Helsinki, Finland, March 24th 2003

12:46 pm. I´m so lucky to have a Finnish ex boyfriend . Although it´s weird since I hadn´t seen him in like 5 years. He gained weight, and is about to lose his last precious bit of hair. Sometimes I amaze myself on how much my taste has changed over the years. But he´s being super sweet, feeding me and driving me to all places. I am blessed.

4:16 pm. I just got my ticket for Helsinki and for the first time I have a sitting ticket and boy am I bummed. Everything is weird. People started lining up at about 4 and still very few people lining up, and it's not that cold. Maybe I got too used to line up since 9 am and I'm the weird one indeed.
There's something very sad about not being able to be in the front row. That's where the action is. The adrenaline, the noise, even the moshpit, but most importantly, I feel that's where you feel the most intense sound vibrations in your soul.

AFTER SHOW
Fucking hell, I was so sad about having to be sitting, but it was the best place ever! I was in the very front row of the side of the stage, almost at the level of the stage. A lot of the sound crew were underneath me, and that was somewhat fantastic because I think they started noticing me for a change. Yes. I danced in a way that most people in that Arena would consider ridiculous, but I just couldn´t care less, because I was dancing from my very soul and I felt every single note that came out of that stage. God how I love that music, I so feel in heaven.
O.K. So Mars Volta opened again. Too many drugs if you ask me, but the music sounds pretty fresh and like something I have never heard before. So that's pretty awesome. The oddest thing was this old guy behind me who started talking to me because it was almost empty when I got there. He said "I am Hilell Slovak". I thought I didn't understand well so I said "Come again", but I didn't misheard. Also he claimed to be friends with John and Anthony, and he said that he might go later to meet them. Riiiiiight. I think he just wanted to make a move.

Johnny was sitting on stage for a while during the Mars Volta and then he stood up and started dancing like crazy, so sweet! He had a funny colored hat on. He was banging his head and then doing a little dance . Then Flea also joined the stage but more briefly than John.People in Finland are scarily civilized, I bet that if I had been standing I wouldn't have gotten smashed or anything. So the lights come off and it was very cool, people were pretty excited. The set list:

Flea complained about his bass strap and how it was hurting him. Anthony's voice was great. BTW I have a copy of the original set list that I got next day in Turku . Yes, I went to another gig in Finland, but first I'll finish the one in Helsinki.... . The audience: everyone was sitting, but they weren't too bad in the standing places.
I was dancing the soul out of me, I guess I must have looked pretty ridiculous, hopefully funny, and some of crew started looking at me. And then, the highlight of my ridiculousness: I kept on dancing and being all super happy and all inner smiles, and I think his name is Patrick?, brought me a drumstick that Chad had thrown away! That was so sweet of him. It was just that I didn't even ask him for it or anything and he just came and gave it to me.
When they played " don't forget me" it was beautiful, Anthony's voice was very powerful and he almost sang a capella. Or that's how it sounded to me.. . I had an excellent time, as I said, the audience was way civilized, that was good to me for a change....I'm so happy about my drumstick!!