Poets of the Fall – Rytmikorjaamo, Seinäjoki; November 25th 2011
It’s shortly before ten a.m., I am on a train from Seinäjoki to Oulu and I hardly slept at all last night because I was way too high from the gig to stop replaying every second of it on my mind and get some shut-eye. I know I will be paying for this with great exhaustion, but this band is worth every kilometer I have travelled and every hour of sleep I have lost for them, because they bring so much joy and fun and magic into my life that it can’t be measured on any scale.
It gets dark early in Finland at this time of the year, so it was already night outside when I arrived in Seinäjoki at 4:30 p.m. By that time I had been on the road for 9 hours and was happy to relax at my hotel for a bit. Around 6:30 I went and checked out the Rytmikorjaamo, surprised to find a line there. It turned out to be some Christmas Party, so I left again and returned about an hour later. Soundcheck had just started and it was clearly audible from outside. Nice! There were still party guests arriving and as she let some of them in, one of the staff members (the same one who had told me earlier that the doors for the concert would not open before 9 p.m.) motioned to me to come in too. I thought it was very nice of her, stayed by the door and was lucky enough to see and hear a beautiful performance of ‘No End, no Beginning’. I was too far away for the guys to see me, but this was certainly a special treat. 😀 Unfortunately they kicked me out again after that. It turned out I should not have been let in in the first place. I’m not complaining though, I got one song all to myself and had the chance to warm up a bit. A great start I’d say.
When they opened the doors and let us in for real I met the guys walking out, said a quick hello, gave Captain a little belated birthday present and had a brief chat with Ollie. My big purse led to some discussion with security as they wanted me to leave it with me jacket and I told them I would not leave my expensive camera there. Later I saw tons of people wearing purses the same size as mine, but anyway… On to the front of the stage and waiting – 2 hours to go. Luckily I met my friends S. and M. so we could pass the time talking. One of the many things we talked about was the top hat and feather boa outfit Marko had worn in India. We were sure this was a one-time things and we’d never get to see it live…. or so we though.
A little late, around 11:15 p.m. the lights went out and the intro to ‘Dreaming wide awake’ started. One by one they walked on stage and the front row cheered wildly. There was not so much coming from the audience in the back though. When Marko walked out, wearing the same outfit as in India, S. and I exchanged a quick look and smiled at each other. YES!
The stage was pretty big and the wide distance of the barrier only shortened by a huge box in font of the stage that became the place Marko spent most of the gig and Jani and Ollie steppen on occasionally too. Lucky me being right in front of it. Marko came and held my hand for a while, singing to me during the first song. <3
‘The ultimate Fling’ followed, always a favorite of mine. The guys were really into it, but had to work hard to get a reaction from the audience. That must have been a bit of a letdown after 15000 screaming fans in India merely two weeks ago. ‘Can you hear me’ was next and finally they got a bit of a response. It was hard to see the guys at times because there was so much fog, but we could hear them clearly. 😉 A beautiful rendition of ‘No End, no Beginning’ followed with Jani joining Marko on the box in front of the stage.
The guys had much fun of stage, smiling happily, all of them singing the songs, interacting with the auience, Ollie pointing when he saw familiar faces. The top hat and feather boa proofed to be great props to place on heads, around necks or on guitars. It was funny to watch and there were black feathers all over the place. We got to hear a wonderful ‘Stay’ (with way too little audience sing along) and a great version of ‘Sleep’. We rocked out to ‘Locking up the sun’ and ‘Diamonds for Tears’ (at least S. and I did, jumping around, having a great time. ‘Roses’ was just stunning and for ‘Given and denied’ Marko was not only swinging his arms back and forth, but his whole body was swaying in the rhythm. Priceless.
During ‘War’, Marko was struggeling with feathers getting into his mouth so he changed the lyrics to “black crippled wings, beating the sky” 😀 ‘Illusion & Dream’ finally had everyone singing along and brought Captain to the front of the stage for a while. Only Jari was hardly visible to me all night. Marko was shaking hands a lot and jumped off stage at one point to reach the people that were further back. Ollie and Jaska were duelling with their guitars and at the end of the gig, Jani got up to stand behind Jari. They looked like they were having a blast back there.
With ‘Late goodbye’ they left us, but came back for ‘Carnival of Rust’ and ending the gig with a very energetic ‘Lift’ By that time I was exhausted from jumping and my shirt was soaked. A brilliantly fantastic gig that left me wanting more.
Had a nice chat with Jani, Ollie and Marko after the gig who all told me different details about their time in India, but all agreed that it was a wonderful experience and a great crowd. We said goodnight and I left. Arrived at my hotel happy and way too wound up to sleep.
Setlist
Dreaming wide awake
The ultimate Fling
Can you hear me
No End, no Beginning
Stay
Sleep
Locking up the Sun
Diamonds for Tears
Roses
Given and Denied
War
Illusion & Dream
Late goodbye
Encore:
Carnival of Rust
Lift