Wow, so that went well!

Getting a slot at Semifinal was a big deal, and with the help of the other acts (the blissfully mesmerizing Ulla Kolla and Mr. Cool himself Antero Kerkkä) we managed to draw a crowd that even the promoter was satisfied with for a Wednesday night.

But, putting that aside for a minute, this was such a special night in so many ways. First, this was our very first gig as a four-piece with Joel (who's been sitting in on the drums whenever Karza can't make) on keyboards. And boy does that one instrument make us sound good or what?! I literally had goosebumps when we started playing that opening riff to 'A Song For The Hills' over that majestical (let's call it a) "hillscape" that Joel had conjured up on his Nord. And judging by the reaction of the audience they were way into it as well!

But okay, I'm getting ahead of myself here. We always try to come up with something special for each show, so tonight we decided to play the whole upcoming 'I Can't Alone' EP in full. And part of the reason you've had to wait so long for it to finally emerge from...err...The Sea, is that as the title suggests I didn't want to do the EP by myself, but instead tried to get as many of my musical friends to participate on it. Obviously my Brothers of The Sea – Tuukka, Karza and Joel – all feature on it, but that's not everybody. Not by a longshot... Neither does everyone participating on the EP live in Finland, but I wanted to have as many of the people who're here at the moment to find their way up on the stage tonight, so for the EP closer 'A Man With No Dance' we were joined by three awesome singers; Cassandra, Erika and JH who've done a marvelous job singing on the record. Cassandra actually joined me and Joel for the song before that, 'Reptile I', to lay down one of those haunting vocal solos that only she can pull off in that special soulful kind of way of hers. Anyway, it was high time to get someone up on stage who actually gets the lyrics right – although Erika and JH were debating whether 'God' came before 'Man' at the soundcheck. It's 'Man' before 'God' in this case. And no, that's not a religious statement. Not even a political statement. Not even a statement, actually. Or maybe just a statement of facts. Lyrically, like.

Anyway, did I mention that everything sounded awesome!? I'm sorry, but I'm a sucker for new musical impulses, and it's a special kind of feeling to have really talented people take time out of their lives and contribute to your music. It takes special kind of people to do that. 'Cause you know, I Can't Alone!

A heartfelt Thank You to everyone who came! Loved chatting to everyone after the show and hope to see you again soon.

Stay safe and maybe even see you Friday next week at Vastarannan Kiiski?!?

We played:
01. Skinny Dip
02. Ugly
03. Naive
04. Reptile I
05. A Man With No Dance
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06. A Song For The Hills
07. Stuck With A Rhyme
08. Beggar Princess

Peace & Love,
Jon