bus right now. Well-deserved party. There might be a bowling session in the evening, let’s see. I almost even skipped the Go-Cart race too few days ago. I’m happy I didn’t 😉

 

We have four shows left before we go back home. First two great ice hockey countries Slovakia and Check Republic and then two shows in Germany. I heard Frankfurt is sold out but there are still some tickets left for Munster, the last gig. It’s a kind of a tradition that you make some tricks to the other guys on the last show. I have told our crew to do anything stupid at “the risk of their lives only” but now I have a really cool idea what I could do on stage on the last show. Let’s see if it works out. It’s sad anyway that we are this far already.  I know I have said this so many times, but it has been, once again, the best tour ever. No question!

 

One thing that is really strange on the road is the session every night when we cross the border from a country to another. Even between the Schengen countries in the European Union, the custom guys and police take “gifts” from the driver in the middle of the night. If you don’t give the border control or other officers some free band t-shirts and CD’s, you might have to wait for hours for the entrance to the country or city. So every evening before we start the bus we sign a few posters and CD’s and prepare this “corruption set” for the local authorities. Then the driver has fewer problems on the road. It’s a mad world…

 

Anyway… Thank you all so much again and good night to everyone where ever you are,

 

Samu

 

PS: I think I will win the photo contest with my on-stage pictures. It’s such a hassle every time Tuomas (monitor guy) gives me the camera and I start adjusting the setting for the light on stage that moment. I didn’t know photography could be THIS much fun :;)

Thank you Switzerland

Cheese & army knives. Cuckoo clocks & chocolate. Mountains & Snowboarding. Bank accounts & Great audiences. Switzerland. Ahh…

 

We had our three sold out shows in Switzerland, in Bern, Pratteln and in Herisau and now we’re on our way to Austria, to the country where the audience never fails either.

 

Every time we land in Zurich with the band, it feels as if “everything is a bit better here.” I don’t know if it’s the image the Swiss have managed to create of their country to the rest of the world or if it’s just the great experiences we have had all over the country both on the band trips and also on holiday. However, we love it.

 

After the show in Paris, we arrived in Bern for a day off. The city is very beautiful and actually that was the very first real spring day this year. It was + 18 in the afternoon and the sun was shining. We went shopping downtown in the midday and still I haven’t bought anything on this tour…? Not even a new camera objective. Good boy! In the evening we were invited to the Switzerland-Argentina football game at the Stad De Suiss, the old Wankdorf stadion where Germany won their first world cup in 1954.

 

We are from a not-so-successful football country and therefore we decided to support the other country that didn’t make it to the finals this time. Even though Messi was on the field in the other team, we did everything we could for the Swiss. When 88 minutes were played, the score was 1-1 and I was damn sure we’d get a tie. But no. One mistake at “our” own end and one Messi in the other team and the game was lost. The 1-3 penalty shot a minute after was just making the numbers nicer for the Argentinians. The better one won. On the other hand, it’s not every day you can see Leo Messi scoring three goals live. Many thanks for our local agent and the stadium staff for letting us in through the back door.

 

All three shows in Switzerland were sold out well before we started the trip a few weeks ago. And every evening was a blast. Especially in Pratteln, where we played at the same club in 2007, we felt really like home. The only “downside” in Pratteln is that there’s a decibel screen on the wall and you can see it from the stage. And it’s hard to keep your eyes off it during the show. You might lose focus and forget the lyrics. The screen shows to the crowd too how loud it is. A few times when the crowd sang really loud we got close to 120db. I can tell you that loudness hurts your ears on stage. But in the good way 😉 The same actually happened today in Herisau tonight. I took both of my earplugs off after the show and the screaming from the crowd felt almost violent. But again, in a very good way. Please never stop doing that 😉

 

Yesterday we had a day off in Herisau. It’s this really small town near Sankt Gallen. In the night there was no action what so ever but the day was busy. We had our yearly Go-Cart race with the band, crew, and both drivers. You can read more about the results in the previous blog. In Finland we have a saying “Silver is no Shame!”

