Meet Jordan Langlois. He’s a big fan of Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica. How big a fan? Enough to walk 2,000 miles in 140 days just to have a beer with the band. The Frenchman knew that the band was recording their eighth album, and at the time, only knew of two towns in Finland: Helsinki, and the band’s hometown of Kemi. His journey eventually brought him to Avetelli, where the band have been recording their album for the last five weeks, Yle Uutiset reports. Since June, the man had been covering about 13 miles a day, which isn’t bad for a guy that apparently faked asthma to avoid gym class as a child.
“A lot of people ask if I’m crazy,” says Langlois. “But I just wanted to do something different. When you’re walking you see things differently. And I’ll tell you a secret: I hate walking.”
Langlois’ motivation for coming so far and spending nearly five months on foot? “I really just wanted to have a beer with the band.” He’s gotten to have that beer, apparently. The band’s keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg said that they’ll usually turn fans away when they’re recording, but after hearing about his journey, the band welcomed him in and let him watch the album take shape. He’s even apparently taken saunas with the band. From the studio, Langlois traveled on to Kemi to see the band’s hometown.
