Spiritual Beggars playing two gigs in Greece this week. I wasn’t gonna go.
I did check flights last month just to see if I could make it a weekend-getaway maybe, cause I haven’t been anywhere since my dad passed away, and it’s time to do something soon.
Australia is coming up, but, I figured maybe something smaller and closer.
Unfortunately the routes were hopeless – three stops, long waits, sometimes up to 28 hours (!), absolutely stupid flights going to Stockholm, Riga (in the OPPOSITE direction of Thessaloniki!) then to Istanbul in Turkey before finally reaching Thessaloniki. No way. And silly expensive. I could go to the STATES for those prices. Forget it.
I was sitting on the bus this morning, tired and bored, on my way to work – and just decided to check those flights again, out of habit. I wasn’t on a mission, just killing time.
And there it was – the PERFECT flight!Only ONE stop and 50% cheaper! I got so excited, forgot about how tired I was, immediately texted my boss to check if I could leave work a little earlier on Friday, got a “yes of course” and went to book that flight. Then the f**** cell just freezes…! It NEVER does that – but of COURSE it had to do that right then…! F***k.
Got to the office – RAN up the stairs, 4 floors, turned on my PC – went online…. and THAT ticket, for that price, was – of course – gone…. Only those expensive tickets left. Oh well.
I had to check just ONE more time about an hour later. Just out of curiosity.
And THERE IT WAS!! The cheap and short flight! I grabbed it as quickly as I could and it was all mine!
I was so excited, so glad, haven’t felt that way since my dad passed.
Eventhough I’ve been trying to continue living life as normal, I haven’t been 100% the same since dad had to leave this world for the next.
The most important person in my life, who’s always been there for me, is missing and it takes time to get over that – at least “get over” it enough to focus on what I’ve got instead of mourning what I don’t have.
Travelling, planning a journey, the atmosphere at airports, the takeoffs, watching the clouds from a round little window and getting to new destinations, meeting new people, entering a new hotel room – I LOVE all that, it truly gives me my greatest kicks in life.
That – and music. So, combining those two is the best way of living life. At least for me it is. :-)
I was walking around like a ray of sunshine all day! Just because I haven’t been out anywhere for several months – which is a bit unusual for me. I’ve missed it.
So it feels like life is getting back to some sort of normality again, back to what I’m supposed to do before it’s my time to “move on” so to speak. Hopefully it’s not quite yet – but I’m going to do my best to live each day as if it really was my last.
I love Thessaloniki – it’s such a beautiful city, love the vibe and the nice, friendly people there. That and a cool gig – and October just got a whole lot brighter! :)
[Spiritual Beggars in Hamburg, Germany, back in April]
One of my long-time friends gave me a letter that I had written to her back in 1992 after I had met my guitar hero (right up there with Yngwie!) PAUL GILBERT for the very first time.
She figured it could be cool for me to have it now, all these years later, and maybe use it as material for my blog.
If she hadn’t given me this letter, I wouldn’t have remembered that I even got a kiss from Paul GIlbert(a very innocent one, but hey – still)!
FROM A TYPED LONG LETTER (over 20 pages!) after meeting MR BIG at Circus, Stockholm, Sweden…..
April 29, 1992 (bits and pieces, that letter was crazy long! Slight changes also so that it makes better sense. :))
I couldn’t sleep, I had only ONE thing in mind: I HAD to meet Paul Gilbert. When I called my friend Lena she had suddenly changed her mind and didn’t even want to go! She said she had already seen and met Mr Big. She had tons to do, had no money and a whole bunch of bad excuses. I told her to cut the crap, get off her ass and tag along! She did. :-)
When we got to Circus (the venue) a limo with tinted windows pulled up just as we arrived, it was the band.
There were lots of fans there and the security guys exaggerated their attempts to keep people away from the car. So when Eric Martin stepped out, he grabbed one of those red roadsides and started yelling into it, making fun of the security guys: “Alright alright people! Move it, move it!”
