Poets of the Fall & Flight Brigade – Alte Seilerei, Mannheim; December 9th, 2016
Poets of the Fall concerts in Mannheim are usually good ones and this was no exception. The audience there has always been very welcoming and the guys just seem to feel at home on that stage. It was one of the gigs were I didn’t have a meet & greet ticket and wasn’t front row, but that did not spoil my enjoyment. It was fun with great vibes overall, good lights, good sound, happy band and a happy audience.
Knowing I’d have to work on the day of the show, I had skipped the meet & greet for this one. Besides, the guys need a break from seeing me once in a while. 😉 Still managed to arrived before my friends got inside and went to the front to say hello to everyone. It was S. and A.’s first night on this tour and J.’s last. S. had brought mint M&M’s for me <3, but I asked her to hold on to them because I did not want to drag them to Milano and back. Soon, the doors opened and most people walked in. The few of us who were left, spent the time chatting and taking pictures of the plaque with Poets of the Fall’s handprints by the side of the door. Just before it got too cold they let us in.
Ended up in 3rd row on the left behind J. and S., from where I had a pretty good view of the stage, chatted with the woman next to me until the room got dark and Flight Brigade walked on stage. I immediately noticed that someone was missing. Dorrie was absent so there would be no violin playing that evening. The setlist remained the same, but the songs sounded a bit different. The others seemed determined to make up for it though and powered through their songs. It was great and being a bit further back I could see all of them at once for a chance – gave me a whole new perspective. ‘U kill me’ and ‘Hurricane Seasons’ were still my favorite tracks, but it’s the mixture of songs that makes it so much fun listening to them. Each song has something about it that I like from the atmospheric keyboard beginnings of ‘House Fire’ turning into driving guitars to softer notes of ‘Thick as Thieves’. 🙂 Being on the right I had a great view of Mirijam and watched her play the keyboards as well as beating a small drum to the side and sharing vocals with Ollie. Thomas guitar playing was fascinating too. I enjoyed seeing them again and rocking along to their songs.
Setlist:
House Fire
Where Eagles dare
U kill me
Tearaway
Our Friends Our Enemies
Hurricane Season
Thick as Thieves
After the usual break between bands Poets of the Fall rocked the house. Given the history of previous concerts at this location, I fully expected Marko to climb one of the pillars across from stage at one point or another, but he refrained this time – been there, done that. 😉 There were more than enough shenanigans to keep us entertained though from Jaska having fun with the go pro camera that was attached to one of the pillars at the back (he even turned his back to us to look straight into it a few times) to Jani kissing Ollie on the forehead. 😀
It always surprises me that the guys spot me, no matter where I stand in the room. Time around, full lights were on the audience briefly, I think it might have been during ‘The Child in me’ and at that very moment Ollie looked at me, pointed my way and gave me a big smile. 🙂 The others saw me as well, Jani posing for my camera when I raised it and Marko singing to me during ‘War’. <3
The audience seemed happy throughout the show, always cheering on the band and hanging on to every gesture, following every prompt. During ‘The Game’ there is always a small break towards the end of the song before it goes into the instrumental part. It is just long enough for people not to clap, because it’s not over yet. Marko used the time to make the audience scream, first dividing us in two halves with gestures, then showing whose turn it was, making one half of the audience compete with the other until bringing us all together in the end. Meanwhile Ollie and Jaska were busy showing their wonderful guitar work, standing stage right, facing each other, oblivious to everything else around. 🙂
As every night the acoustic set was a special treat. I loved the years when they changed songs around here, but must admit that their picks are great this time around and I enjoy their playing every night. For ‘Stay’, when Marko asked us to use the lamps on our mobile phones, J. at the front held up her lighter and it seemed to be the only one in the room, making me wish I had not broken mine in Hannover. It looked beautiful among all the LED lights. Like it happened in Uden, Ollie and Marko got into duel of sorts where one tried to sind what the other played on guitar and vice versa. This time around, Marko gave up. He went on quite a while, then Ollie managed a melody that he just could not follow – the look on his face said “No way!” and he stopped. Awww.
After ‘Sleep’ the band and the audience were ready to rock again and we had plenty of opportunities to do so. With the large lens on my camera, jumping was a bit tricky, but I did it anyway. 🙂 It got warm in the room and on stage as well. So much that Captain had to fan Ollie with a towel. 😉 The whole show was good fun with everyone being in a playful mood with Jani and Jaska throwing kisses at each other at one point. Watching them interact just made me smile.
When we called them back to the stage for the encores, people yelled and clapped so loudly that Ollie had to put his finger to his lips to shush us before he started playing the intro to ‘War’. The song is still bittersweet to me with so many memories connected to it. This tour it also reminds me that the concert will be over soon. Yet the setlist is so full of highlights that the last songs are some of the most enjoyable ones. 😀 when ‘Children of the Sun’ came around and Marko told us that we were all one, all children of the sun and this was a good time to hold on to someone I watched my tour family doing just that and felt a little bit disconnected from them, wanted to reach out and grab someone’s hand. It was all good though, I felt them in the room with me and that was all I needed. This song is such a perfect way to end the concert, sending out the message that none of us is alone. <3
The band waved goodbye, bowed and off they went. On the way out, Jani threw his bass high in the air for Glen, the stage tech to catch. He has been doing it for a few gigs now and it always reminds me of Springsteen throwing his guitar for Kevin to catch. 🙂
The sisterhood gathered and chatted with Flight Brigade for a bit who told us that Dorrie had to return to England for a few days. We waited for Nina because J. and I had a present for her, all sorts of relaxing stuff we had decided she might need after the tour. 😉 She loved it and we chatted for quite a while with her sharing a few funny stories from the tour bus. J. said goodbye and Nina asked jokingly if she was also going to Cuba after the tour (like E. did) – wouldn’t that be nice? Eventually it was time to go and there was no party this time because most people were driving. J. gave me a lift back to my hotel and we parted. See you next year!
Setlist:
Intro: Shadow Play
Drama for Life
Daze
The Child in Me
Dreaming Wide Awake
Diamonds for Tears
The Game
Stay
Someone Special
Sleep
Running Out of Time
Once Upon a Playground Rainy
Locking Up the Sun
Carnival of Rust
Encore
War
Lift
Children of the Sun
Clearview tour 2016/17: 14 gigs down, 10 to go, next stop: Frankfurt