08.-15. Dec.

08.-15. Dec.

After the Hannover show we had two shows in The Netherlands, in Tilburg and in Amsterdam. It´s always good to be in Holland. We had a dinner at Hard Rock Cafe in Amsterdam. On the 12th. and the 13th. it was time for Norway. We had a nice ferry ride from Denmark to Kristiansand, Norway. We were almost like real tourists :-)

The Last shows of this tour we had in Sweden so we were basically at home already :-) Actually we are still in Stockholm when I´m writing this, so we have still one show ahead of us. We ordered some Swedish meat balls as an after show food, so no more pizza!!! never :-) Happy Holidays for everyone from us all!!

Nov 28.-Dec 08.

Nov 28.-Dec 08.

On the 28th we played at Heineken, Madrid. Then we had to cancel the French shows ´cause Tony´s voice needed a rest and he was feeling quite ill. We drove straight to Dortmund in Germany where we played on wednesday the 2nd. We had a couple days rest at the hotel. We had chance to go to "Alice In Chains" show to Munich on Monday. We took the train with Ville (monitor tech.). The show was a killer!!

Then we head to England to have some shows in London, Prestatyn and Dudley. Pretty decent shows, the London show was sold out. In Prestatyn we played at Hard Rock Hell Festival and met the the guys of Korpiklaani and had some drinks...On the 6th we played in Antwerp, Belgium at Hoft Ter Lo. Then on the 7th we had a day off in Hannover where we played the next day.

Nov 22.-27.

Nov 22.-27.

On the road again! Once again we played a killer show at Z7 in Pratteln, Switzerland. Really cool place in many ways. One is that they have a washing machine. We celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the release of Sonata´s first album "Ecliptica".

After that on the 23. and 24. we had shows in Germany, Stuttgart and Nurnberg. On wednesday we played in Milan, Italy. Really great once again. In Italy we always have such a huge audience. 26th was a day off for us and we stayed in some fancy hotel in Spain. I can´t remember the name right now, but the view was really awesome as you can see!

European Tour "Last Amazing Grays 2009"

European Tour "Last Amazing Grays 2009"

Nov 12.-21.

Hola!

We had a such a good start to this tour with Delain and Winterborn. We played cool shows in The Czech, Slovakia and Serbia. And for the first time ever in Slovakia and Serbia, so it was really exiting for us. And the shows were super cool! You fans are awesome!

We got to Hungary and Tony was feeling a bit sick. It turned out that he had some problems with his throat and especially, his voice.. We had to cancel the two Austrian shows and the Munich show. It´s a pitty, but we will make it up to you, the fans. We promise.

We have now stayed at the same spa-hotel in Austria for three or four days and it´s starting to be really boring, Everything is really nice and even the sauna is...almost perfect..but it´s not funny to just lay down when there´s some work to be done. As you can see from the picture, the room of Marko and me is starting to be a "logistic nightmare" ;-). We just have to cope this situation. For one thing, I already know that Tony is feeling much better right now. Hope all works out well, we want to kick some ass!!

Week 5

Viikko 5

Viikko alkoi Hartfordin keikalla. Paikka oli tuttu Webster-teatteri aikaisemmilta kiertueilta. Heräiltyämme teimme pienen kävelylenkin ja haimme laatikolliset pitsaa. Keikkakin meni hyvin. Tiistain Chesvickin Ches-a-rena Areena oli uusi paikka meille. Samassa kompleksissa sijaitsi Cowboy-kauppa. Ostimme Tonyn kanssa vähän nahkaliivejä ja stetsoneita..Ameriikan malliin...

Keskiviikkona oli vapaata, ja ajoimme suoraan Londoniin Canadaan. Hotellissa oli sauna ja oikein hyvä sauna olikin. Ollaankohan me nyt viiden viikona aikana päästy kolmesti saunomaan..no aika hyvin kuitenkin. Köpöttelimme hieman Londonin kirkonkylällä. Aika lailla Tampereen kokoinen paikka, kuulemma. Löyty sieltä Alko. (siis paikallinen..) Londonin Music Hall oli ihan asiallinen paikka suihkuineen ta tarjoiluineen.

