After a long day of travel to the U.S., the Estonians’ final destination was Salt Lake City. My flight from Alaska arrived that evening well in advance of their flight from Chicago. So I had time to find a bite to eat and relax. I started my trek to their gate long before their scheduled arrival. But as I walked through the terminal, a sinking feeling washed over me. Where was everybody?
This area of the SLC airport had zero activity. Normally passengers, gate agents and other staff would be scurrying about. But it was completely desolate. Not a soul in sight. What was going on? Then it hit me – I had forgotten to adjust my watch for the two-hour time difference between Alaska and Utah. #&@%!!!
OK – they landed, but now where were they? Baggage claim was my only hope. I raced through the airport praying. Sure enough. With bags under arms and eye sockets, they were patiently waiting for somebody to claim them. As tour leader, it’s important to instill confidence in your group right from the beginning. This was not a good start.
The group consisted of two coaches, two sponsors and ten players. I was struck by how young the team looked. I later learned there were only three players in their 20s. The rest ranged from 17 to 19. One was 16. I’m not sure they knew what lie ahead in terms of competition. But after three connections and 20 hours of travel, it was clear they were going to need some rest. Our first game (BYU) was in 40 hours.
After profuse apologies, my first task was to identify English speakers. I was pleasantly surprised to learn most of the young ladies had a very good command of my native language. A few were even fluent to the point of easily passing for local. Hallelujah! This was a welcome contrast to the Russian group I led the year before. In fairness, the young Russian men were a fun group. But, communication with coaches and other leaders was a constant challenge.
So, how is it these young ladies from the former USSR knew English so well?
With the fall of the Iron Curtain, many former Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact countries quickly redirected emphasis away from Moscow toward the West. While native languages in these countries managed to survive decades of Russification, English became a popular choice in schools to replace Russian as a second language.
Such was the case with younger people in Estonia. While parents were fluent in Russian, their kids became fluent in English – much to my relief. I’ll also note the team’s coach and sponsor possessed a working familiarity with English as well. While I wouldn’t characterize it as fluent, it did prove helpful. Especially since my Estonian language skills were awful (as in nonexistent).
For these tours, it was routine to pick up two 15-passenger vans at the airport rental car center. Mathematically, we could all fit into a single van. But travel between game sites often meant hours spent cooped up in a tin can. So, long-legs and luggage were best accommodated using two vehicles.
In their home country, it’s common for coaches to drive teams to game sites which might be hundreds of kilometers away. So, on these U.S. tours, it was normal for the coach to drive the second van. In the Estonian’s case, Allan did an outstanding job. Of course, there are differences between Estonian and American roads. For instance, in Estonia, red traffic lights make a brief stop on yellow before turning green. This is the “get-the-car-in-first-gear” signal. It wasn’t that long ago that most every European car (certainly every Russian car) had a manual transmission. Now, automatic transmissions are the norm.
One big difference between Estonia and America is the freeway experience, particularly the size of the commercial trucks. Of course, a 15-passenger van is not a small vehicle. But it was interesting to see the rapt attention paid to the trucks passing by which tend to be much larger and longer than the truck-trailer combinations back home.
The first several nights of the tour were spent in the Salt Lake City area which made travel relatively easy. The game schedule included BYU, Utah and Weber State. After that, the first true road trip was up to Bozeman, Montana – a distance of about 425 miles (684km). It was a long day. Of course, by this point in the schedule, routines were set. For the most part, team members had locked in their van preference and seating position. Music, too, was a constant. In fact, this was the tour I discovered a significant hole in what I thought was an otherwise well-rounded musical palette.
I was 19 the summer MTV killed the radio star. My friends and I were mesmerized. This channel opened up a huge new avenue of musical experiences at a perfect moment in our lives. Our fascination lasted several years. But, as 30 loomed, life changed. There wasn’t time for MTV, or even just TV. So, I missed the debut video of a band that would ultimately have enormous influence on young people around the world – particularly in Eastern Europe.
Metallica, as I learned from my new Estonian friends, was huge. So, we listened to a lot of Hetfield and the boys – mostly their “Black” album. I grew up on the Stones, Zeppelin, Cream, Deep Purple, etc., so I certainly had an ear for “hard rock”. Heavy metal, however, was a bit out of my range. Candidly, there were several tracks on the Black album that were over the edge for me.
However, I did grow to appreciate songs like “Wherever I May Roam”, “The Unforgiven” and “Nothing Else Matters”. The latter was a favorite of the young ladies in the back of the van. Whenever it was cued up, the carpool karaoke kicked in. These three songs continue to have special status in my play-list. They will always remind me of a wonderful road trip I was honored to lead back in November of ‘98.
Fast forward 21 years.
I was walking through Tallinn’s Old Town district in July of 2019 when a poster caught my eye – “Metallica in Estonia!”. The concert was only a few days away. The venue was an old Soviet air field near the university town of Tartu located in the southeastern part of Estonia. How could I not go?
Viktor was not particularly enthused about this opportunity (he’s more of a Beatles fan). So he suggested Mairi, our friend from Tartu, might be willing. Metallica was not her cup of tea either. But it was a big event for her community, so why not.
Ticket sales were handled online while mobile phones stored the requisite credentials. Sadly, no paper souvenir for this event. I also bought a parking pass thinking this would be easiest. The train ride from Tallinn took two hours. Mairi met me at the station. From there we headed directly to the venue. Normally this would have been a ten-minute drive. But, on this day, it was clearly going to take much longer. In fact, we never got close to the parking lot. It was just better to get out and walk. We had lots of company.
Raadi Airfield was built by the Soviets in 1940 to host a large fleet of bomber aircraft. For this reason, Tartu was strictly off limits to foreigners during Soviet times. It’s reported that by the mid-50s, Raadi was number 13 on the list of Soviet airfields targeted by the U.S. Air Force. With the fall of the USSR in the early ‘90s the base was ultimately relinquished to Estonia. In 2016 construction was completed on the Estonian National Museum situated at the southwest end of the runway (an extraordinary exhibition).
The weather forecast for the concert was overcast with a threat of sprinkles. But, by evening the clouds parted revealing a majestic blue sky. The stage was situated behind the museum, but facing northeast allowing the audience – estimated to be about 60,000 – to stretch out down the concrete runway.
Typical of these concerts, the performance started with a couple local acts to get the crowd energized (a gig like this certainly looks good on a CV). Finally, it was time for the main event. The perfect prologue was a familiar instrumental – “The Ecstasy of Gold” – borrowed from the classic film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly starring Clint Eastwood. By happy accident the musical intro was perfectly accentuated by a radiant sky awash with yellows, oranges and reds courtesy of clouds filtering sunlight as the horizon turned day into night. The ambiance was epic.
I could say we stood right up front fist-bumping James and catching guitar pics. But that might be stretching it a bit. The truth is we worked our way through the crowd to find a comfortable place to stand and listen without getting knocked over by a wall of sound (and people). So, while we were certainly part of the crowd, we were still a long way from the action. Nonetheless, we had no problem hearing the music. Honestly, I’m not sure we ever saw the band. The large video screens were nice though.
Metallica was on stage for nearly two and half hours. The setlist included the three songs I wanted to hear. Much of the rest lived up to its billing as heavy metal. Nonetheless, it was worthwhile. In a sense, it closed a circle for me. It was nearly 21 years earlier that a group of young Estonians, couped up in a 15-passenger van travelling across the Western U.S., first introduced me to a little band called Metallica. Wherever I may roam, nothing else matters!
