Poets of the Fall – Satama Open Air, Kemi; August 4th, 2012

I just got back from Satama Open Air and must say that tonight’s Poets of the Fall concert was the best one I have seen this week. The sound, the lights, the audience, the mood the guys were in, the mood I was in – everything was perfect. And I had been wondering if maybe I needed a break. 😉

It was a beautiful, sunny day in Kemi and to my surprise there was a line long before the doors opened. There were quite a few people when I got there at 5 p.m. Met K. and M., waited, hoped to make it to the front somehow. Lucky for us the front of the stage was separated into an “under 18” and an “over 18” area. The under 18 filled quickly, but not the other side, so we made it to the front on stage left.

The festival started at 7 with Diandra Flores, winner of the Finnish Idol. She was cute, her songs were listenable and she had Jaska on guitar. Not a bad start. Next up was Cheek – Finnish hip-hop, not my music, really and I found some of the videos I have seen rather sexist, so I didn’t expect to like it. After a while I had to admit that he and his band (is it called a band, when it’s hip hop?) were rather good live. They got the audience going and were quite entertaining. I was enjoying myself and actually clapped along. At least until I saw him point in my direction, clearly say “Poets” and then just laugh. What ever that was supposed to mean he lost all the sympathy points he had gained up to that point right then and there. Sorry dude, but you do not diss my band. So for the rest of his set, I just waited for the end of it.

A few Cheek fans left after they were done and we moved a bit closer to the center. As soon as I saw the POTF crew on stage the smile was back on my face. Somehow I could already feel this was going to be great.

Already with the intro to ‘Kamikaze Love’ I knew that the sound was going to be much better than at Assembly and it was confirmed when Marko started singing. I could clearly hear every word. YES! It has not happened in some time that I completely fell into the music and got lost in it, but it happened then and there. From hearing “Here I go again, rushing headlong…” until the last note of ‘Lift’ rang out I was in a zone where just me and the music existed. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there too. 😀

Now as usual I cannot remember what happened during which song exactly, but this was one of the funniest and most relaxed gigs in a while. The guys were on fire and they all looked as if they were enjoying themselves. 😀  I also have the feeling that they played almost exclusively to our side of the stage. At one point Ollie, Jani and Jaska were all playing right in front of me and Marko came over to our side a lot too. He even tried to go out to the far left once, but could not because of the feedback from the speakers.

Captain was wearing this really cool ring that gave of green light – a toy from Assembly? He was also wearing sunglasses and only lifted them one time after Ollie asked him something. If I had to guess I’d say he didn’t get much sleep. That didn’t spoil his mood though. I saw him smile a lot and he was singing along all the time too. Ollie was all smiles for most of the night as well. During ‘Locking up the sun’ he started laughing because he saw me jumping and headbanging. Then he headbanged right along with me. :p

During one song, I don’t remember which, Marko got the idea to pull down his pants Robbie Williams’ style and show us his naked ass. I slapped my hand into my forehead, shaking my head, then laughed so hard I had trouble singing along for the rest of the song. Thank you, Marko – that was a sight I really didn’t need to see!

Jani was in a playful mood too. He pretended to hit Marko in the guts with his bass several times and they chased each other across stage too. It was just fun watching them interact. The whole mood on stage was great. Everyone looked happy. The audience knew what to do and went along with every song, singing, waving, screaming at just the right moment. All the sing along stuff that fell flat at Assembly worked very well this time. It was such a joy to be part of that. I had feared that all the fans of The Rasmus in front row might just wait for their band, but they were great and so was everyone behind. It must have looked good from stage.

I saw the guys talk to each other and laugh a lot, especially Ollie and Captain and Ollie and Jani. Sometimes I’d really love to hear what they are saying to each other. It always looks like they are having a good time. For the encores, Marko but the top hat and boa aside and came out wearing the black baseball cap from the Assembly gig, saying “Somewhere Jeremiah Peacekeeper is fighting with Marko – some of you might understand what that means…. but maybe I’m just dreaming.”  A powerful version of ‘Dreaming wide awake’ followed. The boxes in front of the stage were made for him to step on, even though the one in front of us seemed rather shaky. The distance to front row was still far though. The energy on stage was unbelievable and after a beautiful ‘Carnival of Rust’ the guys exploded into ‘Lift’. The audience too, took the last chance to jump and yell like there was no tomorrow. 😀

The entire gig was just unreal, energetic and full of that special magic that Poets of the Fall concerts hold. Each song seemed perfect that night, some breathtakingly beautiful, others rocking the house down. I felt exhausted when it was over, but recharged at the same time. The woman behind me put it that way “ihana bändi!” = marvelous band – I can only agree!

Setlist

Kamikaze Love
Diamonds 4 Tears
Temple of Thought
Locking up the Sun
Cradled in Love
Stay
Illusion & Dream
The Lie eternal
Late Goodbye

Encore
Dreaming wide awake
Carnival of Rust
Lift

After it was over I went to the side and watched The Rasmus from there. Loved there set too. Lauri brought lots of energy to the stage and they played many of my favorites. I also heard a few songs I didn’t know. They might be from the new album. All the hits were there though and it was as much fun watching the audience as watching the band. They were a wild mass of jumping and dancing people, singing along and looking happy. I wasnt really part of it, but did my share of clapping and singing while Lauri made sure to sing to the people on the sides too.

Setlist

First Day of my Life
Livin’ in a world without you
Stranger
Justify
I’m a mess
Chill
Guilty
Save me once again
Immortal
Liquid
No fear
Falling
In my Life
In the Shadows
Sail away

About ten past midnight it was over and I returned to my hotel. The sun had not set yet and I could not sleep for a long times. A great end to my short summer vacation. 🙂

POTF summer tour – 6 gigs down, 1 to go. Next stop: Sibiu.