Poets of the Fall – Sirkus, Hämeenlinna; April 5th, 2012
“4 gigs in 4 days? Really? How are you gonna survive? You are crazy!” I’ve heard these and similar words from my fellow fans a lot lately. I wasn’t worried. I may have had to travel further this time and the gigs may start later, but I did survive 6 gigs ind 6 cities on 6 days in a row during the Martin ad James tour back in February and I went to work in-between so this should be a piece of cake, right?
Well, with the level of exhaustion I feel now, after only the first one, I am not entirely sure any more, but I’ll just do what I always do: hold on tight and let the music carry me. Sleep? Overrated! (unless you are talking about the song of course). It kinda scares me that I feel quite well rested after only 6 hours of sleep, but compared to the 4 hours I got the night before, this actually is a lot.
As always, I left packing and preparations for the last minute and as always I ran out of time. So it was to bed at 1:00 and up again at 5:00 a.m. to go to the airport. It was quite busy there too with people getting ready for their Easter vacations. Anyway, the trip was uneventful and I arrived in Hämeenlinna around 3 p.m.. Nice weather invited me to go for a long walk, the fresh air cleared my head.
My friend K. arrived around 8, after her train had to go back to Tikkurila, because another train was blocking the track (huh?). We went for dinner and on to the club. Once again we were the first ones outside at 1 hour before the doors opened. Yep, I will never learn that people in Finland just don’t get in line that early. 😉 Admittance, waiting, chatting with my friend M. who I had not seen for a year, saying hello to Petri, more waiting. Why does it always have to be midnight?
By the time the intro started, the place had filled pretty well and once I saw the guys walk out I felt the smile spread on my face and forgot all tiredness. There was a lot of fog used so I could hardly see them at first, but hear them I did. Marko obviously had a new toy (watch) that he kept fiddling with. It looked as if he was timing the gig, but I have no idea what he really did there.
For the first three or four songs I just enjoyed watching the guys so much that I didn’t raise my camera once. I had a pretty good view of everyone and the stage was just the right height to lean on it and use it to drum in rhythm with the songs. 🙂
There was no speaking English tonight, so for the first time in a long time I didn’t understand a word that was spoken on stage. The sound in front was also not the best, but that never matters. I know the songs well enough to cope with not hearing the lyrics clearly. At one point Marko even said something to me and I have no idea what it was because I simply could not hear him. The smile was nice though. 😉
I had a lot of opportunities to watch the guys up close. Ollie and Jaska played right in front of me at times and I loved following their fingers as they danced across the guitar strings. Just awesome. At the end of the gig, they even played there guitar duel really close to were I stood. It was fun to see. Marko spent a lot f time on his knees that night and quite often right in front of me too. 🙂 He blew a lot of feathers into the crowd and later handed me one with a grand gesture. Yep, I still have it!
This was one of the gigs where I have no distinct memories of specific songs, but the general feeling of a great gig. Everyone enjoyed it, on stage and in front. I was just happy being there, among friends, being able to share this with them. In a heartbeat the last song was over and it was time to go. Goodnight guys, see you tomorrow. 🙂
5 gigs down, more to go. Next stop: Vantaa.
Setlist
Kamikaze Love
Diamonds for Tears
Temple of Thought
Roses
Cradled in Love
Locking up the Sun
War
The Lie Eternal
Stay
Illusion & Dream
Gravity
Late Goodbye
Acoustic:
Sorry Go Round (Bossa Nova)
Someone special
Encore:
Dreaming wide awake
Carnival of Rust
Lift