Danny Goes WILD in Finland - Tampere and Stadin Tahti
The history for this trip started with a call from Marc Fenech a few weeks earlier. He had the idea of a Rockin' Chrismas party in Helsinki planned for the 13 th Dec with Finnish, Spanish and British bands performing. Danny Wild has always been popular with the local rockers, and so it was that Danny and Pete ‘Panther' Last (drummer for the Black Katz) found themselves en route to Finland for what became two gigs – One in Tampere and the other as proposed in Helsinki the following night.
Friday 12th December - Tampere
We had to be at Stanstad for an afternoon flight to Tampere, where we were playing that evening.
Stansted Airport is not the easiest place to get to from the M40 on the best of days, let alone on a Friday, so lots of time allowed so Mr Kokup was kept at a disadvantage.
We were worried that Danny Wild wouldn't be able to take his Guitar as cabin luggage, with all the heightened security at the airports, but he got it through OK.
Not so for Panther – He was challenged by security for a 'suspicious' item in his holdall… Turned out to be his drumstick case, which showed up on the X-ray machine… Typical. Can't take drummers anywhere these days without getting into bother
Despite the plane being re-called to the stand for a 'technical' problem we still made Tampere on schedule, and were ferried to the venue and the nearby hotel with time to spare.
The turnout was great, and the other bands were really hot. We saw a crowd ranging from Teds, punks and Psychobilly to bikers, greasers and some who were not sure, but came anyway.
Danny Wild and the Black Katz played a mix of songs from the 'Wild in the Country' album, along with some new stuff and a few standards from Elvis, Buddy etc. The house rocked and we all had a terrific time. Iikku on Bass was tremendous and Ola's guitar fills were inspired – Hard to think we'd not worked with either of them before – Thanks guys.
Back to the hotel for 3:30 am – Knackered!
Saturday 13th December - Stadin Tahti, Helsinki
Up before noon for the traditional band breakfast – ‘Uncle Mac's finest'.
Then off to Helsinki for the Xmas party gig at the Stadin Tahti.
Again we had a good crowd, who were looking forward to a rockin' good night - They weren't disappointed.
With two DJs, local bands and also a band from Spain performing as well as Danny Wild, there was something for everyone.
We played the same set as the previous night and it went down just as well with Iikku and Ola even more explosive than they were at Tampere.
It had been 25 years since the release of the 'Wild in the Country' album, but everyone still danced and sang along with the choruses. Danny even played a Christmas song – no not Silent Night… He did Run Rudolph Run to a great reception from the audience.
Without the help of the following people this would not have been a successful trip.
Many thanks go out to:
Iikku Riepponen – Very talented Bass player and our musical director.
Ola Turro – Rockin' rhythm and hotlicks lead guitarist.
Tumppi – Master Sound engineer.
Antii Riulamo – For the use of his equipment.
Max the drummer - For getting us to Helsinki and sorting out some drums for Panther to pound on.
Thanks to Marc Fennech for inviting us and organising everything in Finland.
And finally to all the rockers and rollers from Finland who turned out to see us play – We had a great time and want to come back soon – But only when the snow has stopped!!
(Included seperately is a JPEG of the flyer for Tampere and a set list)