Rain, rain and more rain.  It rained today.  That was actually a song by Crossfyre that we didn’t end up recording for our new Iron Horse album, in support of which we are touring all throughout the summer this year.  After the nice, sunny weather on our Estonia-Poland-Germany tour a couple of weeks back, the wet and cloudy Finnish summer just ain’t cutting it thus far.

Nonetheless, festival season is on here in Finland, and we are hitting and playing a few vacation stops along the way as our Crossmobile tour van makes its way down those miles of road.  This weekend, we played the Rockin’ by the River rockabilly festival in Iisalmi on Friday (which is funny considering we southern gentlemen were the only non-rockabilly act on hand), and Kolisewa MC’s 20th anniversary bash last night.  We got to meet some cool folks, enjoy the sights and sounds of the other acts on hand, and breathe the open air.  That’s already a good deal in and of itself.

Iisalmi was a long way from Helsinki and I got up early-squirly to join the boys, as we drove out of Porvoo along the eastern route highway to head up north.  Once we got to Iisalmi, we stopped off at our second guitarist Jay Jay’s mother’s place, as she had cooked up some traditional cabbage casserole that is famous from that part of Finland.  Off to the gig we went, placed into the opening timeslot to kick things off on Friday evening.  Event organizer Timo Pelkonen of Timba Oy had a nice stage set-up and the sound was good all around.  We cut out most of our bluesier and slower numbers, opting to go for more of a rocking set, taking into consideration the nature of the event that we were playing at.  All in all, it worked out rather dandy and the people out there dug it.  The cream on the cake was the fact that we got featured in the local Iisalmen Sanomat newspaper with a big-assed photo of the band, giving us a hell of a lot of focus.

Crossfyre taking care of business at Rockin’ by the River

A stay at Sokos Hotel Koljonvirta and one morning later, we set off for Karkkila, back down south.  Arriving at the Kolisewa MC’s headquarters in the middle of the woods, I noted that there were bikers from far and wide attending the 20th anniversay bash.  Members of the Hell’s Angels, Cannonball MC, Diablos, Red Devils and many others had dropped in to extend their support to the local Karkkila Kolisewa gang, and there was a slew of bands on the menu for the bikers to groove to.

As we arrived, The Dusty Beaver Band started their set of cover songs, all the musicians of which were members of a local MC out of Vihti.  I have to say, that The Dusty Beaver Band has one of the best names EVER!  It’s like a cross between the iconic cartoon character Bucky Beaver and pro wrestling legend “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes.  On top of that, the band was right as shizzat, and had both a male and female vocalist duetting throughout, who sounded absolutely great!  I highly recommend checking these guys out.

The Dusty Beaver Band

We jammed through a 90-minute set of originals and classic covers, having a blast while doing so.  Once we finished up, Kolisewa MC president Harri pleaded that we play one more song, as they enjoyed the Crossfyre live experience so much.  We pulled Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man out of the hat, which really seemed to move a lot of folks on hand.

Rocking the Kolisewa MC 20th anniversary gig

Best burgers in the land

There was also a BBQ on Wheels stand on hand, which bears mention, as they quite possibly served up the best beef hamburgers that I have ever passed down my gullet to this date in Finnish history.  Turku’s Pikku Torre and Snacky’s Iso Monsteri are close to the top slot, too, but this little BBQ wagon takes the cake in my book!

Next weekend, it’s off to Mossala, off the coast of Turku, to play Saariston Lomakeskus, a vacation resort on the beautiful little islands off the western coast of Finland.  Join Crossfyre’s Iron Horse on tour, as it rolls through a town near you!