LONDON — While the other guys stayed in beautiful Bradford for a day off, I ventured to Oxford where I used to live for one and a half years. Nice city with great pubs, but also lots of posh students and tourists. Anyway, it was good to meet some friends and do something normal for a while.
After a good night’s sleep, I took a bus to London, arrived an hour and a half late and unfortunately missed load-in with 100 meters of stairs. Bummer. Most luxurious backstage so far: A men’s toilet. Not kidding (see the photo).
Went to see Jens from Century Media at his hotel nearby and had a good chat about future tours and the making of a new Insomnium album. That’s right; you need to think far ahead into future these days.
The show was again a success. Had lots of friends come to see us, and as a result, ended up spending the rest of the evening by the bar with drunken consequences. Good evening all in all, London has always been awesome for us. Tonight was also the last show for the first support band, Vreid. Really nice guys, hope to see you guys soon!
NORWICH — Last day, last hangover. Surely not, but you can always try to fool yourself. Nice weather for a change. Had breakfast at a nearby café to celebrate my birthday. Alone is the best company. The longer you spend time on tour, the more you value your own peace — I guess it just might be me, but I really need to have some time off once in a while.
The last day is always the most boring one. You just wait to get the gig over with before heading home. Not feeling depressed, but just uneasy. Time is crawling. In a way, it would be nice to keep on going. On the other hand, there’s no place like home. Family. Own bed. Own toilet. Own things. Freedom to do what you want whenever you want...To our surprise, we had a pretty decent show and a nice crowd for a Monday. Probably one of the best ending shows we ever had. Big thanks to the Paradise Lost guys for thanking us in the last speech, it really was our pleasure.
After packing our stuff, we had a few hours of sleep in the bus, and at 5 a.m. we were at the Heathrow airport. Short goodbyes, and while the other guys headed back to Finland, I took Heathrow express to Paddington Station and caught an early train to Falmouth.
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To sum it up, this was not the easiest tour we’ve had. For first time in our career, we had to fight with promoters on daily basis to get a hot meal. At the same time, the guys from Vreid and Paradise Lost were awesome and we had lots of fun all the time. Also, special thanks to our tour manager James for keeping our side all the time. Most importantly, all of the shows were good, and I think we reached new audiences in the UK with this tour. And that’s why you tour: to get your music and name out there. All fans, both old and new, thank you for your support. Next stop China and Japan. Can’t wait.
Insomnium's latest album, One For Sorrow, is available on iTunes now.
