Well, I'll start with a little pre-story:
The idea of going to this open air appeared in my head just right after I saw Lappeenranta ( well, actually it was closer to Imatra, but it doesn't matter)in Tourdates list. Actually then I was just browsing the tourdates section without any purpose, but when I saw Lappeenranta and Saimaa, I thought " omg... it's so close to me - I go there almost every weekend... maybe there's a chance..." and with this thought my heart began to beat faster...
So I carefully suggested this idea to my husband - and - u know what - he supported me immediately!
Wow!!! After that I decided not to loose time and hurried to book tickets. At the same time my FOS russian friend expressed a desire to join us on this show - that was great idea! So we had a group of 3 to go to this show!!!!
And, of course I saw that Tuuri show would be the next day - and of course I had a crazy thought of going there also, but my husband was impregnable - he said that it was too far, and he didn't know how to drive there, brsides he wanted to relax and to drink some beer, so he strictly rejected this idea, and I had to forger about it
. But he suggested me to stay at Saimaa for 2 days. I looked at the 2nd day program - Bony Tyler, Samanta Fox, blah-blah... - nothing worthy of my attention...although not exactly - I saw Tarja Turunen's name - aha, that was something interesting to hear her live! So I agreed, the more so the cost difference between 1 and 2 day tickets was only 20 euro per person.So I started to prepare for the show morally and physically. There appeared idea of making a banner( and I already knew what I'd write there), but unfortunately I was too busy and I had to leave all this preparation to the last day, and I changed the banner ( I had no time for such a big job) to flag - I thought it would be easy to buy it... But, as usually, the trick was that I couldn't find the flag, cause I started to search for it the day before the show - I went around all the shops that could sell flags -and got no result - I was, frankly speaking, in a light panic already, cause I understood that I couldn't go there with the empty arms... so came back home upset,and made the last attempt to search if there were any companies selling them via internet...and yesss! I found one store where I could order a flag of my desired size! Yeahhh! Great!!!!
So all I had to do is to make a sign on it - and I was doing it till 3 a.m, so I had only 2 hrs to sleep( but honestly I don't remember if I managed to sleep that night - I was so overexcited with the upcoming trip..)...but it definitely was worth it!
And yep, there was another idea in my head - to draw a scorpion on my cheek, which later transformed into another one ( yep, I borrowed it from Galya - just remembered her cool t-shirt made for the autograph session
- so, Galya, I hope you'll forgive me for this 
)- I decided to draw just 3 letters on my cheek - FOS - I thought that they would have more sense . Besides, it was much easier to draw them than the scorpion , so I also prepared a stencil with these letters.We left at 6 a.m, picked up my FOS mate and drove towards the finish board. I prayed that there wasn't a big queue on board - and Thanks God, we passed it less than within 2 hrs - great! Oh, btw, when we were leaving St Peter's, I turned on the rock radio - and guess what band was playing there? - of course, THE SCORPIONS! ( White Dove) - Yeah - I thought - It's a good sign,!
So when we came to Finland, firstly we checked in the hotel ( we were lucky here too - as they allowed us to check in before the check-in time -another good sign!)
We left our things in the room, I drew F.O.S with ( as my husband assured) the permanent marker( which unfortunalety turned to be not so permanent later...), and we drove to Rauha to check the situation there, as we wanted to be the first ones. Ha! We didn't even need to use the navigator, as there were tables with arrows pointed the direction to Saimaa Open Air. And we got to it easily. But when the arrows ended, we found out that we still didn't see the stage or anything else related to this event.. and we had 2 or 3 roads to go further...