The guards didn’t find it amusing, but he was just laughing at them, with that boyish smile of his.
[Jumping to the part where we are hanging out after the show, trying to figure out how to meet the band…]
We met Helen from WEA and a girl I knew, asked her to leave a message for Billy Sheehan. She had met him in the States and he had told her that she should look him up anytime & anywhere and he’d get her in on the guest list. So – she asked Helen to just give him the message.
Helen looked reluctant, saying something like “yeah, maybe“…. But probably not. She would be back “in a minute“. When she came back, she said she would catch BIlly AFTER the show. Yeah – right.
Oh and by the way, I found out that Paul goes to the same hairdresser as Vixen. Not that it has anything to do with anything, but, just a bit of trivia.
ANYHOO…… After the show, it was the same old shit as usual, security kicking everybody out, clearing the premises. I was convinced that I would have to accept that I would NOT be meeting Paul GIlbert this time. Yet I didn’t want to leave.
We told the security people that we were waiting for Helen from WEA, so they let us stay. Helen finally came out, shrugged her shoulders and just left. Not that I expected anything different anyway, but it was worth a try.
Lena was tired and wanted to go home. I didn’t, so I just went over to the groupie-section and joined all those chicks. I might as well sit there and wait.
Then a MIRACLE happens…!
A guy from EMA Telstar (concert promotor) walks up to the bunch, barely looks at anyone because he’s got his nose in his papers, and goes: “Would you follow me please!”and waved for us to follow him. We just walked STRAIGHT IN – without passes!
Apparently they didn’t expect anyone to be sitting there without a pass, so they didn’t even check!
I was super excited and whispered to Lena: “Can you believe that we are on our way to meet Paul?!” She just yawned and said she wanted to go home. Very inspiring indeed.
We were shown to this corridor and given free beer. A lot less groupies than usual by the way. Not like Skid Row’s backstage area. Mr Big only had maybe 10 groupies and they weren’t as slutty as Skid Row’s.
Pat came down and greeted everybody with a smile: “Good evening, ladies!”One of the girls yelled: “Nice ass!”– and he strutted his stuff all the way to the dressing room haha!
Up next, was Billy, who looked dead tired after the show. He stopped, looked at everyone and went: “I’m feeling better already!”
He walked on. “If you follow me, ladies….”and suddenly he had ten chicks following him like a tail. He yelled through the dressing room door: “ARE YOU DECENT??”and got a loud “YES!” from Pat, we all walked in. There was only Pat in there – and lots of food and drinks.
Eric walked in, mr Hyper! He was singing, joking, just attracting attention. I don’t know why, but I started talking with him and I asked if he wasn’t worried that people would start thinking of Mr Big as a ballad-band, because they released two ballads in a row as singles?
– Don’t you want us to be successful? This is obviously what people want to hear. We released “Daddy, brother…” and “Green Tinted Sixties Mind” as singles, so we’re not a ballad band!
He kept going on and on about it, I never meant it THAT seriously, it was just a thought.
While he was talking away, I saw Paul’s shoes walking in our direction, and next thing I know, he’s standing right next to me. Lena gave me a look and a wink, as if to say “THERE he is!” Geeezuz.
Suddenly Eric yells:
– ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME? with a “what the fuck“-smile.
Lena quickly leaned over to Eric and explained: “GOD just entered the room…!”
Eric looked at me – looked at Paul and yeah, he got it! He gave me a wink and a smile and left.
I was shaking like a leaf as I was trying to get my Racer X-CD’s and the “Guitars That Rule The World”-CDout of the plastic bag .
I walked up to him, he greeted me cheerfully and started talking. A lot! I had had this idea that he was a shy type of guy, but… far from it!
He hadn’t even SEEN the “Guitars That Rule The World“-cover before! So he was very curious. He had only heard Zakk Wylde’s song on that album and said he liked it.
