Dirty Forums - Lloyd, Mg and Stimpee

So... I came back from Vilnius on Monday... and it took me 2 or 3 days to get over these "intense" & beautiful days & gigs. And, in advance, sorry for being not very good in reviews...

Back to beginning, on 18th October, I & a friend of mine (Thomas, not a dirty but an UW fan & mad enough to follow me on that trip...) took a Paris – Vilnius flight, met there Michal (aka masteryoda10 here) & his girlfriend Kasia that I met before in Frankfurt & who came by car from Warsaw. Then we went to Riga, Tallin (after which, Michal & Kasia left) & then Helsinki. Then, back by car to Vilnius, crossing again Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania borders (and... yes there are still borders where you can wait an hour, even if all these countries are Europe with no stamps, visas, etc...)

The gigs were, as Karl was using a lot this word, just FAN-TAS-TIC!!! It was obvious that, except for Helsinki, the main part of the audience didn't know UW and their music but the public was very reactive & demonstrative (specially in Riga...). Compared to the Cocoon gig (which, remembering it, was definitely a very special & unique event) the "Baltic" gigs were quite "traditional" (nothing negative here using the word "traditional"...), all the very known tracks (Mmmm Skyscraper, Dark Train, Nuxx, Moaner, Rez/Cowgirl, Two Months Off, Push Upstairs, KoS, Pearl's Girl, Spikee, Juanita, etc... + JAL To Tokyo, Peggy Sussed, ...) + some tracks by Darren Price & some versions of Biro The Leggy (a bit like the Frankfurter one).

It was visible that Rick, Karl & Darren were enjoying these new places & new audiences a lot (Rick was even dancing two times...), the venues were quite big (exhibition hall in Vilnius, ice arenas in Riga & Tallin), sound, light show, green laser & a very large screen with hundreds of videos were all perfect. Imo the best gig was Riga (≈ 3h40), then Vilnius (≈ 3h10), and then Tallin & Helsinki.

The organisation was a complete mess in Vilnius (2200 people approx obliged to enter individually through 2 very narrow gates, everyone individually searched by only 2 security guys,...), apparently it was only the 2nd time there was a gig there, and they completely underestimate the event, the crowd, etc... Except in Helsinki, it was forbidden to smoke (!) & to have a camera (!!!) in the venues (I saw people being expelled quite vigorously from the concert just because they were caught with a camera, so, except for some allowed "official" photographers it was not very easy to take photos)

I was so sorry that Stimpee & Lloyd couldn't find any transport to Tallin, but it was very very nice to meet you all in Helsinki (+ a special mention to the freezing "after-after" party we had by the sea in some undefined & abandoned building with Michal, Kasia & a bunch of friends from Warsaw who only came for the Tallin gig ;)). At last, the SCSI-9 show in Helsinki after party was beautiful.

Many many thanks to Rick, Karl & Darren for all the good vibes, joy and energy, and to the UW crew & organisers for making all this possible (erm... well... except maybe the chaos at the entrance gates in Vilnius) &, again, it was a big pleasure to share all those moments with you here in there (Stimpee, Lloyd, Michal, Kasia, and all the other dirties I didn't know before Helsinki)

All was just FANTASTIC.

VoilÃ*.