And my husband decided to use his logics and to follow the police car, as it was definitely going to provide the safety of this open air. Well, his logics was right! We passed by the stage, which was being constructed yet, and got to parking. So we parked the car, and went closer to stage to see what was happening and to get know where would be to entrance, when would they start to let us in etc. I have to note, that there weren't and clear borders of the area, there weren't any prohibitory either, so we just roamed the area, and got almost to the stage, but still we didn't know where the entrance would be, and, the most interesting was that we couldn't find anyone to ask. I was so surprised that everyone can walk( and even drive
- as we'd done before) on this area which was supposed to be closed for others... We even thought of making a picnic on a grass just before the stage. We were noticed by staff after almost an hour of walking around the area. So then they asked us to leave the area and also told us where the main entrance would be.So we sat on the grass and began to wait...I looked at watch.. it was 12:00..
omg.. the beginning was announced at 16:00.. 4 hrs... It became hotter, so we moved into the shadow. And we were the only ones near the entrance for almost 2 hrs.And people, walking by, looked at us with an interest.Then there come one Finnish fan - she saw us, and came closer to us - I saw the scorpions t-shirt on her, showed her \m/ and just cried "SCOOORPIOOOONSSS!!!!"
- she answered the same and started to talk to us in finnish. So I had to ask her to speak english, and we began a long conversation about scorpions, life, music - u know, she was a very interesting companion . Unfortunately I didn't ask her name, and though we stood next each other, I didn't thank her for being my interpreter - only thanks to her I understood what was happening around, and what time would the scorpions appear, and didn't say good-bye aftter the show, cause I was so overexcited, that couldn't think clearly... So, my dear finnish scorpsfriend
, if you read this, I would like to thank you for a good company, for being my interpreter during the show, just for having a great time with u! ( and sorry for my bad english 
...). So while waiting for the beginning we could see the stage as we were on a kinda hill. I heard that scorps had begun the soundcheck - we heard scorps' riffs, even Mattias told smth - I didn't catch it though...but later I heard smth very familiar.. of course
- it was The Good Die Young - wow! So they would perfom it, and surely with Tarja - my heart just jumped out of the chest at this thought - and just right after I thought about it - I heard Tarja's vioce - and she sang a couplet from it. Ooohh.. after that I just couldn't wait for this show.Then technicians began to check the screens and lights. My husband decided to take some photos of it - but unfortunately there was a construction of a SPA complex taking place at the moment, so the diggers constantly prevented him to make good photos
. Still he managed to take some.Suddenly black clouds appeared on the sky, and I head thunder, though the weather forecast had promised clear weather. I looked at that cloud and just prayed - God, please,take it away, let it pass by - I just stayed for a while and hypnotized all those dark clouds to go away. And they passed by, only small light clouds left.Great!
Well, the time of the beginning of the show was approaching, and more people of all ages began to arrive at the place, so we moved towards the gate to take the 1st places in the queue.
And finally the guards let us in, I was the 3rd in the queue, and I ran to the stage - but, unlike in St Peter's, I didn't ran as fast as I could - I may say I was jogging - and finally took the places for us in the 1st row, almost in the corner of the "tongue" at Mattias side. - Wow!
Ah, yeah, there were 2 stages there - the main one, where the scorpions were to play, and the smaller one. So I supposed, that on these scenes teams would play by turns - while one is playing, another is preparing at the same time.
We waited a bit, and finally there appeared an M.C. and announced the beginning of Saimaa Open Air, and told the program of the show. But he spoke in Finnish, so if there wasn't my scorpsfiend, I wouldn't understand a single word... But she kindly translated what he had said, and I got know, that scorps would be at 10 pm. I looked at watches - it was 5:30 pm..omg.. 4,5 hours more under the desert sun.
.. oh, God, please help me to stand!Meanwhile the 1st rock band appeared on the stage -it was a finnish band - of course I didn't know it, and actually I didn't remember its name, cause I didn't like them at all - as IMO they didn't have their own style, besides,he was singing in Finnish, so I even didn't understand the texts of songs, though the crowd sang along with him.. The only thing that amused me was that their guitarist looked like Jack Sparrow, and at the same time I saw a photographer, who was looking exactly in the same way
. So we had 2 Jacks Sparrows in one moment. I wanted to go and seat somewhere on the grass, while all these not interesting for me bands were playing and maybe to get something to eat and to drink ( I just remembered, that I hadn't eaten anything that day yet), but I was afraid to loose my place, cause it had happened in all previous shows in Russia ( not scorps' , but in generally) I'd been before...