Clevelandin Peabody´s ja Louisvillen Uncle Pleasant´s olikin jälleen vanhoja tuttavuuksia. Melko pieniä paikkoja molemmat. Pienet lavat molemmissa eikä oikein kunnon fasiliteetteja..ei suihkua, et takahuonetta jne.

Edessä on viimeinen keikka muutaman tunnin päästä Milwaukeen "The Rave"-kerholla. Viimeinen keikka onkin oikein kunnon festari. Täällä soittaa mm. Dethklok ja Mastodon. Katsotaan mitä kivaa keksitään viimeiselle keikalle. Ostin eilen kunnon ameriikan sämpylän. Ei voi pieneksi haukkua..

Week 5

The week started from Hartford. We played at Webster Theater. We have played there before so it was familiar. After we woke up we went for a walk to have pizza. The show went well as well. Tuesday´s show at Chesvick´s Ches-a-rena was new place for us. There was also this nice cowboy store so we went there with Tony to buy some Stetsons and leather vests..The American style..

Wednesday was off day. We drove straight to London, Ontario, Canada.The was a very nice sauna in the hotel so it was super cool. I mean warm :-) On the next day we played at Music Hall. Really cool place with showers and everything.

Cleveland´s Peabody´s and Louiville´s Uncle Pleasant´s were also familiar places for us. Pretty tiny clubs, them both, small stages and with no showers and basically not even backstages.

We still have one more show to play at The Rave club in Milwaukee. It´s some kind of festival. There´s also Dethklok and Mastodon playing if I´ve understood correct. Let´s see what fun we come up with for the last show. Yesterday I bought this huge sandwich. The American way..not too small..

Week 4

Viikko 4

Viikko alkoi mukavasti vapaa-päivällä Albanyssa. Hotellista löytyi ihka oikea Sauna Metos-kiukaalla. Sähkövastukselle ei saa täällä Ameriikassa kataa vettä (suomeksi: heittää löylyä..) Siinä voi henki mennä...mutta: uhmasimme kohtaloa viskomalla vettä kiville. Lauteita ei oltu korotettu, joten löylyt tahtoivat mennä yläpuolelta ohi,.mutta: mepä otimme seisovat löylyt....

Tiistaina soitimme legendaarisella The Fillmore-klubilla New York Cityssä. Paikka oli niin legendaarinen, että siellä ei ollut edes suihkua meille. Mitä legendaarisempi rokkari, sitä paskaisempi...NY-Citystä jatkoimme matkaamme Baltimoren Ram´s Head Liveen. Oikein mukava paikka kaikkine fasiliteetteineen. Torstain vapää-päivän vietimme, yllätys yllätys New York Cityssä. Shoppailimme hieman Manhattanilla. Kolee mesta..

Viikonlopun keikkaputki käsitti Worcesterin "The Balladiumin", Poughkeepsien "The Chancen" ja Philadelphian "Theatre Of The Living Artsin". Philadelphian keikka oli viimeinen Dragonforcen kanssa tälle kiertueelle. Seuraavan viikon soitamme vielä omia headline-keikkoja. Ohessa vielä muutama kuva: mm. Amerikkalainen kansanperinneruoka sekä mm. Henrikin ja Dragonforcen Vadimin soittama kosketinsoitin-duel.

Week 4

The week started off nicely with a day off in Albany. We got a real Sauna in the hotel. Really good steams. In Finland we got one sauna per five persons. That´s something like over 1 million saunas. Americans don´t know hot build a proper sauna. "Don´t poor water on the stones" ?????? In Finland, sauna rule number 1: poor water to the stones and enjoy!! I like sauna so much so I´m sorry if I got a bit carried away.

On Tuesday we played at the legendary Fillmore-club in NYC. It was so legendary that they didn´t have any showers for us. You know, the more legendary the rocker is, the shittier (smellier) he/she is. From New York City we continued our road trip to Baltimore´s Ram´s Head Live. It´s a really cool place with all the facilities. On Thursday we had a day off , surprise surprise, in NYC.We did some shopping in Manhattan.

Weekend´s shows were at "The Balladium" in Worcester, on Saturday at "The Chance" in Poughkeepsie and "Theatre Of Living Arts" in Philadelphia. Sunday´s show in Philly was the last show with Dragonforce for this tour for us. Next week we are still doing six headline shows here in the states before we leave.