Then he saw that godawful pic of him and Billy and just laughed out loud. People were turning their heads just to see what was going on. He held the pic up in the air yelling: BILLY!! HAVE YOU SEEN THIS??! JESUS CHRIST!!!
[Paul trying to get some rest backstage after the show in Stockholm, 1992 – but gets sat on by a crew guy!]
He wanted to know if I REALLY wanted that horrible picture signed, and yeah I did – so he signed it, but giggled for minutes after that. He gave me a pick as well.
I told him that I loved his little tune, and he said thanks, and explained that it was mostly meant as a joke, to make fun of that whole guitar-hero myth. I asked if he would ever consider playing it live, and he replied that it would be almost impossible because the song consisted of 5 different solos mixed with acoustic guitar,
I laughed and said: “Hey, people call you a genoius – you should be able to rearrange it and play it live!”
He laughed, said it was a fun idea, he would definitely consider it and see what he could come up with. So – if he ever DOES play it live, I will know where he got the idea from. ;)
Lena started talking to Paul, so I went over to Billy Sheehan instead. What a super-nice guy. He shows a genuine interest in every single person he talks to. He was very down to earth and easy to talk to. I asked him if it was possible to get a pass for Copenhagen as well and he said it could absolutely be arranged.
He was so impressed that I was going to see them twice… If he only knew how many times I’ve seen Skid Row…!
Went back to Paul after a while, cause none of the chicks gave a shit about him, so he was alone. Perfect – for me.
I asked a little about his education, considering he became a guitar hero already at the age of 16. He said that he finished high-school and after that he’s been educating himself to the best of his ability.
Then he got up with a smile on his face and went to get his bag.
– I’ll show you what I’m reading right now!
I thought it would be something silly, cause he had that look on his face, but it turned out to be a book about PHYSICS!
– I NEVER thought that you’d be reading a book like this! I said with eyes as big as plates.
– Well… I haven’t finished it yet, but…
His attitude was that, just because you’re a musician, it doesn’t mean that you have to be STUPID.
I asked him what kind of music he was listening to. Once again, he walked over to his bag, grabbed another bag and handed it over to me.
– You can see for yourself. I think I’ve got everything in there.
There was some “J.O Bach” (not J.S Bach!), Dee-Lite, AC/DC, Motown soul… All kinds of stuff. He wasn’t kidding when he said that he had “everything”…!
I asked him about his opinion of female musicians.
– Bonnie Raitt is one of my favorites. And Lisa, from Wendy & Lisa, Have you heard her?
I nodded and he was just about to ask me if I had heard this song…but I had to stop him there cause I didn’t own her record, unfortunately.
He loved Lita Ford (yey!!) and his favorite Lita-song was “Gotta Let Go“. And he liked Diana Ross as well.
Kept asking him stuff like there was no tomorrow! I wondered howcome he stopped writing for Guitar Player, and he just said he didn’t have time and that he had run out of ideas. He looked surprised, probably didn’t expect someone like me to be reading Guitar Player.
The band had to leave, so he got up and was about to give me a hug, when I jokingly said that if he hugged me, I would probably drop down dead. So he kissed me instead!
Uhhh – YES, I definitely hit the ground right after that. Lena went: “Miracles DO happen, huh?”
Jesus, yes – you could say that.
[there was a part two of this letter too – a LONG part two, but I will spare you.
Billy remembered the passes for the Copenhagen show the next day, bless him. :)
And yes, I met Paul there too. Awesome guy! I’m still a big fan of his – he rules!]
The departure to the Firewind-shows in Australia is getting closer. The habit I obtained back in 2011, to travel across the globe to see Greek virtuosos Firewind, is now taking me all the way down to the continent “down under”, the land of the koalas and kangaroos!
It’s a trip over 9 time zones, taking me across two (or 3, depending on how you count) continents and 16,036 km, 9,964 English miles, 8,659 nautical miles (I had to look it up)….
