Great to catch up with our pals Martin, Andres, Siret and Marilyn in Tartu fo other merch too
WE’RE not as sore and tired as I expected after our night on the floor in the junk room – but we need to get on the road ASAP.
After saying cheerio we head for Tartu arriving late morning and stopping on the edge of town for a sleep…then McDonalds.
We arrive at Salong at 5pm for load in and Andres arrives a the same time. Booker/owner Ants has us set up in no time and I get a chance to chill and chat with Andres before more pals Martin and Marilyn arrive.
There’s a really crowd in. I’m very pleasantly surprised as this show as a late booking. I have a grand time playing and we sell out of vinyl and shift a fair bit of other merch too. That’s gonna make life easier for packing for the plane!
Margaret’s driving us to Tallinn right after the show and we give our pal Martin a lift – he’s off to the USA and flies out a few hours before us.
It’s late when we check into the airport hotel but Margaret is keen we sort all the packing out so there’s no rush in the morning….
AFTER a decent breakfast at the hotel I sit out on our room’s balcony and get some work done before we hit the road.
Not too long ago drive to Torva and we’ve not arranged to be at our ‘accommodation’ ‘til 3pm. We have lunch at a nice wee coffee shop in the centre of town then find the place we’re staying.
The guy there seems nice enough. There’s a load of folks sitting round the kitchen table drinking beer and we’re shown upstairs to our room. Uh-oh – it’s the ‘junk room’ with a skinny mattress on the floor covered in a random selection of kids’ blankets and stuff. Fuck. Too late to say “sorry, we’re gonna drive somewhere and find a hotel”.
We sit with our ‘host’ and various pals/family members. Seems they’re all involved with Pubi Juudas in some way….but none of them are coming to the show. It’s all a little weird.
The venue is great..and it’s a nice surprise that our pal Al is in Cry Baby – the other act on the bill. Venue owner Elton and sound guy Kevin are cool too and there’s a lovely spread of food and stuff backstage.
It’s a fairly quiet gig audience-wise but there’s a decent enough bunch of folks who’ve travelled to see me and we do well on merch.
We’re back at our accommodation just before 2am and luckily everyone seems to have gone to bed. Unsure if the blankets and stuff on the floor are clean we sleep in our clothes, hoodies pulled up and off to sleep….
WE’RE PACKED up and out the apartment soon after 11am and go to get a taxi to the airport to collect our rental car.
Getting an Uber in the largely pedestrianised old town turns out to be tricky and we have to wander around trailing our bags and stuff to find somewhere we can get a pickup.
Eventually we get sorted and pick up a car from Hertz at the airport. Margaret’s not happy with the first one they give us so goes back for an upgrade and a more suitable vehicle.
There’s a couple of hours to drive to Voru and we stop en route for coffee and cake.
Show promoter Lauri meets us at the very swanky hotel where he’s booked us the best suite. We sort our stuff then load in at the venue.
After soundcheck we’re sent to what turns out to be the best restaurant in town for a great meal then we go back to a packed, sold out venue and get ready for the show.
I have a grand time playing two 45-minute or so sets, the crowd is awesome and we have a great evening 🙂
WE HAVE a chilled morning then take a 20-minute walk to the theatre to meet our pal Krista. She is theatre manager and producer there and we catch up over coffee.
It’s a nice day and we walk back via the supermarket then get the gear along to Philly Joe’s which is only five minutes’ walk form our apart-hotel.
Soundman Kristian is on hand and takes great care over my sound. Eva and Martha look after us very well and hen we chill in the green room.
I’m a little worried about numbers but no need to – the place is pretty full and it’s nice to see some familiar faces.
I have a grand time playing and the audience is amazing. After the show we get packed up and Krista and Martin help us back to our place and come in for drink. Fantastic evening and start to the Estonia section of the tour.
Krista and Martin help us back with the gear after the show
WE have to be out the apartment-hotel at 11am. Margaret did all the packing and sorting last night so there’s no panic.
After breakfast we go to the foyer and arrange a taxi to take us to the ferry port where we chill for an hour or so after checking in.
It’s a smooth, two-hour Baltic crossing to Tallinn where we fend off a pushy unofficial taxi driver. Another comes along and says he’s ‘official’ but turns out he’s not. He’s a nice guy and very helpful but nearly 50 euros for what I suspect is a 15-20 euro leaves a sour taste. We have too much stuff and are too tired to argue.
Our apartment is three floors up and there’s no lift. We bump onto a Scottish guy at the entrance who’s having problems unlocking his key safe – perhaps a result of too much to drink – and help him out then get to our place and chill for a while.
