johannesburg, march 17

arrived in south africa, johannesburg today. this place has a relaxed vibe to it, similar to australia, warm climate and all that. we had a great dinner at a grill tonight in sandton square under the watchful eyes of a 25 feet tall statue of nelson mandela. this whole concept is quite interesting, a new country, a festival with metallica headlining, 3 shows with the same line-up... let's see if we have lot of rasmus fans in the audience tomorrow. A friend was interviewing james h. today, and he was in a good mood, i have kind of high expectations for their show, if we are lucky we might hear a new song in their set (just hoping). this far south africa has treated us all well, except that our guitars didn't arrive as planned from london heathrow... see you tomorrow at the venue, a 30 000 capacity stadium.

eero



johannesburg, march 19

played the first festival gig yesterday, it was a beauty place, a cricket field with 35 000 people, and a beautyful slot, with the sun setting during our set... the gig was good, though the audience was not the most responsive, but it felt very comfortable on the stage, people were obviously waiting for metallica (we were waiting for them, too). after our set James Hetfield came by our table to say hello and give a few compliments on some songs and the concert, felt very nice. i mean, those guys were a good reason for us to start the whole band... i also visited the nelson nandela museum yesterday, it's a house in the suburb called soweto. he's been fighting for freedom ceaselessly, such a strong character and such a bloody history in the past of this country... it's quite heavy, but i felt a really pure and a good vibe in the museum-home... we also drove to the slum area of the suburb and that's very interesting for us as we come from a country, where the government is supporting even all the unemployed people and providing flats for those who don't have a home... there's a lot of controversy in this country, but in many ways i like it a lot, not least for the warm climate and the relaxed moods of people. today to durban, which is said to be warmer and there's also the seaside just next to the hotel, great!

eero