BACK
IN THE U.S.S.R.
I couldn´t sleep so I ended up drinking too much of coffee, as usual, while everybody else was asleep. After everybody had suffered their nightmares we took a "taxi" to the Apelsin club. The greatest thing in a city as big as Moscow (10-15,000 000) is that every car is a potential taxi and it really works. The Apelsin club was a big place and in three stories... or was it four... I´m not sure... Anyway, I did an interview while we were eating at a restaurant upstairs. I´ve gotta say I love the Russian milk.
We were stressing out because at least I was pretty sure that there would probably be like ten people in the audience and the place is big. We didn´t know what to expect since you couldn´t see well from the backstage without being seen yourself. To my taste the support act was awful but I guess they had different ideas of rock n´ roll and how to do things credibly.
As the curtain pulled aside and I saw the audience I was blown away. There were more people than none of us ever expected. Frankly, I didn´t have great expectations since this was our first time in Moscow but this was fucking awesome!!! Everybody was singing along even to "Wise men don´t cry" which hasn´t yet been recorded. And those Russian girls are so damn beautiful so it was our pleasure.
Our promoters taught me a line in Russia for me to say on stage and the pact was that I don´t know what it means until after the show (that was my idea) so I simply didn´t have a clue what I was saying. It was something close to "hello losers!" and the audience loved it. Some of those ladies were pretty straightforward which is not that common here in Finland... and hey, thank you for swapping the earrings with me. After pretty much everybody had their autographs and pictures taken we moved on to another place where the afterparty took place. I can´t remember the name of the place and I don´t think I need to say anything else but one word ´vodka´. The next morning Maria and I went out shopping. I found myself a nice pair of basketball shoes which I considered cheap but what did I know. Thanx Maria for showing me around that morning. The whole bunch took several metros or subways to get to the Red Square. This was our day off and fortunately we had a few hours to buy stuff, take photographs, look around and enjoy the culture. Those ´OMOH´guys are great, btw.
The whole trip was unforgettable and if it wasn´t for Maria, Irina and Lisa it wouldn´t have been as great as it was. At the station there was (once again) some fans taking photos and I even had enough time to go for a little shopping with two of them. I do remember you. -Matthau |
