Poets of the Fall – Konsta, Kaustinen; June 12th 2010
The things I do for love – the love of one band in this case. Got up at 6am after maybe 4hours of sleep, hopped on a train at 7:30 and was on my way to Kokkola. Slept a little on the train, but not enough. Arrival at noon and on to my hotel where they luckily already had a room for me (even though checkin was not supposed to be before 14:00). Had the chance to relax a little bit, but left the hotel around 13:30. I knew it would be a late gig, but the last possbile bus from Kokkola to Kaustinen (where the gig was) left at 13:45 and arrived at 14:25. That would not have been so bad in nice weather, because Kaustinen seemed to be a cute little town (read: It’s in the middle of nowhere and there’s nothing to do and nowhere to go!). Unfortunately, I arrived in the pouring rain…
So there I was, so tired I could have slept standing up, with not even a cafe to go to and hours to kill before the doors would even open. Great! *eyeroll* I first fled to the supermarket, then walked around in the rain, searching for the club. Walked the long way around and finally found out it was practically next to the supermarket, just not on the side I had walked to. On my walk I found a nice open – air stage, with a sign from some folk Festival in the 90ies!! Spent about 2 hours in a pizzeria next, just killing time, then went to the gas station restaurant and had tea, still almost falling asleep. I was so bored and the book I had brought did not do much to help me. Nothing much I could do so I just sat there.
Around 19:00 I went back to the club and luckily K. and M. had arrived and kept me company. At 20:00 the club’s bar opened, so we could go inside. Good. Chatted, listened to music from the music box and then to soundcheck. Marko did sound a bit off at first, I was worried again. Didn’t see him so I could not ask if the cold was back. During the gig he talked a lot though which is a good sign.
They let us in at 22:00 and we knew it would be at least 2 more hours of waiting. One of the women who were there early talked to M. and then turned to me saying “YOU’RE redbossfan”, almost in awe. I didn’t ask her why, but I felt really embarrassed by that. I didn’t ask for the 15 minute flame of fame.
Ollie was out on stage before the gig, checking his guitars. Since they were testing the lights I was momentarily blinded so he went and stood in the light’s path for a while. Sweet. Typically for a late gig there were quite a few drunk people and I almost got in a fight with one that was especially annoying. 🙁 I was still so tired that at one point I was sitting in front of the stage, ready to go to sleep – why oh why do they have to play so late?
Of course when they finally started at 0:45 all of this was forgotten. The place as such was actually nice for a concert even though the stage was a little bit too high. The half-drunk audience was not very attentive though. Marko didn’t even try to make us sing the “dishonesty” bit in ‘Illusion & Dream’ and they left out ‘Heal my Wounds’ even though it was on the setlist. It is in a somewhat bad spot though, between two fast songs and it would not really have fit in that night.
The mood was not bad at all, some yelling, screaming and singing along going on. The guys seemed to be enjoying it, they were laughing a lot. It was contagious. Jaska went over to Ollie and kissed him on the cheek. I wish I had caught that moment with my camera. Later Ollie half jumped up on Jaska’s back. Funny!
At one point I felt so sorry for Ollie. One of the roadies had spilled water on stage before the gig and not wiped it all away. Ollie slipped and practically did the spilts. My one thought was “Ouch that must have hurt” and I looked at him concerned, but he was laughing so it must have been OK.
With ‘Change’, again, the arm waving thing did not happen, I was actually the only one who tried, with Marko gesturing and smiling at me. This is becoming a running gag of all the shows. What could I do but shrug – didn’t work.
All in all an energetic gig, but not top notch. No chance to see them afterwards. We drove home at 3 a.m. and it was light outside. In bed by 3:30, up 4 hours later, then for the long road home. Yes, it was totally worth it and I am totally too old for this.
Setlist
Dreaming Wide Awake
Smoke And Mirrors
Diamonds for Tears
War
Given And Denied
Dying To Live
You’re Still Here
Illusion & Dream
15 Min Flame
Rewind
Change
Locking Up the Sun
The Ultimate Fling
Lift
Encore:
Carnival of Rust