South America 2010 - tour blog

[jarmo]

Due to the success... of the Canada blog, here's another installment.


Mar 3rd: All packed, except laptop...

[jarmo]

At the airport now. Let's see how this journey goes.

Three flights to go until I get to Brasilia.


It's a beautiful sunny winter day here in Sweden. I hope it's not in brazil.

Winter day that is. Beautiful and sunny would be nice though.

[jarmo]

March 4th

Arrived in Brasilia, Brazil now.

Spent a few hours at Heathrow before flying to Sao Paulo. Got there early this morning and then spent the whole morning waiting.

My flight to Brasilia was delayed, so had to wait a little bit more... All in all, the trip took about 30 hrs or so.


I've already noticed that the coffee on the Brazilian airline comes in a small cup and is stronger than the regular coffee we get.

Good stuff.

[jarmo]

Within six hours of arriving in Brasilia, I've had beef and Caipirinhas.

Yay!

[jarmo]

March 5th:

Went out to see part of the city after breakfast.

Went to a shopping mall to try to get a prepaid phone card and eventually succeeded.

Good thing I had people who speak the language with me. I would've been pretty lost otherwise....

After exploring the mall, went out to see some of the government buildings.

[jarmo]

The day didn't end with the sightseeing.

Headed out to check out some of the local nightlife after midnight.

While looking for a place, we learned that just because it says Club in the name, doesn't mean it's an actual nightclub.

Even if it's surrounded by restaurants and bars, the "Club" could still be a health club.... 


Got back to the hotel at around 4:30. Was up at 9am for breakfast (gotta have coffee)....



More sightseeing planned for today.

Trying to figure out why my prepaid SIM isn't working like it's supposed to.... No Internet access like I'm supposed to have. 

[jarmo]

Visited congress today and also the Ministry of External Relations.

Interesting looking buildings, both on the outside and on the inside.

As I was leaving, the rain started pouring down. Got soaked. You could say it was refreshing.....

[jarmo]

March 7:

First show is tonight here in Brasilia.

It's my first visit to this country, so I really don't know how the rest of the cities I'll visit in Brazil look like. But, I'm assuming Brasilia is unique.

It's very "weird" going down the main avenue and looking at all these government buildings along it.

The architecture definitely sticks out.

Some of it reminds me of old Eastern European apartment blocks, while some just look very different to the government buildings I'm used to from back home.

 

[jarmo]

No phone, no updates

[jarmo]

March 9th:


In Belo Horizonte. Just returned from dinner. It started raining while I was outside. Seems to be a theme here. Rain and thunder at night.

Last night's show was pretty cool. What a crowd!

What a banner!

Never seen anything like it before. Amazing.

Thanks to everybody involved. That definitely made the gig special, if it wasn't already!



Flew in here this afternoon and been taking it easy since. No sightseeing.

Blame it on the lack of sleep. Going out until 4-5am while still getting up in time for breakfast will eventually catch up on you.

But, no complaints. It beats winter in Sweden! 

[jarmo]

Decided to skip breakfast and sleep later instead.

They got coffee elsewhere!

Went out and had a Caf? con leite. Managed to order one without speaking Portuguese and the person taking my order didn't speak English...


Met some fans who recognized me. That feels weird. In a good way of course.

I'm just not used to being recognized.... I'm not Fernando! 

[jarmo]

March 10

Got to the venue and went to have a quick look at the Igreja de Sao Francisco de Asis church since it was close to the venue.




Back to the venue and talked to some Brazilian fans in the line.


Went inside and checked out the stage. Noticed two banners hanging on the opposite side of the arena.

One for Beta, and one for the band.

Talked about Mark Lanegan with a crew member who knows his shit.

Show time arrived and the energy of the crowd was unbelievable.

I don't think I've ever experienced anything like that.

Axl asked us all sing Happy birthday to Beta during Knockin' On Heaven's Door.

A very memorable moment.


After the show, I had a sandwich and a couple of beers (including a Belgian Trappist ale). Got back to the hotel in the early morning and took a short nap before leaving for the airport.