Week 3

Viikko 3

Maanantaina soitimme ensimmäistä kertaa Kansas Cityssä. Marko otti Dragonforcen Hermannilta pikku sparraus-haasteen vastaan, kuten kuvasta näkyy...Tiistaina oli vuorossa Minneapolis. Chicagon House Of Blues olikin tuttu paikka viime rundilta. Torstai oli vapaa-päivä. Päätimme ajaa suorilta Torontoon Canadaan, jossa meitä odotti Jere Lehtisen järkkäämät liput NHL-matsiin. Toronto Maple Leafs pelasi Montreal Canadiensia vastaan. (Suuri kiitos Jerelle lipuista!) Pelin jälkeen kävimme vielä Hard Rock Cafessa syömässä. Oli tosi kiva vapaa-päivä. Perjantaina oli sitten keikan aika Torontossa. Lauantaina Canadan valloitus jatkui Montrealissa ja viikonlopun kruunasi keikka Québecin Theatre Imperialissa.

Week 3

On Monday we played in Kansas City for the first time. Marko did a little sparring with Dragonforce´s Herman, as you can see from the picture. On Tuesday it was time for the Minneapolis show. Chicago´s House Of Blues was already a familiar place for us from the Nightwish-tour last year. Thursday was a day-off for us, so we decided to head straight to Toronto where we had NHL-tickets waiting for us. (A BIG thanx goes to Jere Lehtinen for those tickets!!!) Toronto Maple Leafs was playing against the Montreal Canadiens. It was a season opening game and a lot of people, cool! After the game we went to eat to Hard Rock and I had just perfect fajitas, ever! Really cool day off for us. On Friday we were back in business. We played at Sound Academy in Toronto. On Saturday we went off to Montreal and on Sunday finally played in Québec City´s Theatre Imperial. We had a great show there and lot´s of fans as well. We get quite a lot of these gifts from the fans, like this painting on the picture, really cool stuff! We really appreciate it.

Thanx,

Elias

Week 2

Viikko 2

Kanada!

Rajanylitys-muodollisuuksien jälkeen matkamme jatkui kohti Vancouveria ja Commodore Ballroomia. Perille päästyämme kipaisimme Englantilaiseen pubiin aamiaiselle...Ensimmäinen Kanadan keikka sujui hienosti.

Seuraava päivä olikin vapaata. Hengasimme Kamloops-nimisessä kaupungissa. Tommy vuokrasi Ahtin kanssa Harleyt ja lähtivät huristelemaan.

23. päivä keskiviikkona oli vuorossa Edmonton. Keikkapaikka oli kivasti jättimäisen ostoskeskuksen yhteydessä, josta löytyi tavallisten kauppojen lisäksi mm. täysimittainen jääkiekkokaukalo, huvipuisto vuoristoratoineen, vesipuisto benjihyppyineen.. No, siinähän joutui vähän shoppailemaan..

Torstaina soitimme Calgaryssä MacEwan Ballroomissa, joka sijaitsee Yliopiston yhteydessä. Yliopistolta löytyi myös pubi, jossa kävimme syömässä...

Perjantaina löysimmekin itsemme Saskatoonista, joka on muuten Tampereen ystävyyskaupunki...Pyörähdimme Tommyn ja Tonyn kanssa syömässä taas kerran englantilaisessa pubissa...

Winnipegiin saavuttuamme huomasimme iloksemme, että Stratovarius-orkesteri oli majoittuneena samaan hotelliin, jossa myös meillä oli suihkuhuone. He viettivät vapaa-päivää ja tulivat katsomaan keikkaamme. Kivaa oli taas rahan edestä.

Sunnuntaiksi ajoimme jälleen Jenkkien puolelle viettämään vapaa-päivää Sioux Falls-nimiseen kaupunkiin, matkallamme kohti Kansas Cityä. Piipahdimme hotellin uima-altaalla virkistäytymässä. Paikallinen Mall oli mukavan lähellä, ja kyllähän se pubi sieltäkin löytyi...

Week 2

Canada!

After crossing the border our journey continued to Vancouver´s Commodore Ballroom. First when we got there we found a good English pub where to eat. Our first show in Canada for this tour was just perfect.

