Samu Haber

Air plane seat. My favourite place to write blogs. I was going to write and post my birthday thoughts right after Berlin last week, but I was not ready yet. And I had also slept way too little and partied way too much to get my thoughts together about what happened on Thursday last week. 
 
From Berlin I flew to Zurich and we drove to Zermatt for a week with my cowbell boys and some other friends. One week in high altitudes with a snow board was a great plan after playing the show of my life and also after preparing for it for months. They had the Zermatt Unplugged festival in the village for our week, but I didn’t visit any concert or see one minute of show business. My heart was full of rock and roll already and what I needed was fresh air, good food and many rounds of playing UNO cards with human beings I feel safe with. The UNO tournament is actually a serious thing. We always play through the whole week and whoever wins the most rounds, becomes the champion. Even though I suck at card games as my mind always starts drifting too much, I’m writing these lines as the UNO tournament ™ 2026 Alpine Champion. Second year in a row. Can’t be only luck...
 
I was super nervous preparing my big birthday show. Planning pyro bombs (over 50 of them) and new songs and especially my three amazing visitors on stage stole my sleep. I would have understood both Osmo and Raul hesitating when I asked them to join. First it takes weeks to rehearse everything and they’d need to spend the weekend with me in Berlin. And I also realize the ending of Sunrise Avenue is still quite near and you can never say how someone else feels about opening the history books. Was so much fun planning the medley with Osmo. Isn’t he just something. And Raul wondering if the fans still remember him. There’s no one like him. My heart was deep in my throat announcing them both on stage and I could have hugged them both for a month in front of you all. 
 
Trumpet player Tero has been texting me for years asking if there’s anything we could do together again. According to him, it’s ”not the worst times in life” when we do something together in studio or on stage. Finally I called him last September and asked him to open my big show this time and to join us for a few songs. His only question was “Should I wear a black suit?” As we came into the arena from our backstage and we stood behind the stage and we felt the energy in the room, I was quite happy Tero was the first one on stage and not me. I would have shit my pants. The trumpet opening was just amazing and finally I was able to see the first part of my own show from behind the curtains. Tero normally teaches music to kids in a Small town in Finland. Thank you for welcoming him into that big class room with such love.
 
The professional level of Risto, Tomas and Janne is just unbelievable. But even more I admire them for how humble they are. We brought another part of history on stage in Berlin and I would understand if it would make someone’s heart beat faster (did that to me) and even make someone’s eyes wet. But the way the boys always handle everything and especially when it comes to my past and the Sunrise Avenue songs, it’s something I have never seen before. They practice and also listen to old live recordings to respect the way things have been. Of course it’s not the same because it can’t be. But the thought behind it and all the heart they put into what they do, actually makes it even better. I do look up to you all three of them.
 
I had fever the weekend before the show. I did say “please, not now” a few times as I had been super healthy the whole winter, but then I just decided to trust the universe and to dope myself off with loads of vitamins and stuff and I’m so thankful the what-ever-virus let go of me one day before the show and I was able to enjoy it all like never before. 
 
On Friday, the day after the show, we had a massive dinner with band & crew, my family and friends at Grill Royal in Berlin. The dress code was Disney. I forgot to choose the best outfit that night, but the winner could be my mother’s Minnie Mouse costume (She made it herself!) or the crew boys who came in as The Beagle Boys. They are the coolest gang in the world. And how amazing they made everything for us once again at that arena. The Grill Royal dress code on their website says "Smart Casual / Elegant." The staff faces were priceless as all the Disney figures walked in. After dinner I took everyone to the Berlin underground clubs. Ther partying years (Or being at the Voice;) in the wild city paid off as the whole gang got in through the back door. My Minnie-Mouse-Mom included. Mama, do we mind the headlines?

And the show. I don’t remember feeling that good on stage ever. Maybe there was a show in the past where I had more tears on stage or maybe the crowd has been louder at some other event (I doubt that), but the way I felt on stage now was something incredible. It felt like I didn’t have to do anything and the show and you all somehow carried me through it. Like I was floating and that the show lasted for three minutes and also for three days. I can’t explain. I’m glad we filmed the whole show for personal use and I can have another glimpse of all the fan actions and those amazing outfits you wore. You have no idea how much inspiration is beating in my heart now. I was a bit down after the summer shows last September, but my mood has been rising the last six months and writing songs and planning the future has been feeling better each day. But now after what I felt on that arena stage last week, I know the future is ours. I don’t know if I should call you fans or friends or something else, but the love I see in your eyes every time you’re with me, it stops my heart. Thank you.
 
One night on the mountains I opened my Instagram on my bed at night and I saw a cover version of “Choose to be me” by a young lady @lynnasmusic. It stopped me somehow and made me cry. Great tears. I watched the clip probably for 50 times. She sings like an angel and she sings the lyrics I wrote twenty years ago in my 28 m2 rental apartment in Helsinki. Going back to that fake leather sofa of mine and those wild dreams I had, It’s unbelievable what has happened. And it moved me that if I’d write that song today, I’d write the exact same lyrics again. I choose the path that I believe in. It all could not be more perfect. It’s actually strange that you already made all my dreams come true, but I’m still dreaming the same dream. And I probably always will because it's the only dream I love. I hope I have many years left of this life because I really like it here. After that cover song video and my tears, I slept like a baby for the first time in weeks.
 
Thank you for coming to my birthday show and for making the arena such a safe place. And thank you for living along this small journey of mine. Like I said on stage last week, I’d be nothing without you. I’m the Samu Haber of the Samu Haber show, but together with you and my friends around me we escape this crazy world at the shows for a while. And together with you we heal hearts every time we join forces. Together we are unbeatable.
 
Most of the week in Zermatt we were together with the guys 24/7. But one night I took some time for myself on the rooftop of our cabin. Crispy air and my cheeks still red after the day up in 4 Km. It’s amazing how many stars and small satellites you can see in those altitudes. I listened to some of the new song demos I have with me. The break has been good to me, but there are new stories to be shared. About love and life and the children of the this world. And about our summer last year. To feel like I feel about my new songs after doing this for twenty years, that is a blessing.
 
First twenty years in the business. And the first twenty years writing these blogs too. Thank you for reading them. 
 
I love the world very much today. I’ll see you again at the few festivals this summer and then on the XX tour when the leaves are brown.
 
Thank you <3 
 
Samu, The UNO champion