It’s after 7pm when we venture out into the old to find some dinner. The place we’d planned to go has a pretty poor and over-pried menu so we wander around a while and find a reasonably priced sports. Bar ≠ and unlikely place for a decent meal but we decided to give it a try.
We both order fillet steak at under 20 euro a pop. Expectations are low, but it turns out to be one the best and most enjoyable steaks I’ve ever had, regardless of cost.
Next stop is a 24-hour supermarket for some breakfast supplies then we pop into a rock/metal bar Bar Bar…a new location for the place – I played a show for them in another location pre-covid…and the owner, Mad, had previously promoted a show for me at a venue called Rockstars (sadly no longer there) which was one of my best and favourite shows ever!
We walk into the place and are immediately greeted like royalty! Mad isn’t around, but the other folks remember us!
Lunch and a great afternoon out in Helsinki with our pals Maiju and Miika
WE wake early then fall back to sleep. Suddenly it’s nearly midday! Our body clocks are pretty messed up.
A late breakfast, showers and we’re good to go – and meet our pals Maiju and Miika who are waiting for us outside the hotel.
We take a short walk to a place called Deli Beri in the city centre where Maiju treats us all to lunch then we sit, drink coffee and chat all afternoon. It’s really nice to catch up.
After saying cheerio Margaret and I have a wee wander about, pick up one stuff for dinner later and head back to our hotel were we’re happy to have a chilled evening. We’re off to Estonia tomorrow.
ANOTHER ‘recovery’ morning in the apartment in Lahti then we start gathering our stuff up.
There’s no strict time schedule today as we only need to get the train to Helsinki. We’re ready too go early afternoon and luckily the station is less than ten minutes walk form the apartment.
After an hour-long train ride we get into Helsinki’s and go to find our hotel. We’re here two nights.
We need to do some washing and the hotel has a laundry…but I only have the pair of jeans I’m wearing. And they need a wash so we take a walk to the shops and I find a pair of lightweight black baggies that I can use.
Our hotel room has a kitchen area so we pick up some stuff for dinner and when we get back Margaret takes all our stuff to the laundry.
ANOTHER long lie after a late one….and then I fix some bust strings on the Acoustasonic.
Tonight’s show isn’t far away but Ismo comes to pick us up at 3pm to take us to the house for a late lunch before we head to Pensuo.
It’s nice to see Suvi and the kids…and Ismo gets the grill going and cooks up a storm.
We have a lovely few hours then Ismo takes us to Pensuo where we load in to the Juke Joint…a kinda private venue run by the local ‘blues mafia’ 🙂
It’s an extra gig - a filler sorted by the mafia blues fans - and we’re not expecting much. We’ll, however wrong could we be - great people, great place and probably my favourite show of the tour so far!
First song, first video in Sastemala and these two walk right in front of Margaret to snap a selfie!
OUR body clocks are kinda messed up with the hospital carry on and the late nights…and I’m buggered when I wake up even though it’s nearly midday!
After my now routine wander to the shop for breakfast stuff we catch up on stuff and then go a walk to the town centre. I forgot to bring an emergency jack-to-jack guitar cable in case my radio pack gives up…and it could also be handy if I need to connect my stomp box if a venue doesn’t;t have a spare DI box. We pick one up at the music store.
Ismo picks us up at 4pm for the 2-½-hour drive to Sastemala where venue owner Hannu greets us. We load in, set up and soundcheck then take out stuff to the dressing room before being sent to a nearby restaurant for a fantastic meal.
Ismo and I both have fun playing but it’s nearly 1am but he time we’re loaded out. I manage to stay awake and talk to Ismo the whole drive back…quite a drive after a show!
Ismo joins me for a song at the end of my set in Hammenlinna
ANOTHER long lie – well, more like a long sleep – dunno when I’m gonna start feeling like I’m getting back to full strength.
A wander too the shop and some breakfast then I get busy with some of the emails and social media stuff that’s been neglected a bit over the last few days. There’s also some video do download form the wee camera and phone from last night’s show.
Tonight Ismo and I play in Hammenlinna which is just over an hour’s drive from Lahti. Ismo pick us up and we hit the road.
After we get set up we’re given a fabulous meal. I tackle it carefully and enjoy what I eat. Most importantly, it stays down!
The place is pretty packed when Ismo takes the stage then there’s a short break before yours truly. Agin, I’m burst when I finish my set but it was still fun and everyone has a grand time.
It’s around 2am when Ismo drops us off…and I’m, ready for bed.
