Just got back to the hotel here in Tallinn, Estonia, where tonight, we rocked the Harley-Davidson Super Rally with a healthy dose of Crossfyre southern goodness. I have to say that this was a real highlight for our band, as bikers from all over Europe had converged on Tallinn to partake in the big bash, and since we play Texas Biker Blues (as we have come to coin it), Crossfyre was a perfect fit for the Super Rally!
Our band mugs with one of the Super Rally big wigs, Hanna Mursula, before the show.
The word was, that the Hell’s Angels were all in St. Petersburg, Russia for Harley Days 2014 this weekend, and therefore, no one from their club attended. However, anyone and everyone else was on hand, from the Cannonball MC to the Diablos MC and tons of others from all across Europe.
Getting downright southern…up north! (photo by Marianne Saari)
Right before showtime, there was a pretty interesting and intense altercation right in front of the main stage where we were slated to play. Some big biker dude from Russia knocked the shit out of some other dude with a huge punch, and no one came to save the day. I was thinking a biker war was about to maybe break out, but nothing came of it, and we went on with firing up our gig. Before we went on, Mr. Bill Davidson, CEO of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, raffled off a brand new hog. I put my name in the hat, but to no avail. The bike did, however, go to some bloke from Finland.
Striking a pose with Mr. Bill Davidson of Harley-Davidson motorcycles!
Our regular bassist Dan Ronnbacka was unable to make it to Tallinn, due to his work commitments back in Finland, so Sami Salminen from The Slidemobile filled in on this Super Rally gig as the four-stringer. We tore through a 75-minute set, focusing mainly on our new “Iron Horse” album’s tunes, in addition to select covers from Bob Dylan, ZZ Top, The Rolling Stones, Credence Clearwater Revival and Stevie Ray Vaughn. I worked up a good sweat, running around the huge stage, which happens to be the biggest of its kind in Europe, right in Tallinn. Maybe this ain’t metal or hard rock, but I gave both Bruce Dickinson and David Lee Roth a run for their money with the way that I painted the bodylanguage storytelling of my vocal interpretation.
Lighting up the main stage at the Super Rally (photo by Hanna Mursula)
We even got placed in a top, four-star hotel by the event organizer, here in Tallinn. I’ll be soaking away the sweat and grime tomorrow morning on the eighth floor in the sauna after a full-scale, no-holds-barred breakfast. From here, we head out to Poland for a four-show jaunt, and then to Germany.
Bikers assembled from all over Europe for the bash.
Life is good, indeed! Here’s one for the road…
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