Next day was a day off for us. We spent the day in Kamloops. Tommy and Ahti rented Harleys and off they went..

On Wednesday the 23rd it was time for Edmonton. The venue was part of this huge mall. They even had an ice-hockey rink, an amusement park and water world in this mall..we did a little shopping..

On thursday we played in Calgary. The MacEwan Ballroom was actually located in the university of Calgary. There was also a nice pub in there so we went there to eat...

On Friday we found ourselves from Saskatoon which is a "friendship-town" of Tampere, Finland. I live close to Tampere so it was cool. Once again we found our way to the English pub with Tony and Tommy...

On the next day when we got to Winnipeg, we found out that Stratovarius was also in town and actually in the same hotel that we had a shower room in. They were having a day off and they came to see our show. We hung out a bit and had some fun!

Sunday was a day off for us. We stopped to spend it in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on our way to Kansas City. We refreshed ourselves by the pool in the hotel. The local mall was also near by and we found the pub in there, so it was a perfect place to eat some pizza there. Sweet.

The Last Amazing Grays US Tour w/ Dragon Force

The Last Amazing Grays US Tour w/ Dragon Force

Ensimmäinen Viikko (vko 38)

Aikaisin tiistai aamuna lähdettiin kohti Meksikoa. Ehdimme siis juuri pois "jaloista" ennen levyn julkaisua. The Days Of Grays albumi julkaistiin Suomessa seuraavana päivänä. Meksikossa vedettiin sisäfestarikeikka Monterreyssä. Paikalla oli myös muita Suomalaisia akteja, kuten Amorphis ja Children Of Bodom. Soitimme jo iltapäivästä ja jouduimme lähtemään lentokenttää kohti aikaslailla heti keikan jälkeen, joten ei ehditty paljoa rillutella poikain kanssa (mitä nyt vähän..)

Nokka kohti Kaliforniaa

Soitimme Kaliforniassa ensin yhden oman keikan Santa Anassa ennen Dragonforcen kiertueelle mukaan liittymistä. Galaxy Theatre oli paikkana tuttu entuudestaan. Seuraavana päivänä perjantaina soitimme Los Angelesin House Of Bluesissa ja lauantaina seurasi San Franciscon Regency Center. Hollywoodissa niinkuin Friscossakin ehdimme hieman jaloitella kylillä ja haistella paikallista ilmapiiriä. Kalifornian keikat menivät kyllä oikein malliikkaasti, mitä nyt pieni Jetlagi tahtoi puskea päälle.

Sunnuntaiksi bussimme oli yön aikana kuljettanut meidät Oregonin Portlandiin. Roseland Theatre oli keikkapaikkana tuttu viime syksyn Nightwish-kiertueeltamme. Pähkinänkuoressa uuden levyn kiertue on lähtenyt mallikkaasti käyntiin. Saimme uutisen, että The Days Of Grays ("T-DOG" kavereiden kesken) on myynyt Suomessa jo kultaa. Kiitos kaikille levyn ostaneille.

First week (week 38)

On Tuesday early in the morning we headed for Mexico. We nearly got out of the way when our new album "The Days Of Grays" was released on Wednesday in Finland. We had an indoors-festival show in Monterrey, Mexico. The were also such Finnish acts playing as Amorphis and Children Of Bodom. Our show was already in the afternoon and we had to leave straight away to the airport after the show, so we didn´t have the time to hung out with rest of the Finns. (well, of course a bit..)

Towards California

First when we arrived we had one own show in Santa Ana before we teamed up with Dragonforce. Galaxy Theatre was already familiar venue for us. On the following day on Friday we played at the House Of Blues in West Hollywood and then on Saturday at Regency Center in San Francisco. In Hollywood as well as in Frisco we had some time to walk around a bit and feel the local atmosphere. The shows in California went well even though I was suffering a bit from the Jetlag.

On Sunday we woke up in our bus from Portland, Oregon. We knew Roseland Theatre from our Nightwish tour last Fall. In a nut shell the tour has started pretty decent. We also got the news that our new album has reached gold in Finland already. Thank ou all who have purchased the cd.

In Rock,

Elias