Light projections, recognition and Jari back with the band

Poets of the Fall – MS Viking Grace; November 19th, 2022

I hadn’t been planning to do any cruise gigs any time soon, much less spend my last free weekend this year at one of them, but somehow my friend A. talked me into it and what can I say: I am so happy she did. It was a perfect gig: Great energy, great sound, great lights, great fun. I loved everything about it.

I started early in the morning in Dortmund, got stressed already on the way to the airport because my train way delayed, but then everything ran smoothly and I arrived in Helsinki in good time. Hung out at the airport for a bit, took a train to Turku and saw a few familiar faces as soon as I got there. So we hung out and chatted until A. arrived, checked it, waited some more and finally boarded.

We had decided to have a relaxed evening so we went for food, said hello to the friends who were standing in line at the club already and then went upstairs when they opened, grabbing a great spot on the balcony with a good view of the entire stage. Got to sit down, relax and have a drink until just before show time when we got up and screamed along with everyone else as soon as Poets of the Fall were announced.

From the moment the guys waked on stage the concert felt just right – everything fit. It was really nice to be able to see all of the guys at the same time, especially Captain and Jari in the back, who so often get blocked from view by the others. Jari looked truly happy to be back on stage with the band. They were on fire from the start and while the audience was just a little bit slow at first, it took them only two songs to win them over.

The big stage gave the guys a lot of room to move around and they made good use of it, visiting each other, playing together and also spending a lot of time at the barriers, firing up the audience. Upstairs, we were clapping and screaming along as well as doing all the moves. When I pointed at Ollie early on, he pointed right back at me and when we waved our arms during the ‘Temple of Thought’ chorus, Marko looked over and gave us a thumbs up – “I see you!”. 😀

The sound was great and the lights were amazing – neither too much nor too little. Also, the artificial fog was less than usual which mad eor a much clearer view. What I liked most though was the fact that they used the screen in the back for projections hat fit the songs perfectly. Sometimes it was just shapes and colors, but they also had their band name and the morpho in different designs going back to their first logo for ‘Lift’ in the end. For ‘Carnival of Rust’ they used parts of the video. I loved ll of it, they should definitely use this more often.

Another surprise was that they played a full tour show. <3 Often the cruise gigs are shorter than the regular ones so that was what I expected, but soon I realized taht they were going to play all the songs and it made me even happier than I already was. A. and I were having a blast upstairs. I alternated between taking tons of pictures, clapping, singing and getting and extra workout with jumping while holding the heavy camera. It was so much fun!

I thoroughly enjoyed being able to see all of the guys at the same time. I’ve always loved seeing them interact with each other and now I saw so much more of that than I could from front row. visiting ach other, playing together, little gestures of appreciation like half hugs in passing or pats on the shoulder – “well done, you”. It was lovely to watch.

The songs brought all te usual action like the up and down movement with the arms during ‘Choice Millionaire’ or the “on and on and on” for ‘Lift’. A. and I did all of it and they often looked at us during those times, because other people upstairs didn’t. We were also pretty much the only ones who switched our phone lights on for ‘The Sweet Escape’. All of these things are so much part of the show for me, it wold not be the same without it, no matter where in the room I stand.

Each one of them was smiling and they seemed to have so much fun playing for us. This energy spilled over into the audience and was reflected right back at the band, so the gig got better and better as it progressed. People especially loved the older songs like ‘Stay forever’ or ‘Lift’, but the new material also got great reactions and good sing-alongs. ‘Ghostlight’ really is a brilliant album and it shows.

Of course it was all over way too soon, but it left me smiling and content. What a great show. I am so happy I got to see it. Thank you Poets of the Fall and thanks to everyone who shared the gig with me, especially A. – it wuld not have been this wonderful without you. Until next time.

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

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