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August 1, 2004
Helsinki, Finland
Ankkarock Festival
 
Finally, a sunny day in Finland. We got here on the 28th and its been pouring rain. Our days off were used for some more rehearsals to get ready for this tour. We're trying to be as ready as possible and work out all the little problems so that we don't look like complete assholes. On one of the days off, I got to meet Dave Stathos, Dave Schneider, and Anttii (who's last name I don't know and who's first name I probably spelled wrong anyway, they call him "Hawk," so let's just use that for now) from the Helsinki hockey team, H.I.F.K., at a restaurant with Willie. It was pretty cool to meet some guys from a local team. They were all super cool and I'm hoping we'll get to see them play some day (they had time off before training camp started). Willie and I have become completely obsessed by hockey lately, so we're on a bit of a quest. Willie also got his hands on a Finland SUOMI jersey for stage, so I was quite excited. I watched a bit of The Rasmus today in order to check them out, 'cause we're playing a bunch of shows with them. The crowd loved them (they're from Finland) and it was cool to watch them. Spent most of the day hanging out backstage and chatting with band and crew. Did some press, ate some catering, typical festival day really. The show went well for everyone, except Q-Ball. He had a horrible show. None of his equipment was working right so he was pretty pissed off. I think we put on a good show though and the crowd seemed to like it, except for a handful of people giving us the finger throughout the show. Then again, people like to give the finger at shows, so maybe they were our biggest fans. Who knows? The crowd seemed to like my Finland SUOMI jersey when Jim pointed it out, so that was cool. After the show I hung out with Gas (from Finnish band, Him), the hockey guys (including another H.I.F.K. player who's name is Jonas Vihko). I also got to meet and chat with Jere Lehtinen from the Dallas Stars (and NHL hockey team for those of you who don't know). Pretty exciting stuff for a hockey fan. Jere was really cool and was wearing a Children Of Bodom shirt, which we're playing with at the next festival and who I like, so we chatted about them for awhile. We all wanted to watch The Darkness, but they have pyro on stage so no one was allowed on stage to watch them, which really sucks. I had the chance to see them in Los Angeles and loved their show, but if I can't watch them on these festivals I'm going to hate it.