Poets of the Fall – Amarillo, Lappeenranta; April 7th 2017
When Poets of the Fall announced their Finnish tour dates, Lappeenranta was the only gig on that particular weekend and since it was a Friday, I had originally decided to skip it. Then, Levi was announced for the following day and I told myself I didn’t need to see all of the concerts. Who was I kidding? After the concert in Himos I searched until I found a flight to Kittilä and booked the entire weekend. So I found myself at Amarillo in Lappeenranta for the 13th concert of this tour and knew I would not have wanted to miss it. It felt shorter than any other gig (it wasn’t), which only proves that time flies when you’re having fun. 😀
For the second time since the start of this tour I had a direct flight and arrived in Finland somewhat well rested. Didn’t get to Lappeenranta before 7 pm, but that was more than enough for a gig that started at 11. Had some food, got ready and joined S. and H. who were already queuing with a few others. I had not remembered the venue at all, but it was pretty nice with a wide stage and a door we could see through. Time came for soundcheck and we were asked to not watch so we moved away. We could still hear everything and took the opportunity to have a drink or sample the food at Amarillo. After soundcheck we went back to the door and just before they opened a few more people arrived as well. The stage was wide, so there a lot of space in front row. We got a nice spot on the right in front of Ollie and only had one hour to wait until show start. 🙂
Even before the concert I had noticed that both Marko and Jani had new haircuts and jokes with S. about them having the same hairdresser, because both had the sides of their heads shaved . Maybe they did it to each other. 😉 Yep, we always find something to joke about. With all the time we spend waiting we do need some entertainment.
It was such a relaxed show from the start. The crowd was good in terms of cheering and otherwise just very friendly. not many drunk people, everyone just having a good time. From the start I was in a zone, wanting to feel every note. I had decided not to take pictures, but the moment Ollie joined Captain behind the keyboards to play with him, I could not help myself and picked up my camera anyway. I have rarely had such a good view of them playing together. So my resolve had lasted about three songs. 😀 I was much rewarded though: Jani, Ollie, Captain and Marko all posed for me, pointing in my direction, sticking out their tongue or just giving me a cool look. 😛
Since the Levi gig would happen on April 8th I had always though of that one as Ollie’s birthday show, but with the late start, of course this one was. He seemed to go extra crazy that night, wanting to leave his thirties with some extra awesome rock poses. 😉 The others teased him about it too and Marko explained to us that he was turning 20 that night. I briefly wondered if he even was allowed on stage at that age, but the age limit was 18. 😛 Ollie was clearly enjoying the attention and when he needed a footrest during a solo, Glen even brought him an equipment case and put it up in front of him. 😀
Ollie wasn’t the only one going wild that night. Everyone showed their skills and the guys played to and with each other a lot. At one point Jani and Ollie were standing in front of Captain, playing with him. Then Ollie decided they needed more people and waved to Jaska to come and join him, sorta drawing him in with hands until he was with them. Together they all stood in front of the keyboards in a half circle, presenting their best rock moves. It was beautiful!
Marko sang to me several times, especially long during ‘The Game’ where we did a full verse together. I’m just glad he picked one I actually know how to sing. 😉 Of course he sang to other people as well and often leaned out towards the audience, holding out his mic to make us sing or scream. Just as often he visited everyone else in the band, watching them work, singing to them or leaning on to their shoulders. Once he stood across from Jani and stretched his arms out to the sides until Jani copied him.
So many times S. and I looked at each other and smiled, because it is such a joy seeing them live or we had just witnessed something especially fu, cool or crazy. At other times we were completely caught up in the music, having our gig faces on. This look can’t really be explained, but it happens to all of us and we all recognize it when we see it. It is best described as a mixture of adoration and pure joy.
Jani was all over the place, kicking out,duelling with Ollie or playing with Captain. He is always up for some crazy moves and can often be seen raising his bass up in the air or beating it with his hand. Jaska showed us some awesome guitar skills, especially during his solos. For ‘War’ the space googles were out again, but he’d been standing behind Captain, playing with them long before that. During ‘Lift’ he stood at the front, conducting our sing-along.
I loved how close they all were and being such a short distance from Ollie, I took the opportunity to play a little joke on him during ‘Carnival of Rust’. At the meet & greet in Himos we had learned of a running gag between him and Nina and I had prepared a sign referring to that. The moment he looked my way, I held it up for him to read. He remembered, smiled at me and nodded. I took it down quickly and nobody else saw it. Not all of the guys would have understood it anyway, much less the audience and like this it felt like a private joke between Ollie and me. 😀
I remember Marko dancing a lot, lifting his mic stand in the air, twirling it round and round and once just standing there with his hands on his hips in a “what has been going on here?” – pose not directed at anyone in particular. During ‘Locking up the Sun’ he carefully folded a towel and fanned Ollie with it. I was laughing already and laughed even more, when Glen ran through between them in a half crouch, carrying Ollie’s “footrest” to the front in time for the next song.
This concert had gone by ultra fast. I could not believe it when they started ‘Everything fades’ already – where had time gone? I could remember each and every song, but it still felt as if they had left out a few. It seemed impossible that this was the halfway mark and the rest of the show went just as quickly. It wasn’t the first one I wished to be longer, or better yet, not stop at all. We had some more fun moments before the end though. Marko was playing invisible instruments again. I think it was a flute this time and from my point of view it looked like he was playing a light beam. I tried to capture all of it with my camera and failed as usual. There is just too much going on. During ‘Lift’, S., H. and I did the “on and on and on” movement – Marko smiled when he saw us. 🙂 After ‘Children of the Sun’ Ollie was so busy shaking hands, he didn’t notice that the others were waiting for him to take a final bow together. They did eventually and left.
S. and I said goodbye to H., returned to our hotel and tried to get some sleep before our early start the next morning. Not before talking everything over though. Reminiscing is and essential part of it all and I am always happy to have someone to share the memories with.
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: 13 gigs down, 2 to go. Next stop: Levi