Poets of the Fall / The Vaccines / Red Hot Chili Peppers – Ratinan Stadium Tampere; August 1st, 2012

When all year you’ve been hoping your favorite band would play on your birthday and suddenly they announce a concert for that very day even in the same country you were planning to be in at that time, you don’t ask any questions, you just do whatever it takes to be there. So I did and took an unscheduled stop on my current Poets of the Fall summer tour to see them support Red Hot Chili Peppers in Tampere.

I had it all planned out: See Springsteen in Helsinki on July 31st (and with some luck have a show that went on until after midnight), attend the Southside Johnny show on my birthday and as an extra treat, see Poets of the Fall at Assembly the next day. I was perfectly happy with this arrangement and looked forward to all 3 concerts. Still, for the longest time I kept secretly hoping, Poets of the Fall would announce another gig, even joked about a midnight one on the evening of July 31st in Helsinki being doable. Be careful what you wish for?

Suddenly on July 24th, a week and a day before my birthday and just two days before I was leaving for my vacation, the Poets announced they’d support Red Hot Chili Peppers. That show had been sold out for months! I knew I could not not be there and wondered how I was going to manage. Surprisingly there was a ticket link at LiveNation and when I followed it I was even more surprised to see a few tickets in both sidestage blocks. They probably became available after the stage setup was clear. I would have much rather had a GA ticket, but when the choice is not between GA and a seat, but between a seat and not being there at all, the decision is already made. I bought a ticket without second thought. Only after I bothered to find out how long they were going to play: 30 minutes, 6 songs – that was pretty much what I had expected.

Once I had the ticket I started wondering if I could see POTF there and still make it back to Helsinki in time for Southside Johnny. It was almost doable, but I decided against it in the end. Way too much stress, better to just enjoy the concert I was at without worrying about the one I was missing. After the decision was made, after my Southside Johnny ticket was sold and after I had gotten tickets for the train to Tampere and back the doubts set in. Was I really doing the right thing? Would I be able to enjoy the short set, knowing I’d be far away, knowing it would not be possible to make contact with the guys in any form, knowing they most probably would not realize was there? This wasn’t exactly going to be a club gig. Yet, again I knew I’d regret not going so I put all these thoughts aside and I decided to make the best of it.

So there I was, stage side left (or right from their point of view), so far to the side that I could not even see the back of the stage and still what felt like miles away. The pit was already pretty much packed when I arrived and the field slowly filled up as well. The stands? Not so much. A few people sat here and there, but mostly it was empty. I spent the time people watching, happy to have nice weather. About half an hour before their stage time I put up my Prowlers banner, hoping it might be visible from stage.

18:45 came, the intro music started, people in the pit and in the field got to their feet – most of them anyway. I got up and felt the same rush I always feel when a Poets of the Fall concert starts – happiness at being there. They looked small from my point of view, but quite at home on the big stage. “I think, I must be dreaming” Marko exclaimed before launching into ‘Dreaming wide awake’. I clapped and sang along, not caring much that I was the only one around who did. The energy from stage did reach people. I saw jumping and dancing even near the back of the floor and I saw hands raised in the air. Sure, not everyone was going along with the music, but quite many were. I felt very happy for the guys and somehow very proud of them too.

‘Cradled in Love was next, it sounded amazing. Quite a few people seemed to recognize it too. The reaction was pretty good. I didn’t see Captain or Jari, but the others were at the front of the stage, playing their hearts out. Marko was walking all over the place, looking at people in the audience, making connections. He made sure to cover all of the stage and when he walked over to my side during ‘Diamonds 4 Tears’ he waved at me. So I guess my banner was visible after all. 🙂

‘Roses’ came as a surprise and made me quite happy. Great choice for the one song that wasn’t a single. ‘Carnival of Rust’ got a great audience reaction and during ‘Lift’ many people were jumping. The call and response didn’t work so well or at least I didn’t hear much from the audience, but that might have been due to sitting on the side since I cannot remember hearing much from them later. It certainly looked as if people were enjoying the gig and I’m sure the Poets had a good time. One day they just might fill stadiums of that size and I know I will be around to watch them do it. This as only the beginning. Until then, however, I will enjoy the club gigs as long as I get them . 😉 Was it worth going there for 6 songs you ask? Is that even a question? It was a great birthday present!

Setlist

Dreaming wide awake
Cradled in Love
Diamonds 4 Tears
Roses
Carnival of Rust
Lift

POTF summer tour – 4 gigs down, 3 to go. Next stop: Helsinki

I settled back down in my seat, packed up my banner and waited for what the rest of the night would bring. The second support act, The Vaccines got a great reaction from the crowd, but having been on tour with Red Hot Chili Peppers they must have already been known by many. I enjoyed their set. Don’t really know how to describe the music other than “rock” which does not say anything, but they were entertaining.

Setlist

No Hope
Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)
Tiger Blood
Wetsuit
Teenage Icon
Post Break-Up Sex
All In White
Wolf Pack
Ghost Town
Blow It Up
If You Wanna
Bad Mood
Nørgaard

After they were done the stands finally filled and people were excitedly waiting for Red Hot Chili Peppers. I basically know their radio hits and the ‘By the way’ album so I did not have much of a clue what to expect. They did not blow me off my feet but they were fun and entertaining to watch and I spent much of the night drumming the songs’ rhythm on my legs. I didn’t recognize much of what they played, but I enjoyed everything.

There was a huge amount of energy coming from stage and the crowd was unstoppable. The entire pit and much of the field was jumping, dancing, waving, and clapping. It was almost as much fun watching the audience as it was watching the stage. 🙂 For me it was quite an experience to see a band that I don’t care about in such a setting. I wasn’t as involved as I usually am in a concert, but that gave me the freedom to watch what was happening around me, to see more than just the stage and the people on it.

The band gave us one hell of a show, they didn’t stand still all that much and if they did it was fun to watch anyway. I especially enjoyed seeing Flea and Josh playing solos. It looked like they enjoyed being there too and the audience thanked them. The hits got the biggest crowd reaction of course, but the pit was a mass of movement the entire time. 2 hours of a very powerful rock show that ended with Flea thanking everyone and telling about the first time they had come to Finland. I’m happy I stayed, it was great to have seen this once.

Setlist

Monarchy of Roses
Can’t Stop
Dani California
Otherside
Look Around
Throw Away Your Television
Charlie
Soul to Squeeze 
(Flea sang “California Love” … more)
She’s Only 18
The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie
Right on Time
Wet Sand
Under the Bridge
Californication
By the Way

Encore:
Chad & Mauro & Josh Jam
Suck My Kiss
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere 
(Neil Young cover)
Give It Away
Final Jam