Tarja Tour, 2010: Chapter 1
Sunday, Oct 3/2010

Well, after two rocking shows in Poland, we are off. To Kiev, Ukraine. What to remember about Poland?

Well, for one the food is interesting. Not unlike the food I grew up with really, but they seem to love to put pork in everything. The concept of “no meat” is not really of comprehension. The roads? Lets just say while they are drivable, on a tour bus it can be a little rough. The venues? Great. Sold out both nights. The crowds both fantastic, especially in Krakow. We feel very welcome by all. We worked our butts off in Warsaw getting the show together, and it seems the hard work has paid off. It felt good to be back in Poland, a place I seem to find myself quite often.

As "the new guy" its been cool getting to know everyone. This band and crew is an interesting group of people. There is Tomas the monitor guy….. Finnish, reserved, dry, funny, likes his “soup” (which is beer) but a true professional. Cares a great deal that you are completely comfortable on stage and always wants to hear what you have to say. Tommi, the light guy. Finnish, martial arts expert, a bit crazy, funny, bald, loves to drink Gin and Jaeger a great deal, and a great light designer who cares a great deal about how the show looks. Total pro. There's Max the Cellist.... a monster musician, great performer, caring, warm, quiet man and a great person to be around with great energy, Marcelo the manager (and Tarja’s husband)…. Very nice, Argentinean, calm, chill, professional and reserved. I honestly don’t know if it’s possible to rattle the guy. I would not want to play Poker against him. There would be no way to read what he has going on. Cedric the stage tech…. French/Swiss, lives the life of a Frenchman to the core. Very “on it” on stage. Its great to show up for sound check to find my gear in perfect order, all of my basses tuned. Funny as well. There is Alex the guitarist… German, funny, GREAT player, very chill, and a great hang. He and I are becoming fast friends, just as I am with Christian the keyboard player…… who is also German, funny, dry, always has a scarf on, refers to himself as "Remington Steel", great player, great sounds, never takes himself or life seriously in any way. There is Ringo the tour coordinator….. Another German, very nice, also works my side of the stage and helps with the drums and my bass gear during the show. Very cool guy, great conversations. The two bus drivers, Deitleif (German) and the mystery second driver who appeared out of a bunk in the middle of the night last night. It was odd to be moving down the highway had have someone you have never seen nor met appear out of a corner of the bus that you didn’t know existed. I honestly don’t know how these guys do it. This bus is massive. They have all of our lives in their hands, and they are up against bad roads, fog, bridges that are too low for this massive beast of a bus, a crew of people who constantly need help with the espresso machine, the list could go on and on. These guys are on it. Pete the front-of-house sound guy: World class, extremely talented, Finnish, been doing this for years, takes his job very seriously, likes his “soup” (like Tomas), falls asleep in a chair on the bus with a beer in his hand while listening to his I-Pod, waking up every 4 minutes to find a new song as the bus rolls down the road, which I find rather humorous to say the least. And the last two, Mike Terrana, the drummer: My old friend from way back….. We hadn’t played together in years, but we fell right back into it. It is because of Mike that I am here. I have had the honor of working with some of the greatest drummers in the world in recent years, and Mike is certainly among the best. What separates Mike from them all is not only his extreme style of drumming, but his ability to completely entertain the crowd… with drumming, on his own. As a soloist, he is in a class of his own. He takes a solo every night. He is probably one of the only drummers in the world who can take an old school, arena rock style drum solo and have the testicular fortitude to play the complete William Tell Overture with a double bass drum set to a hall full of rock fans, and win them over completely. He sells it with his sense of humor. Mike is a maniac. Italian-American, a bit of a hothead, a dear friend, always on it, never leaves anything, always gives it 110%. My friend has become a star of his own… just playing the drums. It’s a pleasure to work with him again. And lastly, Tarja….. An absolute sweetheart of a person, she could not make me personally feel more welcome. She sets the tone for the entire organization: a tone of complete humility. I joke that it’s a group of people where everyone top to bottom takes their job very seriously, but does not take himself or herself seriously at all, and it all comes together to form a wonderful team, all focused on giving the audience the best possible performance every night. It all starts from the top. She makes everyone, no matter what his or her job, feel valued, needed, welcome and appreciated. Its rare to say the least when you work with anyone who is a legitimate “star” (although I hate that word) who is able to be a leader of a team of people who want to do nothing but make her show the best it could possibly be every night, for all the RIGHT reasons. She is a fantastic talent to say the least. I think that is obvious to all. But what matters more is that she is a fantastic person, whom creates an environment where everyone wants to give their all, each and every time, because they are being led by example. Its an honor to work with Tarja and its not only a pleasure to perform along side of her but to call her a friend.



Next Chapter: the backroads of Eastern Europe and crossing an international border with a bus full of musicians...... in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night.