When you thought you had survived summer festivals, tedious autumn slush and merciless New Year holidays, it's time - Nordic Metal Cruise comes to the Baltic! And a trip to this metal cruise in February 2019 gave a crazy start to the new festival season!
Scenario: 50 people, 1 bus, 3 days bus + ferry tour, 5 metal bands including Enslaved and Evergrey, duty free and buffet!
Solution: Go on tour immediately. Which we did in the early morning of February 9th.
Already after 30 minutes of the trip, it became clear that no one was going to take a nap even before the Russian customs (which usually happens). And all because in our friendly company there were already a dozen (if not more) people who are going with us on this metal cruise not for the first time. To this number of daredevils, new faces were added, with whom we very quickly converged on the wave of common humor and even acquaintances.
Maybe it was a dank February with gray snow outside the window, but the atmosphere on the bus was hot. Especially behind the "DJ console" - the whole bus can't decide what to listen to. We were thrown from true black to hip-hop classics and back. The ultra-conservatives clashed with the music lovers, so that the road to Turku went completely unnoticed.
However, the queue at the border took us more than planned. What to do. Although, to be honest, the weather was not conducive to a walk in front of the ferry. And having taken several on-duty photos of the tourist group, many of us went to warm up, some for shopping, some for a bar, and some for the cathedral for beauty. And the latter, by the way, were destined to stumble upon an unusual rehearsal of a saxophonist and an organ. Too atmospheric for a gothic cathedral...
At the appointed time, we were already crowding at the entrance to the ferry. With the same metalworkers from different parts of Europe. They have already reincarnated as Halloween heroes and covens, leather, jeans with stripes and clamored until the doors were opened.
On the ferry, we were preparing for the evening shows, as best we could: someone tasted cultural delights at the buffet, someone attacked the duty free. Others stretched out their legs in the cabins, tired from the long journey. Many, already flushed with strong drinks, explored the open decks. The most experienced recorded the schedule of performances and autograph sets, looked for places with official merchandise.
The concert evening turned out to be hot: the hall and adjacent casino bars were flooded with metalists of all stripes. Some never made it to the main stage, hanging out in karaoke. For a while, we also joined this group of people, for some reason getting involved in an impromptu arm-wrestling tournament. With good results, by the way.
And the headliners were already in full swing on the stage! While the ferry was on the high seas and rushed to the shores of Sweden. We burst into the crowd, where there were already people in awkward wigs, hockey uniforms, someone was trying to slam. Enslaved was thundering on the stage at arm's length, the sound was excellent, and the audience, despite the "high degree" is quite peaceful, but lively! Bloodred Hourglass also melted the ice of the Baltic.
But even when the performances of the first day were over, the fun was gaining momentum - Sound Terror came on stage and put on such hot tracks - from Prodigy to Rob Zombie, that everyone forgot how they spent 9 hours riding the bus and another 3 hours jumping on the previous bands. Perhaps no one has come off like this since New Year's Eve ...
Rumor has it that someone came off on the expanses of the ferry until 5 in the morning. But many of the mere mortals decided to go to sleep in the cabin. Moreover, a delicious breakfast was served in the grand buffet already at 7 am! Although, to be honest, most of us overslept that same breakfast.
But the autograph hunters did not doze: the hunt began in the morning. Although, it was not difficult to get the coveted signatures at the official autograph session. No fuss, security, etc. Later, the main promoter of Nordic Metal Cruise appeared in the lobby and started a charity auction. The main lot was the work of the artist, which was used as posters for the Nordic Metal Cruise 2019. The proceeds went to charity in children's rehabilitation centers in Finland!
The second musical day was already in full swing: at that moment we were already in full swing back to Finnish territory, having made a morning stop in Sweden. The daredevils ran out onto the windy deck for joint photos, someone was looking for phones lost the day before in a concert frenzy, and someone mastered slot machines: virtual motorcycle races left in the backyard of childhood, a battle with dinosaurs and air hockey made this day (for 8 euros, which we won at the ferry casino an hour earlier)
On the open deck, one could meet completely naked Finns (or Swedes?), who, as if nothing had happened, sipped strong alcohol. People with infernal body art continued to walk around the ferry - it was some kind of 18+ metal party. Well, this is how European metalheads break all frames and patterns!
In the evening we docked again in the darkening Turku in February and immediately got on the bus - we were expecting a night crossing. "Kamchatka" immediately began to snore, and life was still glowing in the front part of the cabin and, I remember, everyone was very funny because of some completely absurd jokes. After leaving Turku, we stopped at a gas station to have a bite and again met the main promoter Nordik (what a simple guy!)
But one way or another, any Nordic Metal is a noisy and crazy trip + very budget! And this is a definite plus when you plan a February weekend, confusing everything for the New Year holidays. So we recommend that everyone, everyone, be sure to join our company in February 2020! There will be an ultimate spectacle!
