THE DREAM
Back in 2010 I attended Green Day's show here in Helsinki. Billie Joe picked a girl to come up on stage to sing Longview. Out of the 25,000 Finns, Billie Joe managed to pick the only girl from Australia. After the show I went to Green Day forums, and found that this girl named Liz had attended EVERY show during that Green Day tour, all over the world. That's CRAZY! And that was the time I realized that rather than waiting for Sum 41 to come to Finland, I could travel around to see them in other parts of Europe as well. While following them on tour would be a dream, it would be super expensive and would probably never happen for me, but I was more than happy to see them once or twice a tour.
When Sum 41 announced their "comeback" tour for February 2016, I got an idea to start planning for a tour of my own. I was inbetween jobs then, so I got the time to do it, and I thought this would be my chance. Only thing was the money, and while I would've wanted to attend the whole Kerrang tour from start to end, my bank account just couldn't have handled it. So instead, I was left to plan a mini-tour, including a show in Amsterdam and two in Paris.
About a week before leaving to Amsterdam, I was talking about my upcoming trip with my parents and they realized how much this trip meant to me. They told me that if I really wanted to do the whole tour, they would offer me a loan to help me with the costs. I was so excited! Although it was already midway through Sum 41's UK leg, so the next realistic stop for me would be London.
LONDON, UK
So I started my tour in London. I arrived at the hotel two hours before the Sums would start, and by the time I got to the venue, the two supporting bands had already played, so the next in line was Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes. While their music were way too hard rock/metal for me, the singer was one of the best with the crowd interaction I've ever seen. He orchestrated the pit, got the crowd running around the venue, sang a song in the middle of the crowd etc. He was so good at it! I enjoyed the show, even though the songs were not for my taste.
On to Sum 41. It had been 4 years since my last Sum 41 show, and also 4 years since my last front row experience. I had attended a bunch of shows in Helsinki after that, but I guess I had grown old from the front row experience, so I had enjoyed the shows from the back or from the balcony. So this time, I stayed away from the front row. But the time Sum 41 started with Over My Head, I knew that staying far back is NOT for my Sum 41 shows. I HAD to get to the front ASAP. The problem was, it seems that the British crowd is more aggressive than in the mainland. While the crowd at Sum 41 shows have always been crazy for me, this time elbows and shoulders were used to hit others on purpose, even if you weren't in the middle of the pit. With a 4-year hiatus from the front of the crowd, this was a bit odd to me, but it was still better than staying at the back. Still, I couldn't enjoy the show 100%, since I had to watch out for the flying elbows. It was a bit shame, since this show ended up being the only one where they played 88, which was a HUGE positive surprise for me! And they played Summer, Handle This, What We're All About and Grab The Devil! I was sooo happy, even though my experience was a bit disturbed. But still, I was able to hear the three guitars, so it was enough to realize that the band sounds better than ever. I couldn't wait to hear more.
Setlist
- Spoiler: show
AMSTERDAM, NL
I took a train to Amsterdam. I met up with Mitchell, and later Amin and Cyril from Sum 41 France. It was awesome to hang out with fellow Skumfuks! The supporting bands for the rest of the tour were different than in UK. The first band was Hollerado from Canada, which I really enjoyed. They were fun to watch, and they had catchy songs that kept the crowd going (at later shows they played a cover of Dammit by blink-182). I bought their CD, but they are one of those bands that sound so much better live. Which was good for this tour!
The next band was Newdrive from Sweden. While I enjoyed Hollerado's show better, Newdrive's style was closer to my taste. While their show itself and the crowd interaction was nothing special, they have become one of my favorite bands. Their record is full of gold, and I've said this many times before, but you should really give them a listen. I really hope I'll get to see them live again now that I've learned to appreciate them more.
This show and the one in London were special for me. It was February 21st, and exactly 8 years before I had attended my first Sum 41 show, in London. Now I got to attend my 10th show in London, same place where it all started, and a couple of days later I celebrated the anniversary show with my Skumfuk friends. How cool is that! This time the crowd wasn't as aggressive, so I got enjoy the show at 100%! Highlights of the night were Mr. Amsterdam and Count Your Last Blessings. Also, same as in London, I really enjoyed the new piano intro for SBM, as well as Blood In My Eyes intro being played for Skumfuk. And Frank Zummo is the beast on drums, especially during his solos in King Of Contradction and Welcome To Hell!
During the show, when Deryck was about to pick people on stage, he looked at me. I don't remember if he said it, but at least I could tell from his eyes that he was thinking "No way, you're not getting up here!" so instead he went on to pick Mitchell. It was super awesome that some of us got up there, and especially Mitchell, since the rest of us would still have a chance later. But still, I was a bit disappointed that I still didn't get a chance to get up there for the first time.
After the show, we hang out at the venue. Luckily, I was invited to meet the guys, but unfortunately the rest of the Skumfuk gang couldn't join me. I asked Deryck what was that about with not picking me up on stage. He said that "You've been there so many times already, It's other people's turn." I said that while I've been super lucky to get to meet with you guys and such, I've never been on stage before. "Really? I thought you've been there", he said. Keep this conversation in mind for later..
Setlist
- Spoiler: show
PARIS, PART I
So after the show in Amsterdam had ended, Amin, Cyril and I waved goodbye to Mitchell and continued our way to France in Amin's car. The fans in France are so crazy. We got to our hotel around 12pm or so. We stayed right next to the venue, and we noticed a line of about 100 meters long. It was still 6 hours to go till the doors opened, and the line was already super long! Never seen anything like that before. We entered the venue around 7:30pm, which was halfway through Newdrive's set. And there were still a HUGE line waiting outside. I got the feeling that not all of them got inside in time for Sum 41.
