Crash the gates firedancer, flame of life

Poets of the Fall – PPC, Graz; October 8th, 2022

It was a hot night – literally. The Poets of the Fall concert’s in Graz left me sweating and very happy. It was their first time ever in that city and turned into a fun, wild night for those lucky enough to make it there. It may not have been a full house, but the bands gave us all they had and delivered one hell of a show.

We had an easy, short train trip to Graz, the weather was beautiful, our hotels were located conveniently close to the venue and after eating some yummy pizza we arrived there to a short line. Some of the people had been in Vienna the previous day and he rest came from Prague. First thing we learned was that before going in we would need to get wristbands on the opposite side of the venue and then walk over. Strange, but OK. *shrugs* We saw soe of the band and crew waving to us and chatted while we waited. With the hotel being so close it as easy to go back and forth so I played ukulele for a bit and then just took it back. finally, we got our wristbands about 15n minutes before the doors opened. There was no photopass for me so I left my DSLR at the coat check. It’s not like I don’t have another camera.

We got a great spot, almost at the center and the first time I turned around there was not even a second row yet. Luckily, it filled up before the show really started. The venue was small, but really nice with a comparably wide stage. To our right on one of the big speakers, a little girl was sitting, because she would not have been able to see the show otherwise. Glen spoke to the parents to make clear she should not be going on stage and they ensured him she wouldn’t. She had proper ear protection too and looked very excited.

Tom Lumley and the Brave Liason played a great show. They seemed to have even more energy than usual and powered through their set. Jake’s T-Shirt read  “Forever Tired” and made me laugh because it was so fitting. Within the first few moments of the show Tom told us it was hot on stage and I found that very relatable too. I was sweating already and I did not have hot stage lights pointing at me. From time to time I looked over at the little girl and she really seemed to be into it, smiling and boping her head.

I did my best to sing along to what I knew of their lyrics, but it’s only bits and pieces so far. A., next to me did a much better job and so did the girls from Prague. The band loved it. I really liked ‘Modern Age’  and ‘Comedown’ that night and enjoyed all of their set. Before ‘Shrink’, Tom needed to tune his guitar, tried to announce the song at the same time and failed miserably on the multi-tasking, saying he needed to concentrate. “Tuning is hard” Jake quipped. The we got a little shout out when he said “The next song is old for us, but new to all of you – well, some people here at the front have heard it”, pointing to us.

During their set, Tom invited people to come closer, because so many were standing far from the stage. ‘No Trust’, their message to the screwed up British government is always a highlight. I feel you, I would not trust those people either. Billy and Jake were giving us some mock fights and string duels during the gig and at the very end, for ‘Crawling’, Billy walked off stage and played in the audience to our right. It was awesome. This was their best gig I have seen after Munich.

Setlist

Modern Age
Anchor
Shrink
No Trust
Comedown
Say Nothing
Fake Friends
Crawling

We watched Glen checking all the instruments and once he was done, we knew it wasn’t gonna be long. So far, the sound at the venue had not been great, but a lot better than in Vienna the previous night. It improved for Poets of the Fall – the intro sounded really clear to me and I already had a good feeling about the show.

They walked on stage and Ollie immediately spotted the little girl and gave her a bright smile. She, however, was not inclined to smile back. I’m not sure any of the others saw her sitting there. ‘Requiem for my Harlequin’ was already great and we saw Marko playing imaginary cello to it. Afterwards he went over to the big speaker on the right and lay down, claiming he’d watch the rest of the show from there.

The guys were definitely in a playful mood that night and they gave us a show as if they were playing a packed stadium instead of a half-filled, tiny concert hall. That’s professionalism right there. So much was happening on the stage that I didn’t know where to look and I’m sure I missed a few things. Specifically I remember trying to capture Ollie and Captain on camera and then suddenly noticing that Marko was right there at the front crouching down and singing to me. Sorry. *sheepish grin*

‘Rogue’ was great fun with all of the guy instructing us to clap along and then really showing off their skills. I recall Tuomas standing up behind the drums and Captain, rocking out with his hand raised high in the air. During ‘Firedancer’ Marko sat un the floor and watched Jaska closely as he played, then moved over to Ollie and stood close behind him, watching. Jaska laughed and Ollie paid no attention to him whatsoever, which made it even funnier. At least Jani leaned on to his shoulder during ‘Sounds of yesterday’. I alternated between watching the guys in awe and happily moving in tune with the music, while still trying to do all the moves with them and capturing some pictures.

‘Chasing Echos’ is a highlight at every show. I love the lyrics so much that I sing them out as loud as I can, but I also just love watching the guys, especially in the end when they gather around Ollie for his guitar solo and later show some admiration to Tuomas. Apart from these big gestures I also saw many smaller ones like pats on the shoulder or spontaneous hugs that night.

During ‘Stay forever’ Marko walked out into the audience, singing to people, shaking hands and bumping fists. The best part was seeing the surprise and joy on people’s faces when he suddenly stood next to them. Soon, they said goodbye for the first time and I could not believe we had arrived at the encores already.

Once they were back, I saw a lot of Jani action, with him first sitting on the bass drum, then being dragged across the stage by Marko until they ended up standing with Jaska and later crawling through under the keyboard to stand next to Captain. He also stuck the neck of his bass through Ollie’s legs and kept on playing. There was a blow-up rubber guitar on Ollie’s guitar stand and during ‘Sounds of Yesterday’ (I think) Marko grabbed it and “played” it with some funny poses. Ollie had used the same one the previous day in Vienna, before grabbing his real guitar.

With ‘Lift’ I jumped up and down for much of the song and didn’t even try to take a picture of Ollie’s jump. ‘Carnival of Rust’ gave me a chance to catch my breath and just watch. I always enjoy the moment when Ollie switched guitars and Glen hands it to him with a bow. 🙂 At the end of the song, Marko leaned out into the crowd and gave some of us fist bumps, before getting up again and forming a morpho with his hands. He told us to take care of ourselves so we could take care of each other. Wise words, always.

I had so much fun that night and was drenched in sweat when the show was over. I got a handshake from Ollie and a fist bump from Captain, just before we took a pictures with them. Some of them hugged each other or lifted each other up and for some reason Jani licked Marko’s cheek, which he commented with “What was that sticky thing that was just here?” 😀 When they gathered for the final picture, Jani pulled Marko down, so he would lie on the stage and not block anyone. 🙂

It had been a great show overall and after chatting for a while with Tom, Billy, Jake and Johnny and briefly saying hello to Jani, it was time for goodbyes and drinks. A. and I found a great cocktail bar and talked about the show and tour stories in general. It was the perfect way to end the night.

pictures of this concert

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 fall tour: Eight gigs down, one to go. Next stop: Budapest

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