The Tour Blog - MONTH: May, 2012
Part one of week two of the US/Canadian tour
Posted: May 28, 2012 11:31:52 by Anders Jakobson
We are currently in Portland, Oregon where we completed the Northwest shows just a couple of hours ago, which apart from today's show in Portland also included a stop in Seattle, Washington yesterday.
But before we went to the west we did two amazing shows on the east coast. The show at Europa in New York was absolutely crazy and the best club show so far in the US. The place was packed, it was hot as hell and the New York crowd brought the best out of us. We were also joined on stage - semi-surprisingly - by Travis Bacon from Grudges who sang "I hate people" together with Keijo. All in all it was a memorable evening, which also sadly became the last show together with Brutal Truth and Dropdead.
Then our van took us to Maryland Deathfest - the first announced show on this tour, where we got a spot even though the festival was completely booked - which could be seen as a highlight of the tour. We got into Baltimore quite early and we played absolutely last on the day. Before us both Napalm Death and Godflesh headlined the outdoor stages.
Although MDF was smaller than I had expected, it was obviously the biggest show on the tour so far, with approximately 2000 people in the room when we played. This is what it looked like:
Kudos to Paul from Canada in the front row with the "In Memory of Mieszko" t-shirt.
Apart from being the biggest show on the tour it was also the hottest that quickly sucked all the energy out of us, but with a packed room you really had to deliver the good stuff despite being close to catching fire. The good stuff this evening included an American version of our Mr and Mrs Gasmask live action intro, with the help from real life married couple Greg and Meghan. We yet again had musical guests on stage, where Jason Netherton and Travis Bacon rejoined us.
After a late show we had just a few hours at the hotel before we had to leave for the airport so sleeping wasn't really an option, which obviously left us extremely tired and not particularly in the mood for a seven hour flight... This also meant that we had to part with half of our crew, our merch seller Jamie Getz and our bearded driver Erik Larson. Both super nice guys that made the first week a good time with lots of laughs and good work. We miss you guys and wish you the best!
Jamie waving a wad of cash at MDF and Erik looking all tired but happy at the Baltimore airport early in the morning.
During these Northwestern dates we've had a new driver called Jeff who has a van that is very close to falling apart, but still does the work. He also has a puppy called Hartka (possibly spelt in another way) that rides with us in the van. Quite funny.
Seattle was really cool where we were supported by the mighty Black Breath, Massgrave and Theories who all were super cool guys, and during the Portland show we were yet again supported by Massgrave as well as From Ashes Rise and Nightnurse. We thank all these bands for sharing their backline and for their over all nice attitudes during these shows.
What else? Yeah, we went to Matt Jacobson's pizza place Sizzle Pie here in Portland and had a few really good slices at a really cool place. Unfortunately, Mr Jacobson himself was not in town. And for those who don't know: he is the owner of Relapse Records and the guy who signed Nasum back in the late 90's.
Only four shows left, three in California and one in Texas. Apparently it's hot as hell in Texas so MDF might not remain the hottest show on the tour in a few days. We'll see...
Week one of the US/Canadian tour
Posted: May 24, 2012 16:41:22 by Anders Jakobson
Going tour does not leave much room for a tour blog. The days are long with many hours in the van, then there's load-in, soundcheck, dinner, waiting, playing, load-out and often an hour drive or so to the hotel, a couple of hours of sleep and then repeat... Today, how ever, we have the rare pleasure of a couple of free hours at a hotel with WiFi and thus the possibility to write something in this blog.
We are currently at a hotel outside of Philadelphia heading towards the New York show in a few hours, which will mark the half-time point of the tour, then it's MDF followed by the west coast and the US finale in Texas.
So far this tour has been great. Great reception and none of the hassle at the borders that we were afraid of. Although the shows already start to blend together they have been memorable in their own ways. The club sizes have varied but it's all good. We'll have our share of really big shows during this Farewell tour, probably already on Friday when we headline MDF.
We've also had our first couple of guests on some of the shows. In Providence, Jacob Bannon from Converge joined us and gave the Bannon touch to "Time to act", and yesterday here in Philly, Jason Netherton from Misery Index did no less than four songs with us. The Philly show was by far the most "friend-filled" show on the tour so far. Lot's of faces from the past (most of them Relapse related) were present and it was very nice meeting all of these people again or for the first time.
Actually, the day in Philadelphia was one of the best so far, in the meaning that we really got to see something more than the roads, the gas stations and the venues. Jamie, who does our merch for the first half of the tour, showed us around in the city introducing locations from the first "Rocky" movie and so forth. The Swedes in the band also went to a tattoo parlour and inked a little Nasum memory in our skins.
We've been playing with Brutal Truth as our direct support band the whole tour, which feels very weird. I mean - Brutal Truth was a source of inspiration in the early years, and it kind of feels as weird as if Napalm Death would open for us. They are super cool though, and Danny Lilker is quite the entertainer.