 

After the show in Pratteln, our local fan club’s “Sunrise Avenue Swiss Crew’s” official and original flag was stolen. I will add a picture of that flag on our Facebook site in case you see it somewhere you know what I am talking about. I guess the flag fell from where it was hanged over the audience and someone might have taken it by accident too. Anyway. If you see it, it must be returned.

 

I don’t know how many ladies (or gents) there are in our dear Swiss crew but they are just great. Today after the last Swiss show they had arranged a surprise present for us containing first an opening mission (almost impossible;) and the package contained a lot of useful stuff from medicine to toothbrushes and also a little plant, a tree whose name is Köbi. Köbi is from the city of Chur and he is this kind of a small palm tree plant and we are supposed to raise him gently. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not the best person with the living green. Even my cleaning lady at home said a few years ago that maybe I should only have paintings or statues instead of anything that actually is supposed to live. I’ll do my best!

 

Our tour manager Manni left us two days ago because he had to go to this seminar in London. We already miss you Manni and you know, the Swiss crew even brought you some presents. Now we have Manni’s colleague Lars for the rest of the trip. Lars is very cool, nice and experienced and all will be fine. It’s just a shame that just as we managed to teach Manni the legendary music jury game, he left and now we need to spend another sleepless night teaching Lars. I hope he drinks like a man and has good taste in music.

 

Tomorrow we will be in Austria in Linz. It’s the only show in Austria this trip. We played in Vienna on this tour in November. Actually it was the last concert of that trip at this old gas bell where they have built an arena inside. I will never forget that night. Playing Out Of Tune that night was probably the best moment on stage so far in my life. Funny how again this time, this trip has felt better than anything else before. Again. Maybe it’s just the good medication they give us 😉 Bottom line is that we are happy for being on the road again.

 

Linz is one of Austria’s biggest cities and we have played there many times before. We played also one of last summer’s coolest festivals there, the Krone Stadtfest. I just remember that the crowd was loud and the heat was like in tropic in the middle of the night. I guess we have played at tomorrow’s venue before, on the smaller side thought. The bigger side of the arena is sold out tomorrow and I am dead sure the night will be super great. Everyone’s healthy on the bus again and the mood is very relaxed. Boys are playing NHL Playstation game upstairs and some are sleeping already. I’m in the front with Sebastien. As usual.

 

Thank you everyone very much for the great moments in Switzerland. We hope there will be some festivals in your country this summer that let us play at least one or two songs on their stage.

 

Good night everyone,

 

Samu & Boys

 

PS: We will get the flag back girls. Take my word on that!

 

The Missing Flag

Sunrise Avenue Go Cart Race © 2012

Sunrise Avenue Go Cart Race © 2012

Go-Cart Race Track Herisau, Switzerland

March 3rd, 2012

 

The legendary motorsport city of Herisau in Switzerland had the privilege hosting the yearly and legendary Sunrise Avenue Go-Cart race © 2012. A ridiculous amount of viewers had come to witness the fair but serous battle of the most wanted motor sports trophy in the world.

 

There had been some changes in the racing system this year. For the first time, the qualifying’s were driven in two parts and the actual race was divided in two parts too. First the five slowest drivers (Lady Final) and then the six fastest (Super Final).

 

Just like every year, there was huge drama during the race and the press conference almost got as bloody and violent as the press conference after the Klitschko-Chisora Boxing night a few weeks earlier. However, nobody got hurt badly.

 

The victory was taken by a new comer Kalle Ihalainen, right before last seasons bronze medalist Samu Haber and Last Year’s winner Mikko Salonen. Kalle was not surprised for his first dominance. Actually the winner was amazingly calm after the race and seemed as cool as his countryman Kimi Räikkönen after races.

 

“I changed to Go-Carting from Trucking this year and many people said it was not the right move for me. However, I believed my manager-agent’s (Pekka “Peki” Nisula) vision and advice taking part in the most competed series and now I could not be more than happy. I had the party of all times last night and I actually woke up in my truck (motor home) with these four dancer guys from Norway. You know… I had lost even my socks. Wish someone knew what happened. Anyway. Thank you all for the great race and a superb party. I need to go to pharmacy now.”

 

Both Haber and Riku Rajamaa (4th) and Haber filed complain after the race against Ihalainen. The jury is investigating Ihalainen’s behavior on track and they will announce their decision later this week.

