Trip to Moscow - 08.05.2007 On April 2007 Finnish Music Information Centre arranged a showcase for four Finnish bands in Moscow and Bleak was honored to be one of the bands travelling to Russia. This is a short story of a trip to the mighty east! On monday 2nd of April all of the bands (Alamaailman vasarat, Eternal Erection, Underwater Sleeping Society and Bleak) and crew travelling to Moscow gathered at Helsinki railway station. We were supposed to travel by train to Moscow so that all of the bands and crew would be in the same coach but for some reason we learned that we were all scattered all around the train. Some of us had the luck of getting a familiar fellow to same cabin but most of us had to stay in four bed UNISEX cabins with strangers. So for example me and Caleb were travelling in a small cabin with a Russian couple. This was a slight problem since we had a bunch of equipment but we managed to stuff our gear to any cabin that had room for guitars and other stuff. Our drummer was in the same cabin with three Russian junior icehockey players: hence the nickname Junior! As we got all of the stuff to train we were given a bunch of forms to fill before the customs. What a nice task to fill out all kinds of funny questions about everything imaginable. Stuffing to a small cabin Filling out all kinds of papers and forms Junior and Russian junior icehockey team Our cabins were full of strangers and equipment so we headed to restaurant coach and pretty much started drinking in order to make the trip easier. Plenty of vodka, beer, food and nice company from our fellow bands. We even arranged a small Texas Hold' Em tournament since Tuukka from Alamaailman Vasarat had brought playing cards and a poker chip set with him. Our merry group of bands and crew in restaurant coach By the time we arrived to St.Petersburg our happy bunch of bands and crew were already having a blast and of course VODKA!!! Boys at St.Petersburg station After St. Petersburg we pretty much barricaded ourselves to restaurant coach until we were forced to leave after closing time. Junior with 100grams of VODKA We had brought video camera along in order to shoot some material from the trip so Crab was almost eveywhere with the cam. Crab documenting every single stupid activity By the time we ended up to our sleeping cabins we were a bit exhausted. I instantly fell asleep. Crab as usual had caused some disturbance in his cabin by shouting dirty finnish words while sleeping. It must have been scary for Russian travellers whose cabin mate is shouting strange words in the middle of the night... In the morning the train arrived to Moscow and we headed up to Ikra Club which was the venue for the show. Cosmos hotel was our place for accommodation. The building was 24 floors high, and you could wander off hundreds of meters on the aisles of the hotel, trying to find your way to your room. As the ad in the picture shows, there was also a casino, many bars and many restaurants in the complex. Also a space (”Cosmos”) museum was nearby. Cosmos hotel: The Ikra Club was a really cool place with two stages in two floors. We and UWSS had our gigs at the smaller stage and boy it really was small but both of the bands managed to fit surprisingly well. The backstage was also quite small but the mood was excellent. Locals were very friendly, offering lots of food and beverages and doing their best to make us feel comfortable. Club Ikra: Here the mixerman Jussi 'Öyhtis' Nikula is turning the knobs to find the ultimate settings for Bleak's gig. Jussi had some problems at first, but in the end managed to produce an enjoyable sound. May the Öyhtis be with you! Zeta and Junior adjusting the backline before the gig. The task was a bit difficult since the backline was very different from our own but with hard work we got everything working, in balance and sounding alright. Here you can witness Russian beauty; Inga, Ljuba (and Madu) having a toast. Inga worked as one of our hosts. Ljuba was our tour guide everywhere we went and the trip wouldn’t have been half as much fun without her! Junior was a victim of pranks. Here you can witness a huge pile of matresses and pillows piled on Junior. Even this piling did not disturb the beauty sleep of our narcoleptic warrior, Junior: Next day we went sightseeing the Moscow and the famous Red square. In the picture below, you can witness St.Basil’s cathedral, or the Holy Tetris church. The cathedral was very beautiful and now playing Tetris will never be the same again, having witnessed the whole thing live. St.Basil’s cathedral: Kremlin was an impressive sight. There were armed guards everywhere and the walls very high and sturdy. Mr. Stakula from Alamaailman Vasarat was a wee bit tired and ended up being photographed lying face down. It has been rumoured that Mr. Stakula has a hobby of being photographed in odd positions in odd places. Bleak posing in front of Lenin's mausoleum. There are rumours that Lenin is actually buried somewhere else.. but who knows, really? Bleak also went to their own tour of Moscow with really crowded subway. MAATUSKA (матрёшка) was on the shopping list, and there was a wide variety of optional MAATUSKAs to choose from! Another item for shopping list were cool hats and Junior of course had to try his share. How Polish is that? Special thanks to our Russian fans!!! - Bleak All entries: Trip to Moscow - 08.05.2007 What is the öyhdis? - 10.01.2007 Summer of 06 - 18.07.2006 The Firstborn - 17.05.2006 Levi gig (11.02.06) - 12.04.2006 Greetings from Madu - 14.03.2006 Caleb's studio-week from Hell (2 - 8.1.2006) - 16.01.2006 Recording guitars part II & III - 09.01.2006 Recording guitars part I - 19.12.2005 Journey home - 13.11.2005 Bleak@Semifinal(31.10) - 01.11.2005 Bleak's journal opens - 27.10.2005