A presidential handshake between Kevin Sharp and Jon with Keijo as an added bonus in the background.
Dropdead, who had to drop out (no pun intended) from the first four shows due to work issues, joined us in Providence and they kick ass on stage. It sound exactly as intense and aggressive as on the records and they definitively add a punk edge to the package. They have also been a source of inspiration during the years, which should be clear as we've covered their "Bullshit Tradition" on the bonus 7" with covers for the "Inhale/Exhale" LP and also have a very Dropdeadish song on "Helvete" simply called "Drop dead"...
It will be sad to have the last show with these guys today, but there are new friends waiting on the west coast.
This is it for this time. After the tour we'll collect interesting photos from all our cameras and phones and make a more visual posting. Stay tuned.
The US tour is on!
Posted: May 19, 2012 17:43:41 by Anders Jakobson
The US tour started yesterday with a nice show at Reggie's in Chicago. Despite a week off from playing since the start in Örebro last Friday and a long day of traveling during the Thursday, the show was good and well received. It feel's very good to play in front of an audience that truly loves you, how cheesy it might sound. So thank you, audience at Reggie's.
This will be a short post as we're heading towards Cleveland in... well, 15 minutes, but I just wanted to share this little montage until next time:
Danny Lilker and Jesper 2012 and Jesper and Danny Lilker 1999...
Getting ready for the first leg
Posted: May 17, 2012 00:19:53 by Anders Jakobson
The bags are packed and we are ready to go. First a long day of traveling and then we'll be back on North American soil again for the first time in 11 years. As Nasum that is.
Two busy weeks awaits that will take us through the continent with an exciting detour up in Canada, which is a first for Nasum and that will be very cool. This leg will also include the first taste of the European festival season as we land for a quick stop in Holland and FortaRock on the way back from the US.
Unless you've missed the news, we confirmed three dates in Italy and six in Australia/New Zealand this week. Check out the Farewell tour dates page for all the confirmed shows - so far, we must add. There's still quite a few to confirm, and the next four ones will be available once we have Internet access in the US.
We see on the comments on Facebook, which is the main place for communication these days, that there are a lot of questions about shows in [insert your country here]. Well - there are still much to come, but we can't obviously play everywhere. There might be festivals that you think Nasum will play, but we won't due to scheduling conflicts or simply because the promoters didn't want us. We'll to cover as much as possible on this final tour, but again: we can't play everywhere.
Be sure to keep an eye at our Facebook page, this blog and the tourdates page linked above for further announcements.
See you out there - somewhere...
One down, many more to go
Posted: May 12, 2012 16:51:42 by Anders Jakobson
The first show on the Farewell tour is done and believe me when I say that it's a relief to have it done. Going from the safety of the rehearsal room to a stage where everything sounds different and the environment is not familiar is always a huge step, and particularly in an enormous project like this. Some tension and nervousness were present, but now it's done and it feels great.
For us it was the first time we worked with our all Finnish crew - a tour manager, a sound engineer and a monitor/lights guy - and it all went fine. We have employed three very professional and nice people that will make things a lot easier for us during this summer and fall.
The show was fine. Some minor dents and mistakes, but most of them were only obvious to us. The response was great and from all the kind words we've heard since the show, we apparently did good.
Here's the first ten minutes of the show:
...and here are some very nice photos taken by the ever so lovely Terése Andersson:
A little special treat for those attending the first show...
Crazy front row bangers. Note the "In Memory of Mieszko" t-shirt...
Twin guitarists Jon and Urban.
Keijo and Jesper from below.
An amazing shot of Jesper.
Even more of Keijo and Jesper.
And finally, Keijo and Urban. Share this blog post
A pre-tour presentation
Posted: May 10, 2012 01:45:34 by Anders Jakobson
Another blog is born. Just another blog? Not quite. This will be the official tour blog for Nasum during these upcoming crazy months that is our farewell. In approximately 100 days the last chord and the last blastbeat will echo and thus ends the saga of Nasum for good. Do not expect another studio album, do not expect another return in 2013 or in any other year, this is it: the Grind Finale.
On a less sad note we have one hell of a crazy summer ahead of us with shows more or less everywhere. This project was conceived almost two years ago on a hot summer night in Stockholm, and now the time is here. And we'd like to share our experiences with you.
What can you expect from this blog? Well, from time to time - sometimes depending on the possibilities of WiFi - we'll post something. Perhaps an update on what's been going on. Perhaps a video. Perhaps some images. Perhaps some behind-the-scenes stuff. Perhaps a story that will bore the hell out of you. Who knows? There are no limits or guidelines, it'll be what it'll be.
And then in 100 days or so, this blog will end. But that's the future. Join us and share our crazy farewell. It will be worth it.
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