So well yeah, thats pretty much what we did. Sat and enjoyed ourselves and the night at On The Rocks as the place got more and more crowded. A couple of girls sat down on the back of mine and Argos couch and I thought I recognized one of the girls.. And of course! It was Jasmin, and I was so glad to see her again. I didn’t know how small / big On The Rocks was so I was kinda scared I’dn’t meet her laters, but well, yeah, it solved pretty good haha!
After a few more hours (or at least it felt like hours!) they let us or, ratherly, let us down (haha) in the club. You know… I’m not certain how well you know of me and Sofia and our almost-sitting-in-the-lap-of-Crashdiet experiences, but this took the price. There were NO FENCE at all before the stage, and Argo even put his stuff on the stage! And in between and before the acts we chilled out on stage. Fucking amazing. Jasmin came by to take a few pictures before she returned to her friends.
First out was psy’s band, Honey Hellraiser. They were one of the final reasons for me going in the first place and I was really looking forward to see them. And I can just say one thing: They did not let me down. They were just as I expected them to be you know, energetic, fun to watch and incredibly good. My favourite tune during the evening was “Hey Honey”, and so far I can even say it’s my fave song of them.
After a pretty short, but excellent set, the Honeys left the stage to let their fellow mates in Santa Cruz take over. I think it was during this I got to say hello to Ana2009 from MB, it was real nice to see some new faces from Monsterboard! Either way, you know. When I saw Santa Cruz (and made sure it was them, haha!) I was kinda certain I’d enjoy them. After being in this “business” for so long and seeing and hearing so much, you kinda learn how to recognize a band you’d like. And the moment I saw them coming in, I kinda knew what kinda of music they’d play and that I’d enjoy them.
And I did. They were awesome. I can honestly say I didn’t see this one coming from Finland… It might just be me – and also apart from SO, Honeys and Reckless Love – I always see Finland having more heavy stuff than glam and sleaze stuff. So it was a real nice surprise. More finnish music to the people! Santa Cruz left the stage after their refreshing set and by this time, the place have started to get pretty crowded.
This was kinda… surreal you know. SO. hit the stage pretty much right on the time I predicted and even if this wasn’t the first time I’d see him unmasked, it still felt surreal you know? Like this is fucking it. See, there he is! Either way, they hit it off with my favourite song, “Shout!”. I was kinda glad they played it – I usually have you know, no luck with those things. They followed it up with my second favourite “One Nite Stand” and the good old “Got To Believe”.
During “She” I took a look around the audience… SO. doesn’t have a specific audience you know? There were rockers, there were punks, there were hippies, pop-people or just “ordinary” people. And it was one girl that really caught my attention and now she is stuck in my brain everytime I hear “She”. Like she is “She”. And she also defines SO. for me by now. No, sorry, I have no idea who she is.
Their Eurovision song, “Pamela” who was also next song to be executed, was the one who raised the roof. I expected it to be “One Nite Stand” or similar, but no, it was Pamela. The entire floor was jumping and singing. I was glad to see this kind of excitement you know, for SO.
Another thing that surprised me badly was what a good showband SO. is. I mean, I know what kind of person Sampsa is, but I never expected this band to be so… extremly good you know. I always figured they’d be some winging thing from Lordi, less good than Lordi, but instead they ended up clearing the field with Lordi you know. They literally kicked Lordis ass. If you ask me. At least this gig. For me. Compared to Babez.
“Women”, “Bye Bye”, “Back On The Road”, “Wont Let You Down Again”. The songs passed by. The gig passed by too fast too, I guess I enjoyed myself and the band and the feeling in there a bit too much to even notice. The band perfection on stage, the executioning, the energy. It’s undescribable. They are a ridiculously fun band to watch, I guess Sampsa was right when he said two years ago that SO. is the freakiest band from Finland.
And what is even more undescribable? Sampsa and SO. doing my favourite Whitesnake song. Not like it’s gonna happen. Or Wait? Yeah. “Fool For You Loving” was the second last song to the set, and hearing Sampsas tender and lovely voice doing it really gave me chills and made me enjoy the song even more. I demand them to record and release the cover of it.
Last song for the evening arrived, “Everything For Money” and they invited the Honeys and Cruzers to join them on stage, however the Cruzers had left somewhere… I don’t mind though. The combo of Hellraiser and SO. is well and enough for me.
You know… This was a real intersting gig you know. This is the first gig in a real long time that I have really enjoyed every single minute off, even during the supportbands. I wanna thank all the three bands but a bit extra for SO. and Honey Hellraiser for making the evening awesome.
After the show Antha and I got and picked up some merch (I believe Argo did this before the show) and we just… hang around. Talked abit with Saara in the merch, a bit with Psy and other people around. We stuck around until they closed at 4 and aimed for Mc Donalds which was fucking crowded at this point… Well, I don’t blame them really. Sooner or later we did eventually get our food and sat down for a while before it was time for Argo to hit his cruise and me and Antha to return to the airport. We took a nap before we found our destinations and said good bye for this time.
It might be a bit early to say, but so far, this is the funniest and most memorable trip I’ve done this year, and I’m certain it will stay that way. I enjoyed every moment of it, even if it was short and spontaneous. I want to thank Argo, Antha and Jasmin for making it kickass, and also SO. & The Honeys + Saara for making it over the top. Thanks guys. I will never forget it.
// Sara
Sara Hammerzmith 