Poets of the Fall – Club Academy, Manchester; May 6th, 2022
Poets of the Fall’s second gig on the tour brought us to Manchester and with it, things seemed to back on track, i.e. the band was more relaxed than the previous night and I felt fully in tour mode as well. It was fun!
I woke up in Dublin with ‘Ghostlight’ still playing in my head because I had fallen asleep to it and I was happy to really like the album. After breakfast and a morning walk I left for the airport and as I did it started raining. A few hours later I landed in Manchester, surprised there was no passport control whatsoever. Took a train into town, checked in, had some food and left for the venue. There was a small queue already, even though it was still a few hours until doors opened. Soon it started raining and eventually the nice security guys told us we could wait inside. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to queue at the venue doors which led to much chaos later. Oh well, I still scored a front row spot in front of Ollie, so no complaints.
This night brought a different support act, Tom Lumley & the Brave Liaison. They were fun to watch and a much better fit for Poets than the previous night’s band. I enjoyed their music, their energy and their craziness. They were all over the stage and even stepped on the barriers and leaned into the audience from time to time. It was good to hear they’d be with us until London.
Once Tom Lumley and band left the stage and everything was set up for our guys, I felt the anticipation grow. I can’t really describe or explain it, but just before the show the air is always charged somehow, like a thunderstorm waiting to start with lightning. It was especially palpable when the pre-concert music stopped and the lights went down, like everyone was collectively taking a deep breath. The intro started and we cheered, then listened only to start screaming as the band walked out. Marko turned the mic our way and pointed, his face saying “you know what to do”. Hell yeah we did!
Once again I was wearing my mask, because the room had a low ceiling and the air did not seem to move at all. This time though, the guys saw me right away. 😀 ‘Requiem for my Harlequin’ started the show in high gear and everyone screamed along to the “woo-hoo, woo-hoo” part. I remembered a bit of the lyrics already, but spent most of the time just watching in awe. The band might have been a bit rusty after two years, but they sure hadn’t lost any of their skills. 😀 Marko asked us how we were doing and declared it was good to be back and that it felt like dreaming. I prepared to see Ollie jump high and sang along as loud as I could and when I sang “’cause I can’t let you go” I spoke truth.
‘Temple of Thought’ was brilliant and brought memories of concerts past. I felt a surge of love for these guys. With ‘Rogue’ I was back to pure admiration and smiled as they gave each other space to shine, pointing this way and that, expressing “look at him!”, “now watch him”. There were a lot of hugs on stage too, just like the night before and several of the guys formed hearts with their hands and sowed them to us during the night.
‘Firedancer’ rocked the house and for ‘My Dark Disquiet’ Marko asked us to scream. We did and some of us danced and jumped wildly. I remembered all the little gestures now, like no time had passed at all since the last tour. It was so much fun. Somewhere along the lines Marko stepped down to the barriers and leaned into the crowd. ❤️ After taking a breath and just listening during ‘Sounds of yesterday’ things got more intense again for ‘Choice Millionaire’ and Marko wondered aloud if we could touch the ceiling while we jumped. Not quit, but some of us sure tried while the band was jumping around wildly too. 😀
Next was ‘Chasing Echoes’ and it is quickly becoming my favorite of the new songs. Those guitars, these lyrics. Amazing. ❤️ I could not believe we had already reached the end of the main set with ‘Stay forever’ – how is time always going at triple speed during concerts?
They left, but it did not take them long to come back and treat us to ‘The Sweet Escape’. I really love that song and all the phone lights in the air add a special magic. I looked around and it was like stars shining through the night. Marko even called it a “starry night over Manchester”. The guitar solo in the end never gets old and Jaska delivered it perfectly. “Doesn’t that leave you … a little dazed?” Marko asked.
‘Daze’ was perfect! Then Marko asked us what was next, but people yelled all sorts of songs. It was ‘Lift’ of course and this time he remembered the “on and on and on” gesture, looking right at me. 😀 I will never get tired of this song, of screaming during the break, jumping to the chorus and watching Ollie fly. Last but not least was ‘Carnival of Rust’ of course and, as instructed, we all made the most of it. I tried to capture a picture of Jari, but he was always hidden behind the cymbals, so I just enjoyed the song. It is the perfect show closer.
Afterwards they took a picture of us, bowed a last time and Ollie shook hands with much of the front row. 😀 Once they had left I found I. and we stood in the merch queue together – it was huge. Jani came out to talk, but we stayed where we were. I wanted to buy ‘Ghostlight’, but it had already sold out. Luckily they were going to restock the next day. Thus, I got a tour shirt. The long queues made sense – thanks to Brexit shipping to Britain had become horrendously expensive and there were customs/taxes to pay on top of that so everyone aimed for buying merch at the show… Once back outside I chatted for a while, before I happily walked home. Two more UK shows to go. 😀
Setlist
Requiem for my Harlequin
Dreaming wide awake
Temple of Thought
Rogue
Firedancer
My Dark Disquiet
Sounds of yesterday
Choice Millionaire
Chasing Echoes
Stay forever
The Sweet Escape
Daze
Lift
Carnival of Rust
Ghostlight spring tour – two gigs down, three to go. Next stop: Nottingham