I’m super excited about it, because for ONCE in my life, I really don’t know what to expect! I know Europe and I know the USA well enough. No big surprises there, just slight differences, but all in all, it’s pretty much all the same place… But THIS? Everything is backwards!
And THIS time, I’m not going to travel like a backpacker to keep it as cheap as possible. Not when I have over 30 hours of travel-time to deal with.
If there’s EVER a good time to spend a little extra on a trip, this is it. I’m travelling like a QUEEN this time.
That Emirates business-class is something I’m really looking forward to. Lie-flat bed with built in massage and your own mini-bar, and a 23/7 open bar with snacks and drinks, luxury-style entertainment system, award winning food, private driver, lounge… The works! The super-long flight will NOT suck, for a change.
And – best of all – most likely no screaming babies in that part of the plane. :))
[The bar in Business Class :) I will have a rainbow-drink with a little umbrella in it, please!]
I’ve had a great time travelling around to see Firewind the past two years.
My biggest heroes are all those classic bands, you know, Judas Priest, Whitesnake, Sabbath, Ozzy… But when it comes to live shows, I’ve never been disappointed at the Firewind gigs. They can change band-members all they want, the energy is always there regardless – every single time.
Even the “big” bands have bad evenings sometimes. But I’ve never seen Firewind suck live – not even once. So, it’s safe to travel to the other side of the world to see a few shows. I know it’s going to be the thrill of a lifetime! :)
AND, I’m really excited about meeting my Australian friend Clint from Melbourne, who will join me in Brisbane for this tour (I’m off on a wildlife-safari in Sydney the day after my arrival, so no time to socialize there, unfortunately).
He’s been following me online since my very first website back in 1997, a good friend that I’ve been talking to regularly through MSN-chat (now Skype) so it’s about time that I met the guy in person! :)
And there will be yet a few memorable Firewind-shows to add to to the list. This is “the list” so far – started counting with the Ozzy-show in NYC which is where it all began!
It looks like an insane number of shows, but I’m loving every second of it!
I get to travel, see things, experience all kinds of adventures and most of all, I get to see great rock’n’roll shows all over the world! What could be better than THAT!
24 days to go! :)))
One of the reasons why I love music – apart from the purely emotional aspect (music is what feelings sound like) is that there’s ALWAYS something to EXPLORE!
I’m curious by nature, I absolutely LOVE digging for facts, information, gaining more knowledge about something that truly interests me. I can lose myself in books or webpages for hours, sometimes days cause I want more!
I used to go to the library several times a week when I was a teenager (the days before Google and internet…) and spend hours in their music department. It was heaven!
There were all these books about ALL types of music styles, artists… Biographies, encyclopedias… And you could listen to records. Back then, there was a couch in a corner of the music department, with 4 pairs of headphones. You would go there with your pile of LP’s and listen through each and every one, just to get an idea what it was.
Music wasn’t available (for free) any other way before the Internet, so it felt like such a privilege to be able to explore.
I borrowed TONS of LP’s and cassettes back in those days – all kinds of styles, just out of curiosity. It could be anything from the brothers Strauss and their Austrian waltzes and operettes to one-hit-pop-wonders to country, blues, heavy metal…
Discovering something new that I liked was a true kick. Especially when I didn’t expect it.
It’s not quite as fun nowadays, because it’s not so much a sport anymore. Pretty much ANYTHING is available – easily and quickly. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes and I kind of LIKED the challenge.
It’s also funny HOW you end up listening to some bands. The turns things can take and where it can lead you. That whole FIREWIND-thing for instance.
Went to see HALFORD when they were opening for OZZY at Madison Square Garden. I was jetlagged and tired and just wanted to get some sleep. The plan was to skip Ozzy after a few songs, had already seen him many times so I figured I wouldn’t be missing out on a whole lot.
UNTIL I noticed the “new kid on the block”, the new guitarist GUS G, who was absolutely fantastic! I forgot about being tired and stayed throughout the whole show.
