Diary

07.12.2008: From Estonia to Lapland

From Estonia to Lapland

The first leg of our Christmas tour ended successfully on the last day of November in Rauma, from where we headed straight back home. The next day it was time for a new country, Estonia, to be added in our CV. It feels pretty strange that it took us over 11 years to cross the 80 kilometres over the Gulf of Finland and enter the capital of our "brother nation". Better late than... Our concert was part of the Jõulujazz festival and took place in the big and beautiful Kaarli kirik church. More than 700 people came to see us and the atmosphere was awesome. Hopefully it came across to the people listening to the concert on the radio at home, too. Thank you Tallinn, thank you Estonians – see you in April on our Estonian tour! Aitäh!

As soon as we arrived back in Finland we steered our tour bus towards Tampere. Although the Tampere Hall is huge, we were able to create a very intimate and focused atmosphere, thanks to our devoted Tampere audience. It is hard to believe that we were able to attract almost a full house again. It gives us faith that what we do is meaningful.

The same pattern repeated in the sold out concerts in Jyväskylä, Iisalmi and Rovaniemi. As the people who have been in our concerts know, we have the habit of coming out to sign CD's and meet the audience after each concert. This year it has been striking that many people have come to thank us in a very emotional state of mind. It is a true joy to be able to work in a profession that gives people emotional experiences – happiness, sorrow, whatever.

Oh yes, it was so much fun to do downhill skiing today in Ounasvaara. Kuusamo, here we come!