 

“Kalle hit me straight from the side and that is against the rules. He is new to this sport and he will get what he deserves – a big lesson sooner or later. In Finland we have a saying he will learn through father’s hand and that’s what he’ll get”, Rajamaa stated.

 

Rajamaa won the qualifying with the fastest time ever, but fell on the fourth place on the very first round of the race. “For me, the one who has the fastest lap is the winner and best driver. It’s very sad that I have prepared myself all these months and again I was left without a medal. I am thinking of getting into TV documentary business and leaving this whole shit behind. I don’t wanna hear about racing for some time now. If I still do this shit next season, I will drive as dirty as one possibly can.”

 

Haber seemed happy for the silver medal. “I started the actual race on fourth place and went straight to the lead after the first three curves. The only downside was that Kalle crushed against the rules with me on the third round and I will never forgive him. I will make him pay sooner or later. We actually have a little “poop-trick” planned with our team to his ugly motor home, but you’ll probably read about that later on the press.” Haber claimed that his qualifying’s didn’t go well because of some slower drivers. “Tuomas Hollmerus was always in front of me as I was trying to get some space for the fast lap. It would be great for the future if Tuomas would also learn what the blue flag means (let the faster driver pass you). Luckily the race is the one that counts and the slower drivers were dropped to the Lady Final and we were able to enjoy the race.”

 

Last years winner Salonen managed to climb on the third highest place even thought everyone in the crowd were able to see him nervous before the race. “Haber gave me hard time. His tactic was to disable my mental system and he succeeded there. I don’t think this kind of mental pressure belongs to fair sports, but what can I say. I am a bit afraid of the guy and everyone knows he is mentally way stronger than me. I think he’s twisted. I am considering hiring some bodyguards next season. And a shrink for Haber. I am very sad, scared and lonely.”

 

The crowd held their breath as one of the absolute favorites and last year’s silver medalist Tuomas Hollmerus was dropped into the Lady Final. “I Had huge problems at the qualifying. This idiot Filipino “Bass Player” was always in front of me and I was just not able to do a fast track. And when the track was clear for me, I guess I was just trying too hard and fucked up a few curves. I like the two qualifying groups system, but the race should be an “all together” so us slower ones would have had a chance too. The Filipino should buy a dress and get away from this series. Some guys would make better grid girls than race drivers and I guess we all know who we’re talking about. I also must say that I admire Haber and Salonen. It’s no coincidence that these drivers are always in the top three”, Hollmerus gave respect to the two most successful drivers of all times.

 

The Beat & Box team (Osala, Ikonen) skipped the whole race due to their “Hotel Room situation.” The team have promised to announce more details soon. Also Martin Hörsch from (Die Alte Lederhosen) skipped the race at the track because the visibility was so bad. “Why can’t they just set up a proper lightning”, he asked at the track. The rumor has it that the teams night before the race had been very “late and wet” at a local “facility” and therefore one of them skipped the race and the other driver was last. The jury is investigating the team behavior outside the event before the race.

 

Final Stats

 

1. Kalle Ihalainen (Trucking & Focking)               10p
2. Samu Haber (Gibson Ultimate Fighting Team)  8
3. Mikko Salonen (Audio Gorillas)                         7
4. Riku Rajamaa (Gibson Ultimate Fighting Team) 6
5. Mikko-Pekka “MP” Laine (BMW-Weller)              5
6. Timo Saarinen (Team Bukkakepit)                     4
7. Tuomas Hollmerus (Audio Gorillas)                   3
8. Sebastien Payet (Trucking & Focking)                2
9. Karri Soilamo (Team Bukkakepit)                       1
10. Ilkka “Raul” Ruutu (BMW-Weller)
11. Lars Hoffman (Die Alte Ledehosen)

 

Disqualified

• Martin Hörsch (Die Alte Ledehosen)

 

Team Points 2012

 

1. Gibson Ultimate Fighting Team              14p
2. Trucking & Focking                                12
3. Audio Gorillas                                        10
4. BMW-Weller                                            5
5. Bukkakepit                                              5
6.  Die Alte Lederhosen                               0