Poets of the Fall – Nalen, Stockholm; March 16th, 2019
Two weeks after my last visit I found myself back in Stockholm, this time to see Poets of the Fall. It had been over 10 years since they had last played in Sweden (if you don’t count cruises in Swedish waters) and I had high hopes for the sold out show. It could not have been any more perfect. Not only did they play at a gorgeous venue in front of an enthusiastic audience, but also was the band in a great mood and the sound as well as the light left nothing to wish for. Everyone had a great night.
The day started early for me as I had a morning flight to Stockholm. Luckily my hostel let me already check in when I arrived and I used the time to rest a little bit before the show. The weather wasn’t great anyway and it wasn’t my first time in Stockholm. Some time in the afternoon I went and checked where the venue was. Said hello to Glen, who just happened to be out for a smoke and asked him if it was as beautiful on the inside as it looked from the outside. He confirmed that it was. 🙂 The venue used to be a dance hall and was build 18something.
Later, around 17:30 I returned and was the first one in line, shortly after joined by a guy who was busy listening to music and did not talk. Then A. arrived, recognized me from one of the shows in Germany and we started chatting. I kept waiting for my friend B..who was on the way by car, but there was a long line before she and K. finally arrived. Meanwhile I talked to T. a bit. about 20 minutes before the doors opened, the venue staff brought out some barriers and rearranged the line. It worked nicely and we still pretty much stood as we had before. Entering the venue worked smoothly too and my photo pass was already waiting for me. <3
We chose a spot front row center and looked around. The venue was indeed gorgeous inside with high, star-painted ceilings, lots of pillars and generally nice decor. Wow! Only when I saw the stage setup I remembered the band had a support act that night. Blackout Problems, who had already toured with them in the UK. I remembered they’d been fun so I was sure time would pass quickly.
The concert was scheduled to start at 21:00, but to my surprise they entered stage at 20:30 – OK then, earlier start time for Poets of the Fall. 😀 First, Blackout Problems rocked the house though. I had forgotten just how crazy-fun they are. From the first moment on stage they were in full swing so to speak, the guitarist jumping around, the bassist with his leg on the barrier, the drummer going wild and the singer going into the audience during the first song. He did it right between A. and me too, so we stepped aside and I then helped guiding the microphone cable and holding it up as he moved around in the crowd. People were clearly surprised and loved it as he came close and sang directly to them. On the way back I admired how he maned to jump and press himself up with his arms enough to climb back onto the stage on first try. 😀
Their set was a little different from the UK tour as I recall and I the songs did not seem ver familiar to me any more. The sound wasn’t great though and I could not understand much of the lyrics. It got better during the set, I remembered ‘Limit’ and loved it. I think this was the second song when the singer went into the crowd, but it might have been ‘Sheep in the Dark’. Watching them was fun either way and it looked like the were enjoying it too. They told us it was their first time in Sweden (or on Stockholm?) and how happy they were to play for us. The band delivered an energetic show and when the announced the last song I was a little sad there wasn’t going to be more. It was ‘Rome’ though, my favorite and the set ended on a high note.
Setlist
How are you doing
911
Difference
Limit
Sheep in the Dark
Rome
With the Árstíðir tour just over, the wonderfully moving house concert and the unexpectedly intense Sólstafir gig all within less than two weeks, I had been a little bit anxious about joining “my other favorite band” again, not sure if I could take any more emotions, happy as it might make me. Yet, standing there, taking in the beautiful surroundings and feeling all the good vibes coming from the audience, I knew everything was not only going to be alright but great, even before Poets of the Fall walked on stage. 🙂 No matter what else is going on in my life, their music always does the trick and I really have no idea why I sometimes fear it might not work.
Since there had been a concert break (if only a short one) after Russia, I wondered if that might result in any setlist changes, but it didn’t. No complaints though, it works fine the way it is and saves me from having to learn more song lyrics. :p This doesn’t mean I remembered the order of songs. I tend to forget between concerts, especially when they don’t happen day after day. It came back to me with the first notes of ‘Dreaming wide awake’ though and I was immediately in the zone of singing along and forgetting about everything else. 🙂 The guys looked happy and they sounded great. The audience was into it from the start, cheering loudly as the guys walked out and even more when Marko pointed the microphone in our direction. Hell yeah, we were ready!
‘Dreaming wide awake’ already had everyone rocking along. This was going to be good. Despite the wide gap between us and the stage it all felt really close, because the guys instantly made contact, gesturing for us to clap along or scream. I waited for Ollie to jump high in the air and of course he did. One day he’s just gonna stay up there and fly a round above our heads. 😉 By ‘Dancing on Broken Glass’ I was already moving with the music – everyone seemed caught up in the magic of the show. The guys came, saw and conquered the audience in a matter of minutes. Somewhere along the way Marko leaned out and shook hands, but he already held everyone’s attention before doing that. 🙂 ‘False Kings’ and ‘Temple of Thought’ are always highlights for me. I just love both songs.
At the start of ‘Rogue’ Marko walked off clapping and left the stage to the others, who took over and rocked the house on their own. They were smiling so much it was contagious and I loved watching them play. When Ollie air-played Jaska’s whammy bar he looked towards Glen first to make sure he did it with him. 😀 When Marko came back, he directed the audience in cheering, making us scream and stop and start again according to his arm movements. It worked perfectly and was repeated later on.
Before ‘The Sweet Escape’ Marko asked who was there with someone that night. When only few hands were raised he concluded that we were all single and he’d have a great party later. 😛 We raised our phones with the lights on as instructed and Captain waved his hand along with us. Marko sat down at the edge of the stage to sing. I danced through ‘My dark disquiet’ and rocked through ‘The Game’. I remember Jani standing with Jari and Ollie rocking with Captain. Jaska looked like he was having the time of his life. 🙂
Before ‘Cradled in Love’ Marko walked over to Glen and took the guitar that he was holding to hand to Ollie. As Ollie turned to grab it he looked momentarily confused, but then took it from Marko, who commented “See, I’m not useless!” During the song he stood with one foot on the stage monitor in front of me so I tried to take pictures of Jaska, who was sitting on the keyboard raised, through his legs. Jani spotted me doing so and smiled about it, so I smiled back and him and shrugged.
I sang my heart out during ‘War’ and jumped for much of ‘Choice Millionaire’. It was such a fun show, the smile never left my face. Being among this enthusiastic audience was wonderful. Together we were creating an amazing show and the guys looked just as happy with it as I felt. Admittedly I found it difficult to take my eyes off of the guys that night, but once in a while I looked around and saw smiling faces everywhere.:) Occasionally I even took notice of just how beautiful the venue looked. The gorgeous lights only added to that. Too soon ‘Lift’ came around and ended the main set. Why does time always speed up during their concerts?
‘Sleep’ was well received and sounded lovely. It is always beautiful, but there was some extra magic to it that night. Soon we were all rocking again to ‘Daze’ and ‘Locking up the Sun’. During the latter Glen played drums with Jari and they fist bumped after. Many people sang along, no one but me was turning back time though. 😉 ‘Carnival of Rust’ was the perfect finale then. Everyone loved it and cheered for long after. Of course we agreed to take a picture with them and watched them all sit or lie down on the stage. A few more bows, waves and handshakes before the left. As usual it was over too soon.
Finally, after the show I met up with my friend B. and her boyfriend K. We had a drink together and chatted for a while, with A. joining us. On the way out we said hello to Jani who was as happy with the show as we were. Eventually, it was time to go and we hugged goodbye. Onwards to the next one!
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: 3 gigs down, 10 to go. Next stop: Oslo