Then I ended up checking for more info – who’s the dude? Firewind? What’s that?Gotta check it out. Found myself on the next flight to London and Relentless Garage to see that Firewind-band. Absolutely LOVED the energy they produced on stage – and yeah the rest is history.
I didn’t go digging as eagerly into FIrewind’s back catalog, as I did trying to find interesting stuff that Gus had played on in the past. So I got most of THAT, just for the sake of having it. The music was not quite my thing to be honest, but in order to appreciate an artist for who he is today, you need to know a bit about his past as well. It just gives you a different perspective of the journey that they’ve made.
When Firewind parted ways with former singer Apollo Papathanasio, I was bummed at first because I love Apollo’s voice. It’s the next best thing to Tony Martin who is my #1 all time favorite singer ever. Nobody comes close to Tony Martin in my book, but Apollo comes pretty darn close.
I was looking for video interviews of Apollo on YouTube before I did my own interview, just to have something to compare with, but instead I ended up seeing his name on what felt like a million different projects!
THAT got me curious! First I bought MAJESTIC, simply because I know a few other guys who played in that band.
Then I got FAITH TABOO – another band Apollo sang with in the 90’s and I loved the sound and the versatility of that album. His vocals were great even back then, but it also shows how much he’s prospered over the years.
Next thing I know, I’m typing “ebay.com” in my browser, searching for all those Apollo-fronted old bands and projects…. The CD’s were CHEAP for the most part, guess it’s cause it’s not as “cool” to buy CD’s, as it is to just DOWNLOAD shit. But I want the REAL DEAL. I want the booklet, the lyrics, the credits, the thank-you’s, the pix, just the whole thing!
And I had synchronized my eBay account with my PayPal, which means that it was easier and faster than EVER to buy shit on there! Dammit. Bad idea. ;)
I kept clicking away just for the fun of it – “oh look! There’s one! I’ll get THAT… Ah! Another one! I’ll get that as WELL…! Cool, check it out, don’t have THAT….”
An hour later…errrm… Well – take a wild guess. And now that I started, I have to finish it.
Always been collecting records – I love it, nothing like having an artist’s complete back catalog…!
When I started collecting TONY MARTIN stuff, I found his solo-album that HE didn’t even have HIMSELF (long story), and old demos, bootlegs and stuff… I couldn’t just quit half way through, either I had to have ALL his shit or NONE of it. And since he was – and still is – my favorite singer, of course I had to get ALL of it.
[When I started my Tony Martin-collection waaay back in ’95 or ’96]
Apollo has this amazing voice, I just love it. To me a good rock’n’roll voice is not about belting out high notes. I always hear people using M Matijevic of STEELHEART as an example of “good singers”. Sure, the guy can sound like his …uh… boomstick is stuck in his zipper or something, but I get pretty tired listening to that range after more than one song.
I do, however, love the deeper, masculine voices with an edge and a dramatic vibrato (NOT the “Dickinson wannabe”-vibrato or the German power-metal singer parody type of vibrato).
So I’m like a kid in a CANDY STORE right now! Here I’ve been following Firewind all over the globe the past few years just because I enjoyed their live shows – yet I never bothered to start digging deeper into the musical history of anyone except Gus G’s.
Getting all these old Apollo-projects on CD now is going to absolutely rock! I even found that very first vinyl single he recorded with CRAZE like a hundred years ago, yesterday!
In a way, it’s a good thing that the guys went separate ways, cause now they can try their wings doing different things. Gus G is working on his solo-project which I’m DYING to hear… And Apollo trying something different with stoner band Spiritual Beggars and the one-off Craze-reunion and whatever else he’s got up his sleeve.
Everything happens for a reason in life – as well as in the music business. Firewind will start a new exciting page in their history, there is a different dynamic in the band now with what Kelly is bringing to the table. I’m convinced that it’s for the better. :)
Well, regardless what band or artist rocks your boat – isn’t it just awesome to be able to lose yourself in MORE of whatever it is you like about what they do?! It’s what keeps the rock’n’roll spirit alive!