But I saw that a couple of finnish fans just left their bags on their places and went away for some time. And wow!
nobody dared to take their places! It was a pleasant surprise for me, and I was sincerely happy for finnish fans who treated each other with the respect. So we also dared to leave our bags, but still insured - as there were 3 of us, we went by 2, and the 3rd one had to watch over our places
.So we bought some water and grilled sausages, and came back to the stage. That time there was 2nd band playing on the side stage. They also were finnish and sang in finnish, I also didn't like their music - nothing interesting again...So I began to be bored, and besides, the sleepless night started to affect on me - I felt so tired then, that even thought I wouldn't live to see them...
I was standing, leaning on the barriers, and just looking around, when I saw a woman on a balcony of a staff cottage on the side of the stage - her face seemed familiar to me.. omg, of course!
because of the loud uninteresting music and tiredness my head didn't think fast and clearly - but IT WAS TARJA! Of course she'd already disappeared when I realized that it was her...So from this moment my eye were fixed on those cottages on the side of the stage - maybe I'd see someone of scorps or Taria again... And ha! I saw her again many times , but as soon as I distracted once for a second, my friend cried - " James! Look! It's James over there!" - I looked again, but there was already no James there...damn 
Well at least I found an entertainment for myself for some time..
Finally the MC announced Stratovarius - well, I've heard about them somewhere, but still didn't know their music, though one finnish fan said me that they were pretty good. well, will see...
And they came on the stage and began the performance - ok, I thought, these guys were really pretty good, at least their music didn't irritate me, and the I liked the vocals also. The vocalist reminded of one Russian rock singer, though.
And there was a moment when a drunk guy appeared in the 1 st row just next to us. Of course he began to push us, and tried to jostle my friend away
, so that she had to ask the security for a help. And after the security guy told him smth, he disappeared. Wow! even drunk finnish are disciplined! I looked at my husband, who was standing next to me, and realized, that he was still boring and I thought going to fell asleep... and this was also noticed by the security guy, but he thought my husband was feeling sick or something like that, so he came to him and asked if he was alright, and even suggested a bottle of water - very kind of him! Wow once again!
The drummer began to throw the drumsticks, and of course I tried to catch one, but I didn't manage, unfortunately, but my friend did! She caught one! Yeahhh! And I only caught a bottle of water from the vocalist
( I even don't know why, just automatically raised my hands because something was flying directly to me. cause I wasn't going to drink from it...). Then I understood that it was a general repetition of catching Scorps' drumsticks ( which were, btw, selling along with other merchandise stuff - but when I saw them on the counter, I though " oh, no, I'm not gonna buy them - I'll definitely catch at least one! I must!")Sooo the Stratovaruis finished their performance and...the Kottak drums were finally opened and the preparation to the main event of the evening had begun!!!
Though on the neighbor stage there played a rock band, I didn't care about them, and I think, everybody who stood in the 1st row didn't - everyone was impatiently waiting for THEM !!!
I looked around - the crowd thickened, so I couldn't go away anymore..
Ahh.. that hour was the longest one...I was so exhausted of long awaiting, I didn't feel my feet, and I began to feel kinda apathy to everything - and at the same time this scared me.. I thought - omg, I just mustn't be in such a bad shape - I had waited for almost 10 hrs, so I must pull myself toghether.
But of course all my tiredness had gone when on the screens there finally appeared that picture of running people, and the sign " St Bernardino Valley"- again with missing R in it - damn, I think they won't correct it till the end of their tour
). " Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages..." and then the 1st riffs of SITT and Yuuuuhuuuuuu!!! That was it! That exact moment was worth waiting for 10 hrs and even more.
All negative emotions, tiredness, etc disappeared at one moment - there were so much positive energy coming from guys from the 1st moments of the show! I was just blown away!
We raised Russian flag ahead and started to wave it! And of course all of them noticed our group, and each of them sent the sign back to us. ( At the 1st moment I've caught a flying kiss from Klaus ( mmm..
.), Rudy and Matt pointed at me and at all of us several times with the approval ( wooow! ), Pawel was also glad to see us and waved to us, and James, as usually, made funny faces to us, showed V to us .In generally, it was fantastic!!!! All the guys were in perfect fit, Klaus' voice was just gorgeous, so clear and beautiful... mmm...so I enjoyed every single note he sung, every single note they played, I tried to soak as much their energy as possible.
