Poets of the Fall – Lomakeskus Sieravuori; June 29th, 2012

This was one of these incredible gigs where everything felt right, but I have trouble remembering details or describing what made it so special. It just was great, amazing, wonderful, breathtaking, unbelievable, awesome, other-worldly, fascinating, beautiful, funny

I should have know it would be, because I have fond memories of the last concert I saw in Sieravuori on my birthday almost 4 years ago. Interestingly, it went way beyond my expectations. Maybe they weren’t that high to begin with, maybe it was because the pressure I felt for the first gig after my “break” to be extraordinary was already dealt with a week ago or maybe there is just a special magic about these concerts in the middle of nowhere that usually not so many fans seem to make it to and where anything can happen. Whatever it was, it was there and whoever made the track out to the edge of civilization (hey, it’ 30 km form the closest bus stop, that’s far out for me!) was in for a treat.

My day hadn’t started too well. The plane was delayed and therefore I missed the bus I had been planning to catch. That left me without my friends S. and M. (who were on the earlier bus) and time to kill at the airport. Sometimes I easily fret about little things so I told myself to let it go, because there was nothing I could do to change it. There was more than enough time to get there before the concert, so I took a deep breath and spent some time reading in the sun. Once I was actually on the bus I started enjoying the journey and was looking forward to meeting my friends in Eura from where we would share a taxi. Soon I was smiling, because the bus took me past Forssa and Huittinen, both places where I’d seen the Poets (and would have probably never gone to otherwise).

A bit over three hours later the longest part of the journey was over and a taxi took us to Sieravuori. The crew was already busy setting up the stage, so I briefly set hello before getting the keys to the rented mökki and setting out to find it. S., M. and I met again soon to eat and while we waited for our pizza to arrive (talk about slow service!), the Russian travel group with N., A. and their friends arrived as well. To repeatedly go through the trouble of sitting on a bus for 12 or more hours one way (not to mention traveling to get to said bus) just to see a concert, now that’s dedication! It truly amazes me, how many dedicated followers Poets of the Fall have in Finland as well as outside, who will go to any length just to see them. Their number is constantly growing too. 🙂 A special band draws a special breed of fans I guess.

We hung out, chatted a bit – the usual. They opened the doors at ten p.m. and only the front row was immediately filled. The stage had changed since last time. It still was triangular with a pillar at the side, but it now had a platform in front and a railing instead of a rope. I ended up dead center. 😀 There was still a lot of time to kill, but I didn’t mind. Somehow I knew, I felt this was going to be great.

My Russian friends had told me that the Poets tweeted Jari had been abducted by aliens and was going to be replaced by Teijo Jämsä that night. I spent some time wondering why and if it was gonna work for me. Yet there was nothing I could do about it so I decided to put it off my mind. We busied ourselves watching Hannu taking down part of the stage curtains to make room for the banner and Einari getting the guitars ready. We got a glimpse of the Teijo who seemed a little bit nervous, but was well prepared judging by what we had heard during soundcheck earlier.

Finally it was time for the concert to start. From the very first moment, everything fit. I was really happy to be there, I let the music run trough my veins and felt my heart beating in time with it. I have not felt this alive at any concert in a while, at least not from the first sound. It was effortless to be right there, in the music, not only hearing, but feeling every note and every word.  Tried to take it all in with my eyes too and it should have been easy on the small stage, but I do admit that my attention was very much focused on Marko who was directly in front of me most of the time.

It wasn’t that hot, but apparently too warm for the top hat and feather boa as they were nowhere to be seen. Jaska, surprisingly wore a jacket, but that only lasted a few songs. The others wore their usual stage attire. I didn’t see all that much of Teijo, because everyone else was in front of him, but when I saw him he looked quite concentrated. He had sheets of paper with him that apparently contained notes on the songs and he consulted them frequently. At times, I saw Captain cueing him in (or at least that’s what it looked like). He did his job very well though and it must have been difficult to learn all these new songs. On some songs his drumming was notably different from Jari, but not in any way bad. Still, I did miss Jari’s presence on stage.

They all looked like they were having fun and the audience seemed to enjoy the gig as well. Certainly the front row did. 🙂 I think ‘Temple of Thought’ was the first song where Marko stepped on the platform in front of the stage and looked at each one of us in turn. Jaska took the chance to switch places with Jani and played with Ollie for a while. They didn’t have guitar duels so much, but they played together a lot. Each one of the guys smiled and laughed a lot that night.

For ‘Roses’ the Russian travel group threw roses on stage and the guys had some fun with those. They decorate the keyboard and guitars with it and Marko stuck one in the pocket on his vest. Then he added another one and I guess he explained why, but I didn’t quite understand what he was saying (note to self: learn more Finnish). Much later, N. handed a rose to him and he kept it for a while and then gave it back with a grand gesture. That was a sweet moment. Ollie threw roses back at the audience a few times, always aiming for someone with a smile. I don’t know if the flowers made it to the intended recipient though.

The setlist was the same as the spring tour without the acoustic set. I loved having ‘Roses’, ‘War’ and ‘Gravity’ back in there. The guys were so full of energy, the small stage could hardly contain it.  Especially ‘Gravity’ was fun because they were jumping up and down a lot, while some of us were dancing and headbanging. There were some nice sing along moments too, especially ‘Cradled in Love’ worked well and the audience was responsive as well as attentive overall.

The entire atmosphere was very relaxed, the sound was good and compared to the last time I was there, the lights were a lot better. I can’t recall any more details right now, but a general feeling of happiness prevails. I loved every minute of the concert and didn’t want it to be over.

Afterwards I had the chance to at least say hello to all of the guys and chat a little with Marko, Ollie and Captain. They were just waiting for all the equipment to be loaded in the bus and then left, but before that they took time to talk to people, give autographs and take pictures. I said goodbye to them and to my Russian friends who were leaving as well and then retreated to my mökki, still smiling, replaying the concert in my head. In case you are wondering what the “secret” in my headline is about: It would not be a secret any more if I told you now, would it? 😉

POTF summer tour – 2 gigs down, 4 to go. Next stop: Tampere

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

Encore:
Dreaming wide awake
Carnival of Rust
Lift

pictures of this concert