Poets of the Fall – Hullu Poro Areena, Levi; April 8th, 2017

Over the years I’ve seen Poets of the Fall at several ski resorts and the one thing they have in common is never knowing how the concert or rather the audience is going to be. Usually, only a few fans show up and everyone else who comes to the gig are people who just happen to be there that particular day. Thus I have learned to expect the unexpected – anything can happen. Still, this one was out of the ordinary and therefore all the more fun. It also showed just how professional these guys are. I am really happy I was there to see it. 🙂

S. and I had an early start in Lappeenranta with only 30 minutes for breakfast before out train to the airport. The flight up to Kittilä felt quick, the bus drive to the hotel in Levi felt much longer. We were both hungry and went out to hunt for food. The “Old crazy Reindeer” turned out to be a nice place with good food. Then sauna (we had one in our room this time) and some rest before Z. arrived. We had planned to take it easy, but then her mom called telling us there were people queuing – WHAT? 2 hours before the show? DAMN! So we got ready. Then we arrived and found out there had been some sort of competition and there was a ceremony for the winners that lots of people attended. Only after they went out we would be allowed in. So we braved an hour in the cold being somewhat annoyed by not being able to get in and then arrived at an empty front row after all – jackpot. Now we only had to wait two more hours.

It was closer to midnight than 23:30 when the concert finally started and I was close to falling asleep with my head on the stage just before, but none of that mattered from the moment Glen grabbed the mic and carried it backstage until the curtain closed again after the last notes rang out. The stage had no barrier, but all the instrument and the mic stand were set back so we were a bit further away than the previous night. Of course Marko did not stay back there and sang right in front of us from the very beginning. The dance floor had been almost empty until just before show start, but now it was packed and people cheered loudly as the guys walked out. Anton was on drum that night, but I had already gathered that from his and Jari’s Instagram posts during the day.

‘Shadow Play’ was amazing and when it ended, Marko leaned out towards the audience and made us scream, then stood there, rolling the mic betweens his hands and smiling his wicked smile before he continued. 🙂 Something was wrong with the sound though. Not that I heard it, but Glen came running to Captain, telling him something and Captain joined him at the stage mixing desk. Apparently he fixed it then and went back to the keyboards. ‘Daze’ was as powerful as ever, but during ‘Dreamng Wide awake’ we saw Captain rush to the mixing desk again. The song sounded a little less full than ot usually does, but that was all the difference I noticed and it was not huge. I was too busy watching the guys, pointing at Ollie together with S. as he jumped high in the air, getting a smiled from him in return.

Captain was still fixing things so Marko involved the audience in a screaming contest, testing whether the right side or the left side could yell louder. He never divided us in the middle so we didn’t really know which side to join. 😉 In the end he asked us to all scream together, then said something along the lines of “I’m just gonna do a song” and spontaneously treated us to ‘The Wind that shakes the Barley’. It was beautiful, his voice carrying all through the venue, giving me goosebumps. On the last line, Captain tapped him on the shoulder, indicating with a thumbs up that everything was OK now. ‘Diamonds for Tear’ seemed especially great after this and ‘The Game’ is always fun. Jani was kicking the air and came so close that I thought he might kick me in the head for a moment, but he always seems to know how close he is to people and never hits anyone. Ollie used one of the additional speakers on stage as a footrest and Jaska played his solo right in front of us too. The stage was a bit too high for that and we had to crane our necks a little looking up.

Glen was the crisis manager that night. The mic stand was on the floor at one point and when Marko picked it up, he realized the feet had folded in so he just handed it over and Glen fixed it with duct tape. Later he had to help Jani, who the cables of his in ear monitors taped to his neck. In this case Glen needed to rip off tape, because it had come loose. He was all over the place, always just were he was needed, moving back and forth across the stage, managing to stay almost invisible while doing it. There were a few time I wondered how he got to the place he was at without me seeing it. 😀 Some Russian girls had tried throwing flower petals at birthday boy Ollie, but they mostly just scattered at the front of the stage. Marko gathered a few of those and threw them up in the air just for fun.

‘The Labyrinth’ still gets to me. I spent a long time watching Jani’s fingers work the bass as he sat on the speaker to my left. <3 When ‘Temple of Thought’ started I had the feeling Marko almost missed his cue. If I recall correctly he was rushing to the microphone for the first “Chills” 😀 This song always gets a good reaction. I guess many people have someone special in mind when they hear it. ‘Rogue’ gave me such a kick and since I was not taking pictures for once, I could even clap along. Ollie and Jani were pointing their instruments at each other like guns at one point, making us laugh. ‘Drama for Life’ once again started with everyone on stage clapping in unison. I love how they kept this up, it is a really powerful start to the song. S., Z., myself and a few other people at the front were clapping right along and I thought everyone was doing it. Only when I saw pictures later I realized that only very few behind us joined in. Even from the back you could clearly see where we were standing. 😀

‘Everything fades’ came and went and I felt the strain on my vocal chords from singing along at the top of my lungs and screaming so much. One day I should learn to sing properly. 😉 ‘Locking up the Sun’ was just unbelievable. The band just seems to gather more power and momentum show after show. It started with Marko kneeing in front of us, bent over with his head on the floor until it was time for him to start singing and he unfolded. All the time he was close enough to touch, but none of us would do that. We just watch and enjoy. 🙂 Jani was standing to the right of the drums, facing Anton and playing to him. I watched Anton for a while and he really was into it too. Towards the end of the song, Jaska, Ollie and Jani were all standing at the front in one line, instruments raised. Marko got in line with them and played his micstand. 😀

Before the concert I had been really sad and thought I might be crying, because the tour was nearing its end with only two shows to go. I did not want to be thinking about it and luckily the guys managed to make me forget and instead of crying I spent most of the show laughing, smiling and admiring their skills. It shows just how professional and amazing they are that they pulled it off despite technical difficulty and made it look easy too. On the inside they might have freaked out, but outwardly they remained calm and just carried on with the show. if not for Captain having to help Glen I doubt anyone would have noticed that something was wrong. In fact I believe few noticed something did not go according to plan as it was and for us crazy ones, who come to see them all the time, the unusual was a special treat. 🙂

‘Carnival of Rust’ ended the main set on a high note and we clapped for more. As the band walked back out a group of people was yelling for ‘Lift’ and Marko said something along the lines of “We’ll get to that” before they started ‘War’. I am still grateful for having that song back on the setlist. <3 ‘Lift’ kicked in and the place went nuts. It was so much fun and Ollie was on fire, jumping, singing along and smiling at me as I did the same and of course playing his awesome solo, one foot on the speaker to my left. Marko watching him in awe his face reading “Look what my amazing friend can do!”. Then he rested his foot on the speaker to the right and played his mic stand again. 🙂 At some point he had also told us it was Ollie’s birthday, this time claiming he turned 21. Oh my, the man ages quickly – one whole year since the previous day. 😀

The last song was upon us, I looked at each of the guys once again, smiling, watching them. Marko was in front of us again, singing to Z. about our sorrows being undone. It was the perfect line for her. Behind us, a woman had held out her hand for a while and he finally took it, making her day. S. and I smiled at each other and sang along as the song ended. Ollie and Captain were shaking a few hands, Jani was blowing kisses, the band stood and bowed together and left. The curtain closed and we agreed it had been a great show.

On the way home we bumped into Captain, chatting for a little while. He said that from their point of view technical difficulties were the horror and that some of the backing tracks had not played as they were supposed to. I assured him it had been barely noticeable and that the unusual was fun for us. 🙂 We said goodbye, handed him our presents for Ollie and left. Back at our hotel, S. and I hit the sauna again, driving out the cold. Neither of us was tired so we chatted for a long time, ending up with only two hours of sleep. It was totally worth it though.

After a quick breakfast we headed for the airport where we saw the band one last time. Not all of them noticed us, but those who did waved or nodded at us and gave us friendly smiles. We smiled back and left them in peace. Jani even came to talk to us for a bit. <3 We repeated that we liked the gig and how interesting the unusual had been before saying goodbye. Back in Helsinki, S. and I went for a tea before she took the bus home and I waited for my flight. I can’t believe how intense this tour has been and how quickly it went by. One final show next week and then I’ll see what the summer will bring. I already know it will be amazing!

Setlist

Shadow Play
Daze
Dreaming Wide Awake
The Wind that shakes the Barley
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: 14 gigs down, 1 to go. Last stop: Helsinki