I was really in heaven then, my soul was flying high above, singing on one wave with them. And I was so high on emotions, those were the best moments of my life!!!
So that is the reason why my heart belongs to these 5 guys forever - is that they have full spiritual contact with the audience, that they fully dedicate themselves to us, their fans, and this energy exchange is the most delightful thing in their shows for me!
And, as for set list, I think it was standard, except they played The Good Die Young instead of Dynamite, but actually I didn't care about the set list, I was just enjoying their playing.
Yeahh.. The Good Die Young... another special moment in that amazing show... and they dedicated it to that terrible tragedy in Norway..
. -actually I didn't know about it until I heard it from Klaus ( I thought then, - Oh, boy, what else horrible had happened recently...). Of course, Klaus couldn't leave it without attention, it couldn't be in another way , and the words he said were so sincere, and came directly from his heart. He is a really special person, who deserves my deepest respect!Of course I had much fun at Kottak Attak! James was just inimitable!!!Uuuhhh.. just blown my mind away! I just adore him!!!!!!
Mattias played six string sting just magnificently! Yeah, he was also unique and worthy of adoration!
Oh, I forgot! I managed to catch 2 drumsticks!!!
And the most pleasant thing was that Klaus aimed directly my hands both times...this meant much more for me than drumstick themselves=)).Then James also threw his drumsticks( unlike Klaus he kissed each before throwing
- so touching...), but he was too far from me, and I didn't catch any, as well as I didn't manage to catch mediators. But actually, these are minor things for me.And, again, the guys proved one more time that they are the team,that they did care of each other, and that they were ready to support each other whatever happened - I'm talking again about that Mattias fall, which darkened a bit this fantastic show.
IMO this happened because of the stage construction - there was a rather big step in the conjunction of the main stage and its extension, so I think Mattias was so immersed in playing that of course didn't watch his step, and stumbled on this step.
Fortunately, as we all know, he got minor injury, but he scared us and other scorpions. I saw that Klaus was extremely worried about him then, and relaxed only when Mattias showed him that he's ok. And in the end of the show James came to him, hugged and I saw he asked "are u alright?" - and Matt replied "yep". So touching!Yeah, the real friendship!
And just right after Mattias got up and went backstage, the others continued performance to smooth this situation. yeahh THEY ARE ALL EXTREME PROFESSIONALS!!!!!
So, to resume this show - it was the most amazing, breathtaking and fantastic show for me!!!
And if there's a chance that they read this, I'd like to say: THANK U VERY MUCH, SCORPIONS, FOR GIVING ME THOSE AMAZING MOMENTS AT SAIMAA OPEN AIR! THANK U ALL FOR PAYING ATTENTION TO US - IT MEANS SO MUCH FOR US!!! WE LOVE U SCORPS, AND U'RE ENGRAVED DEEP IN OUR HEARTS!!!!!
And, dear Scorpions, I just must say back to u James' words
: I HAVE ONLY 3 WORDS:YOU
KICK
ASS!!!!
Well, after the show we took some pix, and went back to the hotel. And we were sitting in the car, when my husband
suddenly said : hmmm... maybe we should drive to Tuuri? -Oho! even he was so impressed, that wanted more! But we all knew that it was impossible - we had to be back in St Peter's next evening because of the moving to a new flat, which, in Murphy's law, had to happen exactly in that weekend So I think if there wasn't this circumstance, we'd definitely go to Tuuri also.Of course the next night was also almost sleepless, cause we were sitting in our room and sharing our emotions and impressions of the show with each other. So I woke up next morning with this line in my head " my head explores, my ears ring"
, cause it was so. but still it didn't spoil my mood, but frankly speaking I had no desire to go back to Rauha on a second day, cause we still had to leave no later than at 3, so i was sure I wouldn't manage to see Tarja. And, as there was no one else worthy of seeing, we decided not to go there, and just visited some supermarkets, and drove back home.So, ok, I hope my huge review is not boring, cause I'm not good narrator, I just expressed my impressions and emotions!
