Poets of the Fall – Rockhall, Esch-sur-Alzette; September 24th, 2022
The Poets of the Fall show in Esch-sur-Alzette was one I had not originally planned on attending, but then decided somewhere in August that it needed to be added to my list. It urned out to be the right decision – the gig was amazing and very relaxed. Good times!
After a nice breakfast with my guests from the previous night’s gig, I made my way to the train station and from there to Luxembourg. Halfway there I got a sor throat and momentarily feared i might have Covid again. Tested when I got there and felt relieved to get a negative result. Onwards to Esch-sur-Alzette, where I arrived to find a small group of people already waiting. We chatted for a while, got bored with waiting, chatted some more with the new people who arrived. The usual. My friend B. joined me and I finally got rid of my back pack, leaving it in her car.
Eventually we got in and were held up for a bit because the ticket scanners did not work properly. There were around 40 people in line at the time, so we still got in rather quickly and found a nice spot on Ollie’s side. The hall is quite big, so we felt a bit alone for a while, but then more people arrived and filled the space behind us.
This time there were only 30 minutes between doors and show start, so Bomber were on stage soon. Finally they had managed to make the sound better and I could understand what the singer was saying and even some of the lyrics. That made it so much better. They were definitely a lot less boring than in Cologne and I even had some fun clapping along. It was nice to finally see and hear what they can do. Already during their set I noticed how great the lights were at the venue and this time there wasn’t a fog machine either. 😀
It still felt like they’d been ripped straight out of the 80ies, around the time Europe was popular and dropped in 2022 – the hair, the outfits (I do appreciate silver glitter shoes!) and the posing really spoke to me. Nothing wrong with a good rock pose while playing guitar. 😀 I had fun watching them and that’s what I’d come for. Decided then and there to gvem them a chance and buy their album.
Setlist
Intro
Zarathustra
Black Pants Magic
The Tiger
You’ve got Demons
Titans
Fever Eyes
When we had entered the rather big hall with maybe 50 people, I’d feared this might not be enough to make a good concert, but more people arrived and in the end all that matter that those who made it to the show are into it and they were, we were. From the moment the intro music started and the guys walked out one by one, I had a really good feeling about this gig and I was right.
I loved the fact that all of the guys were well lit for once and I could even see captain and Tuomas clearly. Being on Ollie’s side gave me a good view at some great guitar action and I had missed that. No throwing shade at Jaska though – his guitar playing is just as much fun to watch. Already during ‘Requiem for my Harlequin’ Marko snuck up on Ollie to look over his shoulder and admire him form up close. All with a cheeky grin on his face that made expect some shenanigans like turning some of the controllers on the guitar. Ollie, however, remained completely unfazed and just continued playing. 😀 Meanwhile, Jani posed for the photographers at the front, kneeling down and looking directly into their lenses.
During ‘Dreaming wide awake’, Ollie stood with Captain and Jaska played with one foot on each of the raisers. When the “I can’t let you go” line came along I looked straight at Ollie and pointed to all of them – he responded with a smile. <3 There was some nice synchronicity of Captain leaning back at the keyboards while Jaska and Ollie raised their guitar necks. When Ollie jumped off, it looked like he was hanging in the air for a moment and the lights shining on him could have well been energy rays from a space ship in the process of abducting him. 😉 Side stage, I caught a glimp se of Glen, who was not only taking pictures, but filming with his phone as well.
‘Temple of Thought’ was a heartfelt performance, with Marko crouching down at the edge of the stage, looking at the audience. On the final line of “You can let go of your fears”, him and Ollie both pointed at Captain. We got a brilliant ‘Rogue’; where they all motioned for us to clap along before they got really into it. I can never get enough of them showing off, but at the same tome giving each other room to play and always pointing to direct our eyes towards the person we should be watching.
For ‘Firedancer’, Marko decided to take off his tie, walk up to Jaska and whip him with it until Jaska turned to face him. Marko ended up leaning against his shoulder for a moment. ‘My Dark Disquiet’ brought Jani and Ollie playing side by side, watching each other work and later standing in a circle with Jaska, fist-bumping after their part was done. Ollie later moved on to play with Captain and laid his head down on the keyboard. That night, I suddenly remembered lyrics to the new songs that I hadn’t know before. Where they came from, I don’t know, but I was happy to sing along. Later on I even did it in French. 😉
During ‘Sounds of yesterday’ I enjoyed watching Captain who was based in light and later could not help but say “awww” when I saw Jani and Marko standing with their heads together, leaning into each other in a hug. At one point Marko put his hand on his chest and bowed to us before moving to the back and giving the rest of the band room to play. ‘Choice Millionaire’ then was a lot of jumping and I think it might have been here that Marko managed to get the entire audience to do it. Either way, the song was a lot of fun and I never knew where to look, because all of the guys were going wild and I’m sure I missed a few cool moments. I know Marko made rabbit ears for Ollie when he saw someone take pictures. 😀
They guys were on a roll now and when Ollie was playing a solo for ‘Chasing Echoes’, Jani knelt down behind him, sticking half his bass through his legs and still playing it. Later, somewhere in the encore, he stuck his bass through Captain’s legs and then decided to crawl through. Jani also messed up Marko’s hair while he stood with him. 😀 Towards the end of the song, Marko decided not only watch Ollie closely, but to film him with his phone.
When ‘Stay forever’ came around, Captain got the chance to sit down for a while and sat on the keyboard raiser in front, where Ollie and Jani joined him until he had to get up and play again. I had an unhindered view of Tuomas for a while and enjoyed watching him play. A bit later, I saw Jani stand with Jaska and placing his head on Jaska’s shoulders. when Ollie was playing his final solo, most of the others sat on the keyboard raiser watching him. We got a nice sing-along going too. <3
They walked off and we cheered loudly for them. I’m not kidding myself into believing they would not come back if we didn’t, but it feels so much better when we do. I looked over at B., remembering it was her first Poets show after Covid and she was clearly enjoying it. Jani walked out first and sat down at the edge of the stage, playing bass. I got my phone ready to switch the light on at Marko’s command. He asked us to create a starry night and then sang ‘Partir avec moi’ instead of the English version. I had forgotten a French version even existed until someone had asked about it outside. I like the song either way so it worked well for me and the Luxembourg audience appreciated a song in their native tongue.
During ‘Daze’ (I think), Marko was sweeping the floor with the mic stand in front of Jaska and later he and Ollie were chasing each other around stage. It was really funny. Somewhere during lift, my SD card was full and I had not brought a spare. Didn’t have time to change it either, so I continued taking pictures with my phone, while trying not to miss the “on and on and on” move and still catching Ollie’s jump. 😀 I can also remember the guys standing together and playing side by side.
I think it might have been ‘Carnival of Rust’ where Tupomas got up and played the drum standing up for a bit. And of course we got to see Glen and Ollie exchanging guitars with a bow. Everyone was bowing to Ollie during his ‘Lift solo’ too and a moment later they did the same for Tuomas. I love how much they show appreciation for each other. Somewhere during the encores, Marko leaned forward and shook hands with people at the font so I stretched until I could reach him. 🙂 At the end, I got a handshake from Ollie too. <3
They bowed to us, mouthing “thank you”, hugging each other and lifting each other in the air before we took a final picture with them. One last look, a wave and they were gone. We hung out for a bit, chatting, talking to Bomber at the merch table, saying hello to Jani, who came out to mingle and finally saying goodbye. In the car on the way home, we agreed it had been a great show and lots of fun.
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
Partir avec moi
Daze
Lift
Carnival of Rust
Ghostlight fall tour: Six gigs down, three to go. Next stop: Vienna