So we brought Avarus over, we went on tour. Wanted to show them the real America and we did: We all got infested with chiggers in Tennessee, the Baltimore venue literally caught on fire in the middle of the night while we were sleeping ( we had to grab out shit and jump down 6 flights while the firefighters were coming up ), we all got Manbeard fever one after another, we borrowed the Drop Dead tour van (much respect RI punk legends!) and it broke down outside of Chicago, we went to a 4th of July house party in suburban Nashville with loads of drugs and pornography (?!), we explored Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, we showed the Finns the debauchery of the Jersey Shore - they were frightened by the size of the waves, but there was a hula hoop contest at a yoga studio after, alls well the ends well !

Released in 2007 to celebrate the Manbeard + Avarus "Mandatory Vacation"-tour in the USA . Released on Secret Eye Records as an edition of 200 copies (AB-OC-34).

From the long-lost Secret Eye tour webpage:

In April 2006, Secret Eye Records brought the fabulous Finnish free noise collective AVARUS to the USA for the first time. They performed at the Terrastock Six festival that we hosted in Providence, RI. Aside from that festival, they played an Olneyville warehouse party and also live on Brian Turner's WFMU radio show, but that was it -- they went straight back to Finland. But, lo - FEAR NOT, for here, now, in the glorious hot Summer of 2007, we bring you AVARUS for their first, proper, American tour!n Joining will be Providence RI's notorious MANBEARD featuring members of Urdog, Kites, Landing, Black Forest/Black Sea, Ninja vs Wrestler, Lazy Magnet, Barnacled and more.

AVARUS / MANBEARD
2007 Tourdates

6/29 - Brooklyn, NY - Silent Barn with Fursaxa, Vanishing Voice, Watersports (Blues Control)
6/30 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's with Bardo Pond
7/1 - Baltimore, MD - Floristree with Jack Rose, Sri Aurobindo
7/2 - Asheville, NC - Harvest Records
7/3 - Knoxville, TN - The Pilot Light
7/5 - Nashville, TN - The Springwater with Taiwan Deth, The Cherry Blossoms
7/6 - Louisville, KY - Lisa's Oak Street Lounge with Caboladies, Sapat
7/7 - Cleveland, OH - Parish Hall with Scarcity Of Tanks, Terminal Lovers
7/8 - Chicago, IL - The Hideout with Spires That In The Sunset Rise
7/9 - Cincinnati, OH - Skull Lab with Wasteland Jazz Unit
7/10 - Pittsburgh, PA - Belvedere's
7/11 - Washington, DC - Velvet Lounge with Kohoutek, Insect Factory
7/12 - Point Pleasant, NJ - Om Baby Yoga Studio with Phasmida
7/13 - Florence, MA - Ecstatic Yod with Spires That in the Sunset Rise, Aethr Myth'D
7/14 - Providence, RI - AS220 Foo Festival with Sage Francis, Stinking Lizaveta, Spires That In The Sunset Rise, many more

review from the Siltbreeze blog:
"more of the patented lunar surface orgasmos-core that I have come to
expect from these swilling shamen of earth 'n electricity. Live set I
witnessed the other night was easily one of the highlights for my year
thus far. Only 300 pressed & they's got'em on hand. Or try
www.secreteye.org & see all there is to know."

wild live video capturing Manbeard at the Springwater in Nashville on July 5 2007: www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2Ro9JX5u7E

crappy flipphone video montage of Avarus soaking in the Jersey Shore beefcake bikini scene, mixed with live Avarus from the old Yod space in Western Mass on July 13 2007: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YD3-Rz3GBs

Avarus feature in the Cleveland Scene July 4 2007: www.clevescene.com/music/cosmic-or-drunk-1499098

Some other Avarus reviews from the many releases we did together on Secret Eye:

"AVARUS, VESIKANSI, SECRET EYE CD. Avarus are one of the cornerstone groups of modern Finnish psychedelia, trailblazers for the recombinant aesthetic pioneered by a small gaggle of artists whose self-released, subterranean music is as baffling and crude as it is celebratory and hilarious. As with compatriots Kemialliset Ystavat, Avarus's line up is often in flux, though it appears to revolve around Roope Eronen and Arttu Partinen, and, on Vesikansi, Fursaxa's Tara Burke joins them on two lengthy live improvisations. Though Avarus often achieve a heightened, concentrated group-mind, they are natural jokers, and this goofy-but-not-dumb sense of humour is reflected by some of their artwork (in this case, an ice cream sundae set adrift on a world map, and a hand-drawn moustachioed octopus) that humour works its way into the music too: the overheated amp noise of "Loylyvesi" is undercut with slurring that sounds as though it's being played back through a tape machine running on low batteries, and around a third of the way through "Vissyvesi", a gloriously idiotic five-note synth riff farts through the murk. Those moments serve to lighten the listening experience, but "Vissyvesi" also detours into an extended wash of beatific hum, and the degraded scour of "Lapsivesi" is brittle and fragile, the magnetic tape about to disintegrate under the recording heads. The real joy in Avarus's music is their ability to negotiate this balancing act, essaying surprising moments of beauty and humour." - Jon Dale, The Wire issue 269

"...Vesikansi (Secret Eye) taps into the freak-out essence of the band: keyboard swooshes go nuts, small percussion instruments litter the floor and everyone has a go at them, but mostly, the group is working as a unit to build instant anthems with more of a rock edge than before. Don't be mistaken, they are not turning into an underground psychedelic rock outfit. The music remains resolutely in the free-folk underground vein, but on this release, Avarus sound closer to Jackie-O Motherfucker than to the No-Neck Blues Band." - François Couture, All Music Guide

"Jättiläisrotta (Secret Eye) cycles between rumbling free jazz, airy tribalism, and spaced-out Day of Niagara sessions. They manage also to slip the lovely underwater, near-folk strum-a-long "Ahoistava Haisemisen Loordi" into the mix. "Prinssihalonen" kicks up a chiming psychedelic vortex as powerful as anything Avarus has done to date. The strings are skyrockets and the boom-crash chugga-chugga drums are a treat. Throughout, think Sunburned Hand of the Man, perhaps the collective's best, kindred analogue." - Pitchfork

"Avarus have reached new heights on Jättiläisrotta (Secret Eye). This is fun music. It's about sitting down with friends with a few drinks and having a good time. Now if only every such encounter would produce such fantastic aural results. Avarus are definitely one-of-a-kind". - Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis