Poets of the Fall – Kulturitalo, Helsinki; October 18th, 2018

Ever since the Poets of the Fall concert in Helsinki last night was over I have been trying to describe what it felt like, what I felt like and the only word I can come up with is disconnected. I can’t really put my finger on the why, but somehow it did not do it for me. My friend A. described it as feeling like being part of an ultra realistic DVD presentation in 4D. There, but not really part of it. Maybe seated Poets concerts are just not the right thing for me, maybe I was stll tired from the UK tour, maybe my mind was just elsewhere, but whatever the case I think I would not have missed much if I’d skipped this one. That is just my personal experience though. The guys still did a great job and the audience looked like they were having fun.

Concerts in Finland have always been special to me and many years ago I made a promise to the guys that as long as it’s a Friday or a Saturday I will be there. Ever since I have done my best to make it work. This time not even one of the two gigs is on the weekend, but I didn’t want to miss out on anything so I booked my trip. Getting to Helsinki was easy and I have a standing invitation with my friend K. <3 so no issues with finding a place to stay.

We got to the venue as the doors opened, met with A. there, found our seats and soon realized that the supporting DJ was nothing to write home about. Thus, we got drinks and chatted until showstart. I was excited to see the guys again, but a tiny bit worried about having to sit down during the gig. Then again, we had seats before and it was fine. Too bad we could not all sit together. Once inside I looked around and saw a few familiar faces, but also quite a few people unknown to me. I also nited a familiar looking lamp on stage that had been used during ‘Labyrinth’ at last year’s Christmas gig. Hm…

Soon it was showtime and with the intro I already noticed how great the sound was. The advantage of a real concert hall. Lights were great too and for the first time that night I regretted not bringing my camera. Oh well, I just needed to be content with watching.

The songs on the setlist were the same as on the UK tour, but the mixed up the order. Not in the beginning though and with ‘Dreaming wide awake’ being the first song I felt the strong urge to jump out of my seat. Instead I had to make do with clapping along and it just did not feel the same, even though I did my best to make it so. ‘Dancing on Broken Glass’ was much better, because it is a calmer song and I enjoyed watching people’s reaction to the new stuff. People did like it and I saw them sing along too. Yet it seemed like they were holding back and not singing as loudly as usual. Or maybe that was just e projecting. Something was off though and I could not put my finger on it.

With ‘False Kings’ and ‘Temple of Thought’, two of my favorites, my mood brightened and I got a little more into it. I listened and watched and sang along, but it still somehow felt like a movie, like not really being there, like real interactions with the guys were not possible. They did interact with the audience though, I just didn’t feel like I was part of it. It bothered me to have people in front of me too, which is weird, because I am not always in the front row and generally enjoy the concert anyway. Somehow it just didn’t click that night.

‘Rogue’ came and went and would have much rather been standing up. I remembered my first seated Finnish gig and asking the people around me if anyone would get up during the gig. They said no and nobody did. Finns are just too polite. Audiences in Germany have no such reservations. When a gig rocks, you stand! (many do anyway). ‘Standstill’ captured me for a while, I cannot not love this song. To my surprise ‘The Sweet Escape’ was next. It fit and I was enjoying it. During ‘Brighter than the Sun’ I had a moment of being fully into the show. When Marko sang about showing them how to live my life I felt it. I had my reasons and no line could have been better right ten and there.

‘Cradled in Love’ brought out the lights on our phones and looking around I saw the entire hall lit up by them. It was certainly beautiful. Then, when ‘My Dark Disquiet’ started I tried dancing in my seat, but it is not the same and all I wanted to do was jump up and dance for real. *sighs* ‘War’ was lovely again, that song lifts me up no matter what. Afterwards Marko went to the front and picked up the lamp. For one brief moment I was hoping they’d play ‘Labyrinth’, but it was actually ‘Sleep’. It worked beautifully though. Marko moving across stage with the lit lamp and singing to it seemed strangely fitting. <3

‘Lift’ was next and not only was it unbearable to stay seated, but also I thought this was going to be the end of the show and the setlist would be a few songs short compared to the UK. Luckily I was wrong in that assumption. It was only the break before the encores. 🙂

Soon the guys were out again and immediately Marko motioned for us to get up. Finally! I was out of my seat in seconds and rocked out to ‘Daze’. This was what I had been missing. Jumping still felt weird though so I moved but did not jump for ‘Locking up the Sun’. For these two songs I tried to get rid of all the excess energy I’d been feeling all night. Things got calm again for ‘Carnival of Rust’ before the show ended with ‘Choir of Cicadas’. Somehow it had never really started.

I found the others and the mood was a bit subdued. All I really managed to say was “I liked the UK shows better.” Only the next day we realized that we’d all felt the same way. There was nothing left to do but hope that the Tampere show would be better.

Poets of the Fall Ultraviolet Tour 2018: Six gigs down, six to go. Next stop: Tampere

Setlist

Dreaming Wide Awake
Dancing on Broken Glass
False Kings
Temple of Thought
Rogue
Standstill
The Sweet Escape
Brighter Than the Sun
Cradled in Love
My Dark Disquiet
War
Sleep
Lift

Encore:
Daze
Locking Up the Sun
Carnival of Rust
Choir of Cicadas

Ultraviolet Tour 2018: Six shows down, six to go