Poets of the Fall – Kosmonaut, Sankt Petersburg; February 22nd, 2019

After a break since October it was time to see Poets of the Fall again. I’d been looking forward to this show, but after a wonderful week of touring with Árstíðir it felt really weird to leave them behind and go to see “the other band”. I had not even listened to their music since the last concert and felt completely unprepared for this. However, I was curious as to how the setlist would change and sure they’d win me over as they have always done. It turned out to be a very relaxed and fun gig that made me look forward to the next one.

With going out the previous night until it was time to catch my night bus I’d barely slept when I arrived at Berlin-Schönefeld airport too early to even check in. It was a long and boring wait. No place to lie down, no electrical outlets, too tired to function and nothing to do. When I’d finally gotten rid of my suitcase I spent most of my time in one line or another until boarding. Finally sat down on the plane and was fast asleep before take-off. When I arrived at my hotel in Saint Petersburg a few hours later I almost had a nervous breakdown for having to lug my suitcase up four flights of stairs with no elevator. Yep, sleep deprived.

Didn’t have much time to relax and get ready before I needed to leave again. When I arrived at the venue, the doors were already open, but the queue surprisingly short and I got a good spot on the right a few rows back. Nice! Waiting was boring though. Saw a few familiar faces and said hello, had a drink, tried not to fall asleep standing up. The guys tweeted they’d hit the stage at 20:20. OK then…

Finally, around 8:30 the show actually started and I felt like being taken back to October last year. I liked it, but five songs in the setlist was still exactly the same. Was I mad, in a coma or back in time? Getting into it was hard I have to admit. Not like Poets if the Fall didn’t give their best or the audience wasn’t into it, but this was vastly different from the previous six days and I needed a little time to adjust. Also it seemed I’d forgotten all of the lyrics at least to the Ultraviolet songs. Yikes!

Still, I jumped during ‘Dreaming wide awake’, I sang during ‘False Kings’ and ‘Temple of Thought’, did my best for ‘Dancing on Broken Glass’ and was watching the guys with a broad grin on my face by the time “Rogue’ came around. 😀 I can never resist their magic for long and they were obviously in a good mood. As the came out, Marko was wearing a rose on his lapel, that he later took off and threw to the crowd over his head. Somebody caught it, but I think there were so many hands reaching out and pulling that it did not live long.

I was really happy to find ‘Standstill’ still on the setlist and ‘The Sweet Escape’ unexpectedly moved me to tears. Just at that moment, with tears streaming down my face Ollie spotted me and I waved. ‘My Dark Disquiet’ chased all the tears away and I danced along with everyone else. We moved so much the floor was actually vibrating. 😀

Then, a surprise: ‘The Game’. Now those lyrics I remembered. 🙂 I laughed out loud when Jani snuck up to Ollie and actually bit into the neck of his guitar. Hungry? 😉 From then on the setlist was business as before on the Ultraviolet tour. Marko war using the lamp again, swinging it around during ‘Cradled in Love’ and there were other nice moments to watch like Jari getting extra applause at some point and Marko and Ollie both standing with Captain or Jaska’s awesome solo during ‘War’.

‘Choice Millionaire’ was a jump and dance fest with the floor vibrating again below my feet and ‘Lift’ was one big happy celebration of life. That song is always so uplifting. It is perfect to end the main set. I did my best to “go on and on and on”, but nobody noticed. 😛

The encore started with ‘Sleep’. That was somewhat predictable. Russia seems to get that song every time. It was a nice version though and a good sing-along. Somewhere during the encores I think, Marko crouched down and  leaned out with his hand outstretched, motioning for us to come closer so I found myself being pushed a few rows up. Not quite close enough to actually touch his hand, but with a much better view for the remainder of the gig. : D

After rocking us some more with “Daze’ and ‘Locking up the Sun’, the show ended with ‘Carnivsl of Rust’ and good vibes all around. It was a fun gig overall, unexpectedly emotional and with lots of occasions to smile. I had been hoping for more changes on the setlist, but still loved it and was happy I’d get another one. Finally home I collapsed into my bed, hoping for a good night’s sleep.

Setlist

Dreaming Wide Awake
Dancing on Broken Glass
False Kings
Temple of Thought
Rogue
Standstill
The Sweet Escape
My Dark Disquiet
The Game
Cradled in Love
War
Choice Millionaire
Lift

Encore:

Sleep
Daze
Locking Up the Sun
Carnival of Rust

Ultraviolet Tour 2019: 1 gig down, 12 to go. Next stop: Moscow