Jessica Wolff: 21 dec. 2013

Check out what happened behind the scenes!

Last days of the tour

Time for sightseeing! After the gig in Pune, we had a couple of days off.

We started by going to the Gate Of India in Mumbai.

I've never seen so many people before except for at the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan.

Not long after I arrived I got blessed by a monk, who left a red dot in my forehead and forgot to tell me that the free willing donation is compulsory.

Me and my band were the only white people around and became clear targets for beggars and salesmen.

I had been advised not to hand out cash but it's really hard to ignore when so little can do so much. But helping one person often resulted in 10 more showing up each time.

One complication is not knowing where and how the money is used. Unfortunately it can be very organized and before you know it you get completely ripped off.

It would be great if they had some sort of food market coupons you could buy at the airport and hand them out instead of cash. Then you'd know it would be used in the right way.

We took the ferry to the Elephant Caves, an island full of very old temples.

There I got kissed by a wild cow who happened to walk next to me on the road.

The temples in the caves were outstanding and brought me one step deeper into a part of the Indian culture and history.

Not long after we arrived I realized that I was a part of the tourist attraction being the only white, blonde girl.

Someone wanted to take a picture, which quickly turned into a chain reaction and suddenly I was surrounded by a big group of people. It got quite intimidating when someone took a strong grip of my arm and pulled me back when I tried to leave.

Luckily it was solved with a smile and a wave rather than a Kung fu punch and I made back in time for the last ferry.

I travelled quite a lot but never experienced anything similar. Im glad I made them smile though....

Almost half of the next day was spent in the hotel waiting for the drivers, since we couldn't break the big language barrier and kept on misunderstanding each other.

We were getting pretty used to it though and at least we got a good chance to charge up a bit. The second misunderstand occurred in the evening when we realized there were no plane tickets or hotel booked for us for the next day. No biggy, it got organized except for.....

2:30 am and my alarm clock went off. Rise and shine!

When I looked in the mirror I saw something that reminded me more of a trashcan than my face.

A quick cold shower and off we went to Hyderabad.

I think it was the third time we stood on the wrong side of the security check when the boarding started and once again we almost missed the flight.

Going through security as a woman in India is a luxury.

There's a separate line and about 75% shorter than the mens line.

When I got to Hard Rock Cafe I had 4 interviews lined up which really surprised me thinking I already did the last one. My experience with media in India has been way over my expectations with more interviews than planned and super friendly reporters.

The show itself went under the name "Renegade".

I started by dropping the mic stand on the pedal board after accidentally punching my guitarist in the middle of a move, If people weren't paying attention, they did now!

After 2 songs my patience with the slippery floor ran out and I threw my boots off and performed the rest show bare feet.

Even if the crowd was a bit smaller than at the other venues the audience was still great and radiated a lot of positive energy and I left the venue with a warm feeling in the chest.

It was a bit of a slap in the face to wake up next morning to realize it was the day of the last show.

Another flight and we stepped out in Delhi bringing us a tiny bit closer to the cold Finnish climate waiting for us ones we get back home.

One of the weirdest buildings I've ever seen

As I tried to soak up as much of the city as I could, in the taxi on the way to the hotel, I saw a big group bullies beating up their school mate.

So extremely frustrating watching something like that without being able to effect it in any way!!

I really hope that kid is ok....bad bad bullies!!!

After a quick nap we headed to hard rock for sound check and before I knew it the spotlight went on and I stepped on the stage for the last time this trip.

I think show in Delhi was one of the best ones so far. The vibe between the band members was on top and the energy increased through out the gig.

After the show I hang out with the fans and met a very sad young gentleman who had waited for the show for a month, driven 50 km and missed the whole thing. To lighten up the day we took him back stage, had a few drinks and have him a t-shirt. Better late than never!

Over all it has been one of the best musical experiences I've had and the Indian audience is so easy to connect with!!! Thank you guys!!!

Before putting a dot to this text I want to share my gratitude to Shatadru Sarkar and Times Music,

Hard Rock Cafe, Music Finland and my bandmembers - love you guys!

Rock on

Jessica

Ps. Let me introduce my team