The late goodbye

Poets of the Fall – Ankkarock, Vantaa; August 3rd 2008

Sunday was the day of my last concert and the grey skies didn’t look too friendly. After a good breakfast I got on a train around 10:00 to go to Korso and arrived at the gates before they opened. When they did, I  ran in, almost died during the uphill run and got there in time to pick a spot in front row. Slightly right of center. Perfect! A bit later a few  people I knew arrived. We chatted and waited, hoping it would not rain. I put up my Prowlers banner on the barrier.

Jari came on stage to set up the drum. He saw me and waved. 🙂 B. from the Poets forum arrived with her friend. It was great to finally meet her and it was also nice to have someone else there who did not speak Finnish 😉 We passed the time chatting. Unill about half an hour before the show started, there were virtually no people around and suddenly everything was packed – amazing. Unfortunately it started raining, but what’s an open air show without rain?

The set was a bit shorter than for the other two concerts but it was one amazing gig nonetheless. Even though I was front row the stage was far away and too high as well. Whenever the guys were not in the very front they looked as if they had no feet and it was hard to see them, but at least they had room to move.

That doesn’t mean I enjoyed the gig any less though. The rain stopped too so I had the chance to take pictures as well. And even if it hadn’t it could not have spoiled the fun I was having. The performance was great, the sound was good, the atmosphere was good too. Loved it!

The audience had lots of fun, the sound was great and the guys were enjoying it too. It was juts amazing. The new songs work so well live. ‘The ultimate fling’ rocked the house. ‘Diamonds for Tears’ and ‘Clevermind’ were a bit more quite, but just as powerful and ‘More’ had everyone singing. In-between the songs from the other albums: ‘Carnival of Rust’ gets more beautiful every time I hear it, especially the beautiful intro. ‘Sorry go round’ just works so much better live than on CD and ‘Lockig up the sun’ is always great. ‘Stay’ gave us a chance to breathe. ‘Lift’ was just unbelievable and ‘Illusion & Dream’ had us all mesmerized. The end was, once again’Late Goodbye’ and this time, the sing-along was perfect. Such a fantastica ending to my tour.

Afterward I did not care what else happened. I had seen “my” band. Debated with B. whether we should hang out and wait for the guys, but didn’t. Instead went walking about and later watching Kamelot which were fun. Would have loved to see Apulanta, but they started at the other stage just after the Poets had finished. Maybe next time…
We had so much fun hanging out, chatting, comparing picture we took.  We saw Sonata Arctica (really good), then parted ways. I went on to watch Lauri Tähkä & Elonkerjuu. They sing Finnish so I didn’t understand anything, but certainly enjoyed the music. I saw Apocalyptica too, but they didn’t do much for me. After that I had enough and left.

Before I left Helsinki the following day, I already bought a ticket for the next Poets gig. I cannot deny that I am addicted and I’m already looking forward to my next trip.

Setlist

The ultimate fling
Diamonds for Tears
Sorry go round
Stay
Clevermind
Illusion & Dream
More
Carnival of Rust
Lift
Late goodbye

Part one
Part two

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