It was a truly remarkable evening in Belo Horizonte.

As usual with a GN'R tour, things have only just begun... Can't wait for the next show!



/jarmo

[jarmo]

Got to Sao Paulo on Thursday. Flew in from Belo Horizonte and came to the hotel. Took it easy that day.

Had some food and drinks. That's pretty much it. Oh, and a hour long nap.


The day after I did a little day trip to Santos, which is about an hour outside of Sao Paulo. Stopped for lunch on the way.


Came back and went out to eat.

[jarmo]

Went to the in store appearance Dj did. Awesome.

It was nice seeing some of you there. 

[jarmo]

Great evening in Sao Paulo

left the city as the sun was coming up

woke up at a gas station as our bus broke down

waited for replacement and made it to Rio a while ago

[jarmo]

As I was sorting through pictures from Sao Paulo, I heard the rain start. Then came the thunder.

Next thing I know, I'm told the stage collapsed and we're told to head to catering.


Met up with the crew guys there and we waited.....

Later on, we took our stuff and came to the hotel.


Went out to dinner and saw news footage of the storm. They even showed the collapsed stage in the segment.

[jarmo]

Woke up in Rio yesterday. had breakfast and took a walk from the hotel to the beach.

Had some coconut water. Walked past a food market on a nearby street before heading back to the hotel.

Left for the airport and came here to Porto Alegre.

Part of the crew have been working in Rio all day to get the gear to today's show. Another group has been here working on preparing for the show.

No show would be possible without the crew doing what they do. But these past few days have required some extra effort due to the out of the ordinary events in Rio de Janeiro. I hope you guys keep that in mind the next time you see a concert.

Thanks to the GN'R crew for making this all possible! Especially these past few days.

It's not always easy, but they get it done. 

[jarmo]

The show in Porto Alegre was amazing. Especially considering the events of the days prior to the show.

I guess a lot of people forget what an operation it is to get the show to happen. And now with the Rio incident, it was just a bit more difficult.

So keep that in mind when you see a GN'R concert.... 


I noticed that as soon as the sun set, the temperature dropped considerately. I guess we're further away from the equator.... It wasn't cold, just a bit chilly.


After the show, I had a couple of beers to celebrate my birthday. Actually, I was served a Jack & Coke before the show... As a warm up. 

Hung out with some old friends from abroad and some locals.

Got to the hotel early in the morning and took a nap. Then time to check out and transfer to the airport.

Flew in to Montevideo. Checked in, got online and went out to have some late lunch. That was followed by some picture sorting and another short nap before heading out to dinner in rainy Montevideo.

[jarmo]

I liked Montevideo.

And the show was amazing. What a crowd!


Got to Santiago early this morning after our flight was delayed from 7:20PM to after 2am.

Went to look at some of the sights in this beautiful city. And had fish for lunch.

Now off to the arena....

[jarmo]

The Santiago show was amazing. Not only was the show amazing, the energy of the crowd was unbelievable.

The fact that this show was at a packed indoor venue created a special atmosphere for the show. It was like the show could've taken place in a big stadium, and since it didn't, those who attended felt they were fortunate enough to be there to witness it. And it showed!

Very loud singalongs during the show!



After the show, I went back to my hotel for a short nap before leaving for the airport.

The airport experience was a bit different because check in was done in tents outside the airport.

Eventually I got to the gate and witnessed a air show by an F16 fighter. It kept doing tricks right in front of us over the runway.


Boarded the plane and managed to fall asleep for a little while. Woke up as they served the sandwiches and drinks.

As we start to descend for the landing, I can see gray clouds all around us. Then suddenly the plane touches down. And then it does it again.

I guess the landing wasn't perfect and our plane bounced up after the first landing... That definitely woke up anybody who was still asleep.


Got to Buenos Aires in the early evening and went out for dinner. Found what we were looking for. A place that serves meat.

A steak, some local red wine and coffee. Nice ending to a day that pretty much started with seeing GN'R rock Santiago.



Today I went out for a walk in downtown Buenos Aires. Saw a lot of people in GN'R shirts.

Should be a cool show tonight.