Drove up to Halmstad yesterday – which is a little less than two hours from Malmo where I live, to see ex-Firewind singer Apollo Papathanasio do a one-off gig with his very first band CRAZE. A kind of reunion type of thing.
He had mentioned it on the phone a few days ago, otherwise I wouldn’t have known about it as it wasn’t a gig that’s been largely advertised, especially not outside of Halmstad.
The venue was pretty cool, it was an old shed that hosted a fairly big stage (for that type of venue at least), and quite a lot of room for the bar and the crowd as the two “rooms” were separated. Great place.
When Apollo walked in, he was immediately surrounded by friends and fans. I finally got a chance to “dig through” the crowd of people to say hi, and he was truly glad to see me. Only had time to chat for a minute or two, before the first band was due on stage.
When Apollo said that it was a band of “young guys” I thought he meant guys in their 20’s. Instead, what entered the stage was…. 3 KIDS! :) I’m not kidding, three boys in their early teens (I heard they were around 14). And the little dudes freaking KILLED it! Wow, I was sincerely impressed.
They played like they had been in the business for 30 years! There was the unmistakeable youthful passion, but they also had the elements of an established, experienced band, which is a rare combo.
Usually when you see young bands, they are simply ripping off their idols, and not doing it very well either. THESE guys let their influences shine through clearly, while at the same time, they weren’t copycats, they were doing their own thing with a refreshing sense of confidence without any arrogance.
How they managed to achieve that unusual balance at their very early age, I have no idea, but I do hope they get a break and get more gigs or maybe even a record deal. If any unsigned band that I’ve seen lately deserves it, these young boys sure as hell do!
I didn’t take pics and I didn’t film it, unfortunately, I wish I had. That’s what you get when you expect nothing and you get absolutely blown away! Oh yeah, they were called PARADISE CRUE. Probably a name you should remember. :)
[Found somebody else’s video of the guys on YouTube, from some band contest that they won]
After the “little dudes” it was time for CRAZE to hit the stage.
I had no idea what to expect. Had only heard two songs from a vinyl single that my friend Janne Stark (fellow journalist, guitarist and author of the Encyclopedia of Swedish rock) played for me last time I was there. I knew it was 80’s type of rock but that’s about it.
And considering that Apollo admitted they hadn’t had lots of time to rehearse, it could turn out to be pretty much anything, so I was simply curious!
The first great surprise was that Apollo was playing the guitar as well this time! Awesome! And, he wasn’t standing in the middle, where I would have expected a lead singer to be – he was on the left side of the stage.
When they started playing, I just SMILED. Not because it was Dream Theater-perfect, a few minor mishaps but it was also what gave this gig a charm and honesty. Perfection is not always so charming, this shows that even super-experienced musicians are human, like the rest of us, haha! :)
I loved the songs – I adore Apollo’s voice. I have since the first time I heard him, I’m a total sucker for those Tony Martin type o voices, very masculine, dark and edgy – true rock’n’roll.
Great harmonies, and most of all, there was no question that the band was having fun on stage, as well as the crowd. The energy in the room was just so positive, it went straight to your heart! :) That’s what it should feel like when you go to a show.
YES, I filmed it. :) But out of respect for Apollo, I won’t publish any of it without his consent. So, I hope he will give his blessing and you’ll hopefully get to enjoy it soon enough. :)
But for now, just a little AUDIO-clip from one of the songs. Please be aware that I was standing so close to the stage that the sound is basically from the stage monitors. So, if something sounds like crap, it’s not the band, it’s the position of the camera/microphone. They finished their set with a cover of KISS “Love Gun” – love it! :))
I’m more than happy that I went to Halmstad yesterday, I loved the show. Apollo is a great artist, with some frontmen you just can’t go wrong. :)
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR 