The best audience

[Raudsarw]

I have come to the conclusion that the best audience is a crowd of drunk Finnish tourists. Having played several gigs recently in locations frequently visited by such people, mostly in a Yacht club in the Estonian city of Pärnu, I've noticed that they will dance to absolutely anything. Even during quiet songs, they will jump around like its the heaviest and grooviest stuff they've ever heard. Some will even jump on stage and scream something in Finnish. After the concert, you are always approached by those who are still able to stand. They will try their best to tell you how amazing you are, using plenty of Finnish swearwords in the process. If you're especially lucky, someone will cover the entire band's bar tab for the rest of the evening. In my case that bar tab ended up to be around 100 euros. Our "sponsor" still had a smile on his face when he payed the bartender at the end of the evening, and then went on to pass out on a couch. It doesn't matter what you play, they will treat you like you're the greatest musician to have ever lived.

Do Finns act like this in Finland aswell, or only when they're out on their binge drinking holidays to Estonia?

 

[JimiLL]

Must be an American thing then

 

[MaHei]

Considering how expensive alcohol is in Scandinavia, your benefactor probably thought it was the cheapest night out he's ever had.

 

[JimB52]

I'm sure the Finns are wonderful, but the bored, toned, drunk milfs in the local taverns make pretty fine audiences too.

 

[NML1986]

Most people in my hometown will just stand and stare at the back of the room. Not just to my bands, but to any band. Dry Kill Logic came to Lincoln in 2006, and people just stood and stared. No wonder the music scene here has died.

 

[Russell L]

Those Finns sound like many of the folks found in some Southern watering holes around here. Fun to play for, for sure. But, it can get dangerous sometimes, too. I remember once standing on a low stage pushing back fighting Marines with my boot while we kept on playing, LOL. Just like in the movies.

 

[carlthegroover]

Maybe it's all about having drunk tourists in the audience? As long as they're not the biker type or the violent type, right?

 

[rust_preacher]

My band's rider only has on it "the audience must be well watered before we come on stage"

 

[makkE]

Finnish people tend to party hard whenever they get to a country where alcohol is cheap Getting a beer for 10% of what they pay at home is pure heaven to them.

I don't know about the actual prices, but in the 90ies, you'd pay something like 6-7 $ for a beer in a store there.. probably double that in a pub..

 

[pklima]

Ha, I played for an audience that was mostly Finnish tourists once (in Poland). Too old to really party, I guess, but they were very nice people, and did pay for the band's drinks as well.

I think that Michel Teló has the best audiences in the world, though. That's what I'm aiming for.

 

[Chef FourString]

I'm sure the Finns are wonderful, but the bored, toned, drunk milfs in the local taverns make pretty fine audiences too.

+1 To drunk milfs.

 

[rust_preacher]

Finnish drunk MILFs rule!

 

[Chef FourString]

Finnish drunk MILFs rule!

Damn...... I bet that is better. Ok, you win.

 

[Sumtingwong]

Ha, I played for an audience that was mostly Finnish tourists once (in Poland). Too old to really party, I guess, but they were very nice people, and did pay for the band's drinks as well.

I think that Michel Teló has the best audiences in the world, though. That's what I'm aiming for.

Holy crap! Is he pumping the smell of chocolate and money through the vents? That place was wall-to-wall hotness.