Poets oft he Fall – Szene, Vienna;April 24th, 2019
It had been almost six years since Poets oft he Fall played in Vienna for the last time, so everyone was hoping for a show that would make them come back sooner. Judging by how much fun it was for band and audience alike, I’d say there is a good chance of that happening. It was a powerful show that left everyone with happy smiles on their faces. As it often happens when I do several concerts in a row, the details are a bit of a blur. 😉
Arriving by train from Prague in the afternoon I went to my friend S.’s place and we spent some time catching up. It had been a while. Neither of us wanted to be there particularly early so we settled for getting to the venue around 7. Once there we met up with friends and waited. Everything worked out fine and we ended up about four rows back on the right side of the stage. Waiting and saying hello to more people we had not seen since the last gig in Vienna, time passed quickly.
Blackout Problems rocked the hall – loud and full of energy as they always are. A few people in the audience had clearly come to see them, singing along to every word. Without seeing a setlist I still don’t recognize all of the songs, but ‘Distance’ and ‘The Limit’ were on there for sure. As always I enjoyed watching them and seeing them go crazy. The singer did not go into the audience this time around, but he stood on the front barriers for a while being supported by fans, so he would not fall down. Apparently they’d been to Vienna many times and liked the fact they could speak German on stage for once on this tour. We had fun watching them and I was glad S. liked them too. After they were done some people near the front left and we got a much better spot on the left side. The venue is sloped a bit towards the stage so people in the back stand a little higher up than they do at the front. It really helps with the view.
Poets were running a little bit late, but it didn’t matter. We were there, we had a good view and S.’s happiness and excitement to see them again after so much time was so contagious that I was already smiling even before the intro started. When it does, I always wait for the moment when the words “Don’t scream!” are spoken to see, or rather hear the audience’ reaction. This time, I admit I did not trust them to scream, just had the feeling they would not. Thus, I did it extra loudly and people did follow. They cheered for the guys and everyone made their voice heard when Marko held out the mic towards us. Yes! This was going to be a good one.
Technically, this was not a new audience for the guys, but it had been so long it might have felt new. So in the beginning at least Marko seemed to be holding back a little regarding going full on crazy, but after a few songs he was back to his usual stage self. 😀 Before the show we had talked about how Ollie is always looking for me in the crowd and he did, found me and smiled. <3 S. noticed it too. All the others saw me soon enough as well. These small moments of recognition often make my night. Still, after all these years it’s the little things that make the world. I miss the hugs and the conversations we sometimes had over several gigs, but I do still love Poets of the Fall just as much as I did when I first discovered them and yes I will dream you wide awake.
Like the previous night in Prague I noticed again how many people knew every word to the new songs. Both times I wondered if they knew the old ones just as well, but when they come around I am always so busy singing that I don’t pay attention. 😉 Guess I only notice when people know the lyrics to songs I don’t know. From time to time it happens that Marko catches me when I fail on the lyrics, but I always have the feeling he remembers what I know and don’t know because he usually looks at me when I can actually sing with him. Or maybe, just maybe he is testing if he can still make me black out on the words. 😉 He can, occasionally.
The guys clearly had fun, smiling all the time and goofing around a lot. They were going wild during ‘Rogue’ and involved Glen in their shenanigans. I love how playful they are. Before ‘Standstill’ Marko talked a lot and I have forgotten most of it, but at one point he said something along the lines of everyone smiling like there was a wild party the previous night and him being the only one not able to remember anything about it. Then he asked if we wanted to hear more music and concluded, “Maybe we should stop embarrassing ourselves and play some sit down music”. S. and I just looked at each other and laughed. Pluralis Majestatis? 😛
So much I have already forgotten, but I know the mood was great and I felt so very happy. Having S. with me made the show feel new and fresh again as if the tour was just beginning. I tried to take pictures of the guys teasing each other and playing together while jumping and dancing and trying not to miss any cues. I remember them posing a few times and eventually discovering that the pillars by the side of the stage were a good place to stand and lean on. I think Marko even considered climbing them, but then did not. I remember Jari laughing all the time, Jaska jumping together with Ollie during ‘Dreaming wide awake’ and Captain just enjoying the moment.
At one point Marko declared out of the blue “It’s so fucking dark on stage I can’t find my mic stand”, but it didn’t seem darker than usual. During ‘Kamikaze Love’ he decided to go into the crowd and at first even I did not understand him when he stepped onto the barrier, leaning out. Then he motioned for us to make room and I finally got it and moved. We cleared a path for him and he walked all the way back to the mixing desk, high-fiving Marko H. before he returned. 😀 It was funny and the fans were really surprised. One or two recovered quickly enough to take a selfie. 🙂
All the songs were amazing, we sang along at the tops of our lungs, looking at each other from time to time, dancing and jumping along with the guys. The rest of the audience was quite lively as well and by the time ‘Lift’ rolled around the venue seemed to explode with good vibes. As always I could not believe we had already gone through the entire main set of the show.
For ‘Shadow Play’ Marko came out alone, standing there in the back light, singing the first verse before the others joined him again – welcome to the encores. Jani came back out with a feather boa around his neck. Some fan must have given it to him I guess. It got really funny when he raised his hands to clap and a large feather got stuck in his armpit. I could not help but laugh. Later, he even had feathers stuck to his head. 😀 ‘Daze’ and ‘Locking up the Sun’ were great bursts of energy. During the latter, Glen was wearing a mask again while he played drums with Jari and Jari pretended to be scared of him. 😀 Jani was all over the place and this time stuck the neck of his bass between Ollie’s legs for a moment as he had one foot up on the stage monitor during his solo. More funny stuff happened, I know, but it escapes me now.
It was a brilliant show overall and afterwards we sat around for a while, reminiscing. Jani came out so we said hello and took a picture with him before he left again. Eventually it was time to say goodbye and go home. We spent a long time chatting about the show before finally going to bed.
Setlist
Dreaming Wide Awake
Dancing on Broken Glass
False Kings
Temple of Thought
Rogue
Standstill
The Sweet Escape
My Dark Disquiet
The Game
Kamikaze Love
War
Choice Millionaire
Lift
Encore:
Shadow Play
Daze
Locking Up the Sun
Carnival of Rust
Ultraviolet Tour 2019: 10 gigs down, 3 to go. Next stop: Budapest