The Swedish crusties M:40 did a quick Finnish/Russian tour with B�fo. Down below is the report from the road.

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M:40 FINLAND/RUSSIA TOUR with B�fo
Snow all the time, sauna in Finland, vodka in Russia and a near death experience on the way back home.

It really hasn't been easy to get this tour booked, changing dates, troubles getting visas and a lot of just trying stuff to do. But we have had a lot of great help from the guys in B�fo to get this tour booked, so we really want to thank them! So now when this tour really went off, it feels really great!



Tuesday 20.01.2009 - Turku @ TVO:
We left our hometown Lidk�ping around 00.00 to catch the ferry from Stockholm (around 07.00) to arrive in Turku/Finland at 19.15 where the first show will be. We had to wait a few hours for the tax free shops at the ferry to open, but then we got ourselves some nice beers.
When we arrived in Turku we drove to the venue TVO and met up with Iiro and the rest of B�fo which we will tour with the rest of the week. They were all nice people so there were no problems!
There were two bands playing before us this night including B�fo. Maybe some of us were a little bit too "tired" after the ferry this day, but the show was good anyway and it was a great place with nice people.
After the show we went to Julius (B�fo) place and had some food and beers and went to sleep.



Wednesday 21.01.2009 - Tampere @ Vastavirta Klubi:
Waking up a bit tired at Julius’ place, getting some breakfast and just hanging around for a while. In the afternoon Janne and Ilmari (B�fo) and the driver Maarit came with the van and picked the rest of us up and we drove to Tampere for the next show.
It really hasn't been very much snow in Sweden lately (at least where we live) but here in Finland it’s a lot. Feels good and really fits to our typical thoughts about Finland together with the woods along the roads.
Nice place this time too, maybe a bit less people this day but it was a good show anyway.
After the show we went to some friends of B�fo to hang out and then got some sleep.



Thursday 22.01.2009 - Jyv�skyl� @ Lutakko:
We didn't have so long way to drive this day either so we went to the town to get some money and just to look around.
The guys of B�fo were a bit surprised to get this show booked at Lutakko, cause this is a quite big place were a lot of bigger bands play. So when we arrived here and saw the stage and the area for the crowd it felt like this show was going to be a bit too empty of people. But actually there were more than 100 people showing up, so it went really great. Really nice place, and great food. And because we are in Finland, of course they also had a sauna backstage. So after the show we had some beers and went to the sauna, and then we stayed up all night because…



Friday 23.01.2009 - St Petersburg @ Tsokol:
…around 05.00 in the morning we had to leave towards the border to Russia. On the way we stopped at Iiro’s place in Lappeenranta to get a few things done for the car that we need in Russia. It took us like four hours to get thru the border. Papers to fill, checking the car a few times, and just waiting… But we got thru, and that's the good thing. On the way to St Petersburg we met up with Distress so they could show us the way to the venue. One of their guys went in our van and Sebben and Johan went to Distress' car and helped them getting some equipment for the show. When we arrived at the venue we got some really great food, and then we just waited for the shows to start.
The shows this day were awesome. This must be one of our best shows we have made. The people here are really crazy, and that's great! We really liked it! After the show we were at the club for a while and hanged around, talking to people. Then we went to a hotel and got some last beers, watching some Russian TV and then got some good sleep after this long day.



Saturday 24.01.2009 - Petrozavodsk @ Y-club:
We had to leave quite early even this day cause we had like 400km to drive and the roads here are not really the best ever, so the guys from Distress met us up at the hotel and we left around 09.00 I think. When we arrived at the club in Petrozavodsk we met Sanya (ASS Booking) and Alexey (Headnoise Records) who put this show up for us. Alexey is also the guy who released our LP in Russia. We got some food and beers and just waited for the shows. There were four bands playing this night, and we were the last one so we just watched the bands and the crazy people and enjoyed it!
Before our show Simon had to take a piss outside, and of course the Russian police were there at this time. He had to go with them to their car, and they wanted 200 euros (!) for it. Of course they didn't speak much English, so Simon didn't understand much, so after a while they let him go anyway! Our show was really great this day too, we really like how the Russian people act on punk shows! It's a whole different thing compared to Sweden.
After this great night Johan and Daniel went together with a bunch of Russians to buy some beers and vodka for everyone, and the rest went to Sanyas and Alexeys friend Katleta's flat. When the beers and vodka arrived to the flat the party started! We also got some more food and that was great!



Sunday 25.01.2009 - Russia-Finland - Driving home:
Some of us a bit more tired than the rest we had to leave from Petrozavodsk towards St Petersburg and then to the Finnish border. We stopped at a truckers place on the way and got some great food together with Distress. Then they left us just before St Petersburg and we continued the Russian roads by ourselves.
On a big road with oncoming traffic just a few km before the border, something happens. Our van loses the grip from the road and then starts to skid from right to left and after a while it totally loses control. It started to spin and got to the other side of the road, we were very close to hit a big truck before we just got back on our side of the road and then it was on its way to the ditch instead. But just before something happened the van stopped on our side of the road, after a spin of 720 degrees.
Alive and shaken we started to drive again... We're so lucky nothing happened. And we think our driver Maarit handled this incident very well!



It went really well to get thru the border to the Finnish side. Not a big deal this time. Then we stayed at Iiro’s place in Lappeenranta and got some great food. We also had some beers and relaxed in his sauna. It was really nice. Then we stayed here over the night.

Next morning we just went to Turku and ate some falafel together with the rest of B�fo, then we went home to Jannes place and got some coffee before it was time to leave with the night ferry to take us home to Sweden and start our real lives back again!

We've had a really great time in both Finland and Russia together with B�fo and we really have to thank everyone who has helped us out with this, and all the nice people we met! Thank you very much, see you again soon!