The show was awesome, as always. Setlist-wise, the highlight was No Reason after the encore.
Setlist
- Spoiler: show
PARIS, PART II
Second night in Paris. I had seen three shows already, and noticed that the band pretty much has two setlists that they keep playing every other show. I was curious if they did something different this time around, after all it was the second show at the same place. And I was not disappointed. While I was getting ready to hear Over My Head, the TNT/JamesBrown/Metallica intro didn't stop at Master Of Puppets. Instead, it continued to the SBM "album noise", which I'd like to call it, and led up to Frank coming on stage alone with the familiar drum beat. OH MY FUCKING GOD was my reaction. I never thought that I would hear this song live again, and it's my #1 favorite Sum-song, so I was sooo full of excitement to hear Reason To Believe. DAMN! That already made my night! Little did I know the best was yet to come though. During the extended Hell Song bridge, Deryck asked who would like to come up on stage. I'm not sure if I even had the chance to raise my 41 salute, when Deryck came to me and said something along these lines (maybe a bit exaggerated, but forgive me this time, as I'm still excited while I'm writing this ): "Alright you crazy motherfucker, you sure you want to do this? You sure you want to come up here? Alright get your ass up here!" I just couldn't believe it. I was shaking. It was my 13th show and I was FINALLY getting up on stage! I was hardly realizing what happened, when Yoshi the security guy grabbed me and raised me (90kg/200 lbs) from the crowd with straight hands, haha. I guess I was smiling like a retard for the rest of the show, I was soo happy and excited! Normally, the people on stage are escorted away right before the encore, which on this tour was during In Too Deep. This time, Yoshi asked me to go hide behind the curtains for a while, and then he started to escort the fans back to the crowd. After the band went hiding for the encore, Yoshi came to me and said something like "Stay here until the band comes back. After that, keep enjoying the show". WOW! I got to stay on stage till the end! DAMN! I was so happy I was ready to die already. AMAZING, night of my life!
Setlist
- Spoiler: show
STUTTGART, GER
Seriously? Nothing could top the night before. But how could I stop now? So I took a train to Stuttgart to go on with my tour. Highlights? Did I need them anymore, I was already living the dream! After waiting at the venue long enough, I got to have a short chat with Deryck. My girlfriend was joining me in Cologne for the last show of the tour, so I asked Deryck if there's any possibility to play With Me there. "Yeah there's a chance", he smiled and said. While I was at it, I had to go on. "Would there also be any chance for Reason To Believe? It's my favorite song, and hers too? ", I asked. Deryck replied "Oh you got some nerve with these requests! The thing is, Reason To Believe is a song that can't be played every time. It also needs perfect acoustics, so while we may try it at soundcheck, we won't be playing it if we're not feeling it." That was fine with me, I was just asking.
Setlist
- Spoiler: show
COLOGNE, GER
Last show of the tour, both for me and the band. At the same time I was excited to hear how the setlist would look like, I was also sad that this dream I was leaving was close to the end. Anyways, after the intro stopped at Master Of Puppets and they started with Over My Head, I was a bit disappointed. Of course I would've loved to hear Reason To Believe this one last time, and since it's a song that can basically only be played in the beginning, I knew it wouldn't be expected anymore. But I was fine with this, after all they did play With Me! So, at the time of the encore, I was getting ready to jump with Underclass Hero, as expected from this setlist. BUT DAMN! The SBM album noises started playing. I was sooo OH FUCK OH FUCK THIS IS STILL HAPPENING! I had NO idea they would play it tonight anymore, I was totally blown away! REASON TO FUCKING BELIEVE as the encore song! I could cry from happiness. A PERFECT ending for my tour.
Setlist
- Spoiler: show
While I was super lucky to get to meet the guys multiple times, I was so disappointed I didn't meet them after this final night. I never got a chance to thank them for this awesome week I got to spend with them, not to mention the granting my requests for the final show. I also didn't have any pictures taken with them, since I didn't want to bother them with photo sessions at every show, so I thought I'll save it to the end. While these memories will last forever, it would've been great to have something concrete to look at. Luckily the band's photographer Tijs got a picture of me after the last show.
That being said, I'm in no place to be sad about anything anymore, since I just got my dreams fulfilled. I was having the time of my life, and I will be forever thankful not only for the band, but the all the crew guys and the Skumfuks I met during my trip. I can never thank any of them enough. Special thanks to Yoshi the security guy for being so cool and awesome for me. Now I've heard that he's leaving Sum 41, so I want to wish him all the best in the future!
Also, in the past I used to film 90% of the shows I've attended. Well, I was about to attend multiple shows, so I didn't feel like holding up my camera in all of them. Unfortunately, at the first show in London, someone spilled beer on my camera. While it didn't look bad, afterwards I noticed that the mic of my camera was broken. So while I have a bunch of videos of these shows, all of them have terrible sound. And since I didn't realize this until after getting back home, I didn't think of taking video with my phone, which would've had lower quality camera, but still good enough for a backup. None of it would've mattered though, since I drowned my phone in the bath sink in my Amsterdam hotel, fucking up the mic in that as well. I guess all this was the price I had to pay for having a week like this, so I'm fine with it.
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