#8: LATAM 2025 PART 4: Flying High, Wall Of Death and Blast Beats

I write this on the eve of travelling for Haken's next show; our first trip to Greece, opening up for the incredible Mastodon and Dream Theater! It's been some time since we returned from Latin America but this is the fourth and final instalment in my little series about touring there. This episode mostly covers my time in Santiago, with a little bit of São Paulo squeezed in at the end.

Sadly, it seems no matter how many times we play in Brazil, I never quite get to experience it like the other stops on the tour. I'm hoping next time we get over to Latin America, we'll maybe have a day off or something down there. This time round, it was mostly just back and forth between hotel and festival site, with no real opportunity to get out and see the city. I did manage to grab some great food at a vegan cafe round the corner from the hotel just before we left for our flight home so, aside from the show, this was about all the fun I managed to have.

The show itself was our first ever festival in Latin America; Bangers Open Air. It was a bit of a strange one as we were sandwiched between Vader and Nile, and clashing with Kerry King on the other stage, so we kinda stuck out like a sore thumb, but that's often the way at these bigger metal festivals. Still, grateful for the invite and for all those who turned up to check us out. You guys make it all worthwhile!

Before that, Santiago was bloody wonderful. I managed to cram so much great food into my mouth in the short time we had and even ran up a massive hill to enjoy some spectacular views at the top. Santiago is just one of those places blessed with incredible natural surroundings, lovely people and some of the best food I've had on my travels. Cannot wait to return. And let's not forget the reason we were there; to play to a few hundred awesome fans who, in true Chilean fashion, somehow managed to make it sound like there were ten thousand people in the room! Many thanks also go to my local in-house-tech-support-gentleman-for-the-day who kindly got a bunch of great-quality footage from his phone which will hopefully give you a taste for what a great night we had on stage. 

Until next time, Latin America!

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