Poets of the Fall – Gong, Turku; March 3rd, 2017
Some concerts provide just what you need at any given moment: The right music at the right time for whatever you feel then and there. Poets of the Fall are especially good at doing that and their concert in Turku was one of those where not only I did not want to trade this for anything else in the world, but it seemed like I was destined to be there just to feel what I felt. It was beautiful, I had a great time and suddenly a few things in my life became clearer to me with the music and the words taking on a meaning that fit my current situation. I will never be able to explain how much all of this means to me and I just have to hope that somehow the band understands. I can never thank them enough for their music and all that it has brought me.
Turku has always provided me with good memories so when the gig was announced and I thought I would not be able to make it due to my boss’s new “you can’s take every Friday off” policy I was really bummed about it, until I found a flight connection that would allow me to work for a few hours and still be in Turku by 9 pm. However, at the time I booked said flight I didn’t know when the concert was going to start and there was still a chance I might miss it. My connection was from Düsseldorf via Copenhagen and Stockholm to Turku and went surprisingly smooth. I landed at 20:50 and was at the venue at 21:40 with time to spare until the gig. I even made it all the way to second row because it was still pretty empty when I got inside. Wow.
We still had to wait for the show to start, because Jaska had not arrived yet. He had been playing a gig with Kaija Koo earlier that night. Thus S. and I had a chance to catch up while the venue slowly filled. At one point I thought I’d seen Jaska come in, but I might have been mistaken, because it still took some time before Glen came out and made last preparations on stage. Finally the lights went down and we started clapping. 😀
As soon as the band took the stage I noticed I had a great view of Captain and spent a lot of time just watching him. He seemed to be in an exceptionally great mood too, smiling the entire night. From the very beginning he often had a hand in the air, moving it in time with the music. 🙂 After quite far away from the stage in Nivala the previous week it felt great to be close again. Even from second row the guys were close enough for me to touch. Immediately I decided against taking pictures. I would have if I’d ended up in the back, but now I allowed myself a break.
The setlist changed yet again since the previous concert, with the order of songs being slightly different. After the show S. and I agreed that it was more even this way. I’d still love to have one or two more songs though. 😉 Anyway, the flow of the show was great and I was into it in no time at all. I smiled as I watched Jaska visibly relax during the first song. He walked over to Ollie, pretended to wipe sweat of his face and signaled being glad that he made it. So were we. 🙂 Watching Jaska and Ollie interact was such a joy that night. They were often playing together as well as play off each other, especially during ‘Rogue’ when it almost looked as if they were having a competition, showing each other new moves. 🙂
It was a night of big smiles and deep emotions for me. I felt the lines of ‘Dreaming wide awake’, ‘Diamonds 4 Tears’, ‘The Labyrinth’, ‘Temple of Thought’ and ‘Everything fades’, some like many times before and others like I’ve never felt them. Many lines I sang, screamed at the top of my lungs, because I could not contain all the emotions within. Some of them were expected, others came to me like new revelations, all very raw, but not all of them painful. I just went with the flow and allowed myself to go there, to feel this. So many words rang true for me that night and despite the sadness I felt, there was also hope that eventually everything will fade away and hopefully the good memories will remain.
It’s not like I spent all night lost in my own world though. The guys always manage to take my mind off all worries and make me happy no matter what and they always have me go along with the music. The sound was good, much better than in Nivala the previous week so I could just enjoy the beauty of the music. I spent some time watching each one of them, seeing little things like Marko pulling Jani’s tie or Captain throwing a towel in the air with his right hand a few times and each time playing a few notes before catching it again. When I focussed on Jari for a while I think he noticed, because he suddenly started smiling. <3
The small gestures and interactions are what makes each concert different and the better the general mood is, the more of these interactions can be seen or at least that’s what it feels like. 🙂 I remember Jani leaning on to Jaska with his head against Jaska’s chest, later touching the same spot with his bass. During ‘Temple of Thought’ Marko walked over to Ollie and blew on his hair. At some point Ollie and Jaska were posing for pictures and Marko cave both of them rabbit ears in turn. 😀 All of this made me laugh quite a lot.
It was a fun show overall, where everything came together like a well oiled machine and time passed too quickly. It was intense and over too soon. I felt they had barely started when the last notes of ‘Children of the Sun’ rang out. Ollie was shaking hands in front row the others waved and took bows. Jani hugged Ollie and lifted him in the air. They all left the stage eventually and this time only Captain and Ollie took a final bow together. I wanted to call them right back, but I knew I’d have to wait until the next day to see them again.
The venue emptied quickly, but we stuck around, because the meet & greet visitors had been promised Jaska would talk to them after the show. He did and I got to listen in to the conversation. It was all in Finnish so I didn’t get all of it, but enough to laugh at the fact that he did not remember when they had played in Jyväskylä (hint: one week ago). He seemed quite relaxed, if a bit tired and stayed for a while. So nice of him after a double gig. Finally we said goodbye and went to our hotel. Goodnight, see you tomorrow!
Setlist
Shadow Play
Daze
Dreaming Wide Awake
Diamonds 4 Tears
The Game
The Labyrinth
Temple of Thought
Rogue
Drama for Life
Everything fades
Locking up the sun
Carnival of Rust
War
Lift
Children of the Sun
Clearview Finland tour: 3 gigs down, 10 to go. Next stop: Rauma