from "Mama Trash Tour Diaries"

by ~jo~

It was April 9th and I had just taken the train to London from Manchester the day before after being in Manchester for the Trashlight Vision show on April 6th. You see, I overcame my intense fear (THANK GOD I DID!!) and made my first transcontinental trip with two of my friends to meet up with Acey Slade and Trashlight Vision while they were on their UK tour. So what did the girls decide to do on our first day in London? Go to Camden for six hours of shopping of course! What else?! The girls got some cool stuff and I got myself an obnoxious purple fuzzy purse. Totally me. I searched all day for a Jack Skellington shirt to fit my little boy, but no luck. I bought Lenny (TLV drummer) two pins: "fuck you you fuckin’ fuck" (since we say that to each other in a loving way all the time) and "68 I owe you one". Little did I know I was going to be meeting Jyrki 69 the next night or I would have saved that pin for him! Late in the afternoon, I was exhausted and grumpy as EVER and I was literally dragging my feet. I was people watching as usual and I noticed this tall, dark and handsome stranger walking ahead of us and pointed him out to the girls. I told my friend Giovanna he looked like Nikki Sixx from behind so I quickly picked up my pace (now where did that burst of energy come from?) to sneak a peek at his face. Of course he was great looking! Beautiful long black hair, pretty face with gorgeous lips and he was wearing black leather pants, black sunglasses and a splash of pink around his neck. Got a visual yet? Need I say more? He was talking on his cell phone standing next to another man with long hair (quite cute himself) so we quickly decided that he must be in a band. He just looked like a rock star and so did the other guy with him. Now at this point in time, we had no idea that this was Jyrki, yet alone know who Jyrki was! We went back to the hotel and just chilled out to get ready for our big day on Sunday. Spoke with Acey Slade (TLV front man and my boss, ha ha ha ) and made plans to meet at the club at 4pm for sound check. We went to the club at 4pm and waited around outside for the guys to arrive. We watched and video taped sound check (but no sign of Acey, he was running late from an interview). So, Acey strolls in right after sound check and in walks the handsome stranger from Camden right behind him! Well, I looked over at my two friends and our jaws dropped! This is very similar to how I met Acey, (& Josi was w/me that night too!) so it was kind of like de ja vu. So we all walked over to the TLV merch booth and he is sitting by himself and we start talking. Ok, so I already stated numerous times that I think the man is great looking, but when I started talking to him the first thing to hit me were his piercing ice blue eyes, (they are so light and against that black hair...they are simply breathtaking!) you could have knocked me over with a feather. Then he starts talking and he has an amazingly sexy accent. I am not usually into accents, but...Needless to say, I am captivated by this total stranger BUT feel totally comfortable since he came in with Acey.  He explains to me that he has been up partying for 48 hours (and was still drinking I might add) and saw Acey on the escalator and decided to come with him. I mentioned that I saw him at Camden the day prior, but he did not remember if he was there or not. That was pretty cute. He then tells me his name “Jyrki” (which went in one ear and out the other since I was too busy looking at his blue eyes, and taking in the accent, my friend Jess told me his name later!) and that his band The 69 Eyes was playing with Wednesday 13 (again, thank you Jess!) a few nights later. I was originally supposed to stay for that show, but my plans changed...Anyway, Jess walks up and starts talking to him and tells him she wants a picture. He said he wished he could brush his teeth and I tell him I can help him with that. He says “you’re joking.” Nope! Mama Trash is always ready!!! I hand him an "Oral B - Brush Up" (awesome little disposable toothbrush that fits on your finger tip!) and explain how to use it and he goes to the back stage area. This is when Jess fills me in on Jyrki and The 69 Eyes. When he returns we explain my role as Mama Trash and Acey's personal assistant. He then starts joking around with me to be his personal assistant. I said "yea, right, I will come to Finland" and he said "no, when I come to the US I will need somebody". He then went on to tell me that he would call me Hot Mama 69. Acey who? Ha, Ha! This was all happening before the doors to the club even opened!! He was immediately surrounded by six girls. Poor Jyrki, no one could keep their hands/eyes off him. Between the long dark hair, the blue eyes, the lips and the accent, forget about it. I haven't seen a man this attractive, well...EVER!!! He kept saying he looked like shit (yea, like that is even remotely possible!) and we all got photos taken with him. He was quite friendly with me, licking and kissing my neck and face, which gave us all a good laugh. He gave us all 69 Eyes postcards for the new CD and signed some autographs. He was very, very pleasant, especially for being up for 48 hours! Being the "Mama" that I am, I checked on him throughout the night trying to coax him to lie down (he looked soooo tired, but really adorable), but he refused and would just put his head on my shoulder. He kept drinking though! Total rock star. We talked a little more here and there and he was nice enough to introduce me to Bazie when he got there. Bazie confirmed they were in fact in Camden the day before! Jyrki even came over to me before he left, so I walked him out of the club to say goodbye. It was an exciting way to find out about a band I have never heard about before! I really shouldn't admit this, but my first thought was "how good could this band be? They are great to look at, but are they talented?". So of course, my interest was peaked and as soon as I got home to the US I went directly to their website. Well, I LOVED the song and the video "Lost Boys" & enjoyed "Devils" as well, so I continued to research the band further. Have I been living under a rock? Why have I not heard about this band? I start telling my friends about them, who tell their friends and so it goes. The power of the word of mouth people! This band can do some serious damage in the United States! I even found that a few of my acquaintances knew about them already! Only one thing to complain about at this point. You can't get anything in the US! What the? I am really strange about music, it is either hit or miss with me, but once I am passionately interested in something, I go for it 110%!! Anyway, so I ordered "Paris Kills", "Wasting the Dawn" and "Devils" online along with their DVD, "Helsinki Vampires". A week and $200 later, (not bad for a new potential fan, huh?) my packages arrived and quite honestly, I have not stopped listening since! I absolutely love the poetically deep and dark lyrics, and the sound of Jyrki's deep, sultry monotone voice against the sounds of heavy guitars and bass blending with the soothing sounds of the piano and violin. This band is very original and unique. Their music is a sound track for life. And when you listen straight through from their original music to their newest CD "Devils" you are astounded by the transformation of Jyrki's voice and vocal abilities. I am really excited about seeing these guys perform live and you know what?? I am glad I just found out about them or I would have been either waiting for what felt like an eternity for them to come to the states or would have been traveling to Europe annually! A new 69 Eyes Fan is born, better late than never!

~jo~   aka mt69

 Contact "Mama Trash": jo@69eyes.us

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