Hello people,
I thought it was time to give you a little sign from us here in Holland.
Two weeks ago The Gathering played Kiev for the first time ever. Global East Rock Festival hosted a really nice bunch of people at the festival, which made our gig very special. It’s always a bit exciting visiting places one have never been before. This time I travelled from Bergen, Norway on my own as I had some work in Bergen to finish off first. The rest of the band would arrive Friday night so we would meet for breakfast Saturday morning.
To cut a long story short; after travelling from 4am, via Copenhagen, loosing my luggage and then loosing my transport from airport to hotel in Kiev, ending up waiting on the airport for 5hours, a cash machine trying to steal my visa card, I finally get a lift with Swedish band Diablo Swing Orchestra to hotel at 18:30 (that beer I got from you, Vitaly, is the best I’ve ever had;-) Johannes from Diablo SO and I went off to check out the nearest shop to get some of the basics as I had nothing without my suitcase (thanks for your great company and shopping tips, Johannes, I don’t think that evening would have been quite the same without you guys!). In the shop we discovered very pleasant prices compared to Scandinavia; i.e. 10 packages of cigarettes in Ukraine has the same price as one package in Norway..
The guys invited me for dinner with their Russian promoter, and we had a super funny time with local beer, vodka and fantastic tasting food!
In the restaurant there was a guy and girl singing cover songs over music louder than they play 1am in my local rock pub in Bergen.. I have no idea why they thought this was a marvellous idea, but luckily just outside there was this little forest with small sitting groups and X-mas decorations on the huts, so we escaped out for more drinks in cosy surroundings.
During the next day (and at least 20 phone calls!) the airline found my suitcase in Copehagen and decided to send it to me in Holland Monday, 4 days too late, but hey… better late than never! Before heading for the venue we went to do some shopping so I could find some clothes, shoes, make up ++ to wear for stage etc. When we hit the festival area the people working were super nice and helpful, and we met a lot of cool fans, including two sweet girls that came to see my very first shows with TG last June. Girls; hope your trip home went smooth!
Our time on stage was amazing! The crowd was unbelievable! We felt so welcome! THANK YOU GUYS! One day we will come back.
Bye for now,
Silje and da Gatherings
