(no subject)

[eirias]

Today I sent an email to one of my favorite Finnish music groups, Ville Kangas and his band (well, OK, to be honest I only know 2 Finnish groups, but they're both great...). I mentioned that I'd seen them play about 3 years ago and asked whether there'd be any shows in Finland before I leave, in pidgin Finnish.

I got a nearly-immediate reply that indicated that this is the first fan letter they've gotten. They had a great gig THREE YEARS AGO, I remind you, and they've already released a second album. Man, these Finns are a little behind the curve on how to keep good musicians around. ;) Anyway, to my chagrin I learned that there are no upcoming gigs. Boo! BUT they said they'd keep me posted if there was ever a US tour. :)

Unfortunately, the similar email I sent to Värttinä has not yet been favored with a reply. But Värttinä are probably the most famous thing to come out of Finland besides Nokia*, so it's perhaps to be expected ;).

*OK, OK. And Linux. And IRC. How about "the most famous non-nerdy thing to come out of Finland"?

Comments

[exilejedi.livejournal.com]

Värttinä are possibly busy getting the Lord of the Rings musical ready for its debut in Toronto. (Yes, I already have tickets. ;-)

[eirias.livejournal.com]

Holy crap!!! That's so cool!!!

I wanna go!!! But I'll still be here in February...

[exilejedi.livejournal.com]

It will run for several months; I'm going in May.

I should probably clarify -- they are collaborating with the composer but will (almost certainly) not be performing the music itself.

[eirias.livejournal.com]

Yes, I figured that's what you meant. :) But since I appreciate them as much for their songwriting as for anything else, I'm psyched!

Maybe it'll come to Chicago some day - a lot of good theater does, I hear (though I've yet to see anything there). Alas, travelling for a show is not so much in the budget when you're planning a wedding and a honeymoon...

[gieves.livejournal.com]

According to Playbill (http://www.playbill.com/index.php), the show is sitting tight in Toronto for at least 18 months, which means that you'll have some time (like a year or so) post-wedding to go see it! ;)

[eirias.livejournal.com]

Awesome! Thanks for pointing out that site. :)

[exilejedi.livejournal.com]

Hopefully it will be nearer to you at some point. I understand it's going to London after it closes in Toronto. It was initially planned for a London premiere, but there were no sufficiently huge theatres available.

Having just been to the museum exhibit, I am newly stoked up for the musical. Advance word so far has been excellent--the special "it's not done yet but here's what we're thinking" preview event earlier this year was reported to be jaw-droppingly awesome. *bouncebouncebounce*

[eldan.livejournal.com]

so... they don't really qualify as "non-nerdy" then, do they?

Now I understand why I like Finland so very much.

[eirias.livejournal.com]

Hah! Touché. :)

Have you ever been to Finland? It's really pretty, in a kinda spartan way. Tall, narrow trees, rocky hills, bazillions of lakes. Fields now and then.

Also, Helsinki has this network of steam tunnels under the city, purportedly established during or shortly after WWII for security reasons, and so you'll be walking in the woods and you'll see this random door in a rock face, and it will be warm. And for the sort of grown-up kid who used to daydream about spies and secret passageways, this is *really* appealing. ;) (I actually had it one better in that I used to work in the central hospital here; like many hospitals it's full of basement tunnels, only these also hook into the citywide network. Not that I ever got to sneak in, but it was still neat to know that they were *right there*.)

[eldan.livejournal.com]

I spent a very happy week travelling around southern Finland with friends in 2002. If it wasn't for the long dark winters, I'd really like to live there.

I wasn't aware of the steam tunnels; they also sound kind of cool.

[eirias.livejournal.com]

What part of 2002? I was here through June of that year - odd to think that we might have passed each other on the streets of Helsinki. ;)

[eldan.livejournal.com]

Ah, it was actually June 2001. I'm not quite sure why I was mixing up years.

It is an amusing thought though, especially because I still don't know what you look like.

[kirin]

Aw, you really should've gone in and checked them out. Any idea how sternly the authorities that be frown on such explorations?

[kirin]

Uh, this was supposed to be in reply to the steam tunnels comment, of course. having LJ-loading troubles today...