Light projections, new acoustic song and a nice post show chat

Poets of the Fall – Barba Negra, Budapest; September 2nd, 2023

The second show of Poets of the Fall’s 20th Anniversary Tour took us to Budapest and what a wonderful show that was. It was a great audience, great sound, cool projections on the screen in the back and a slightly different setlist too. I loved it!

Our day started way too early in Prague, where we had a train to catch before 8. I spent the first two hours taking a nap, feeling a bit more alive afterwards. All went well, we checked in to our hotel and met for a late lunch in the afternoon. Took a taxi to the venue and only when we got there realized that it had moved to a different location since last year.

There were surprisingly few people in line, even though we were late by our standards. It was sunny and nice and we chatted with everyone else who was there. With the doors opening at 8 this time, it still was a 2 plus hour wait. Much too late they put up a sign where the priority line was and things got a bit chaotic. People were lining up from both sides and not all Priority Pass holders had realized they needed to line up at a specific place. Eventually, all of them were found though and the doors for the regular ticket holders opened at 8.

We ran and scored a place second row in front of Olli. The stage was highe than in Prague and there were no annoying pillars or speakers in our line of sight. This time they did not have a regular backdrop, but a screen at the back of the stage – that looked promising. It was already really hot, so we had water before the show. Luckily, we had some space around us and people were not crowding us in.

Right on time at 20:35 the tape started playing, asking us all sorts of questions. Most people weren’t paying attention though and only cheered when they heard “the show will start in one minute”. Soon, the band stepped on stage and the cheering got louder. Olli saw as right away so I raised my hand in greeting and he gave me a nod and a smile in return. <3

When the show started with ‘Revelations’ I immediately noticed that the sound was much better than the previous day. It made me really happy. I had a pretty good view too even though there were some tall people at front row center. already during the first song, Marko received a few presents, one was a stuffed animal that he cuddled and kissed before putting it in his pocket and the other was a drawing of him that looked very cool.

With ‘Locking up the Sun’ the started projecting images on then screen in the back, in this case from the video to the song. It looked great and I enjoyed watching the different images throughout the show. Watching the guys play was much more interesting though. They all seemed to be in a playful mood. 🙂

This time around we had bottles to raise for ‘illusion & Dream’ and we did when the band did the same. I’ve always liked that interaction and smiled as they all hurried to grab their bottles in time for the “rise my glass and say ‘Here’s to you'” – line. That night, Marko let us sing more often than usual, i.e. held out the mic for random lines in some songs and it always worked. The audience knew the words. 😀

So fare I was loving the concert, having even more fun than the previous day. It’s official: I cannot be upset with these guys for long. Their music still speaks volumes to me and the show is just too good not to enjoy. <3 ‘Temple of thought’ never gets old and with ‘Rogue’ the guys were playing their hearts out.

I loved how they built energy towards the end of the first set afterwards with ‘Requiem for my Harlequin’, then ‘Dreaming wide awake’ where I watched Olli moving all over the place and flying high in the air, towards the finale with ‘My Dark Disquiet’. Knowing that it’s the last song before intermission, I gave it all and jumped around for most of the song – fun!

Somewhere during the first set (I think) their received a crocheted banner with their logo and the text “POTF 03 23” it looked amazing. Jani accepted it and put it on the drum raiser first, but some time during the second set it ended up on Captain’s keyboards.

After the break Marko returned with Jani and Olli. They al sat down, Olli and Jani on the keyboard raiser and Marko at the front of the stage. For a moment he considered lying down, but then  thought better of it, commenting that he wasn’t 18 any more. “none of us are, except for Olli. We have been doing this for 20 years and he is still 18!” 😀 He talked some more concluding that they were still her and I knew what was coming – the had already played ‘You’re still here’ during soundcheck. It was a beautiful rendition and I loves that they played a different song than in Prague. <3

Everyone else cam back for ‘Sleep’ and then they picked up speed again with ‘Diamonds for Tears’. I especially appreciated the Revolution Roulette imagery on the screen. At some point I saw Jaska playing with the stuffed animal that seems to live on top of the bass drum, i.e. he changed its position. I wonder if it is he same rabbit that used to live inside the rum, but I couldn’t tell.

To my surprise they played ‘War’ right after and for a moment I thought maybe they had added an extra song to the encores. Anyway, it was a great rendition and fit well into the new spot. ‘Daze’ gave us the chance to move again and ‘Late Goodbye’ ended the second set. During the song some people in the audience spontaneously switched on their phone lights, holding them high and waving. It quickly spread through the venue and must have looked amazing from the stage.

Afterwards the guys thanked us all and left, only to be called back for encores. I exchanged looks with A. saying “Are they gonna play something else?” but they did not, it was ‘Lift’. I absolutely loved it though and had a great time jumping and following along to the call and response. At the end, when Jari played his solo, everyone else bowed to him. 😀 ‘Carnival of Rust’ brought the perfect conclusion. They stood together and bowed, Jani tried kissing Marko on the cheek again, but he tuned away. 😀 It had been a really great show and I raise my hand in form of a heart as they said goodbye. A final picture, a few hands shaken and they were gone.

We needed water after the show and then hung out for a bit, because it was impossible to get a taxi right away. It turned out to be lucky, because when we went back inside to throw away our empty bottles, Captain was standing by the stage chatting with a few people. We went and said hello, I grabbed a hug and after saying it was a good show and the usual chit chat about “where else are you gonna be?” I voiced my complaints about the Priority Passes. Captain took it in stride and told us that they really needed a way to make more money and someone had asked for it so they went with that. He did believe it when I said they could have just told us and people would have been willing to donate. Thank you for the honesty!

I praised the projections on the screen and the acoustic song and asked about ‘Maybe tomorrow is a better day’. He said they could not get it to work the way they wanted to and he especially wasn’t feeling it, that’s why they change dit for ‘War’. Fair enough, if it’s no fun for them, there is no point. Olli had been trying t get his attention from side stage and we waved to him, so eventually he came out too. Another hug and I joked that he had missed the “complaints part” of the talk. I thanked him for the show as well and told him where else I’d be. As they had to leave, he pressed a drink in my hand, saying “this is for you” and explained it was a fin Tonic he had mixed with an Apple slice. Awesome! Thank you. We shared the drink while we waited for our taxi and had a lovely time talking a late night walk in Budapest.

Setlist

Revelations
Locking Up the Sun
Illusion & Dream
Temple of Thought
Rogue
Requiem for My Harlequin
Dreaming Wide Awake
My Dark Disquiet

You’re still here
Sleep
Diamonds for Tears
War
Daze
Late Goodbye

Encore:
Lift
Carnival of Rust

Resurrect emotions from our past

Poets of the Fall – Meetfactory, Prague; September 1st, 2023

The show in Prague was the first one of Poets of the Fall’s 20th Anniversary tour outside of Finnland and after they had announced and intermission to be able to “play an overall longer show” we all wondered what that meant. It was a different venue too plus the first gig with the new Priority passes. I went in with no expectations and therefore had a really fun night. I enjoyed the show, I sang and jumped and sweat my butt off and once it was over I was smiling – they still can make me happy. 🙂

Traveling to Prague was exhausting because i had to take a night train to get there. When I finally arrived, all I really wanted was a nap. However, food was needed as well and after checking in to or hotel with A. and meeting up with E. we went to a nice Brazilian restaurant. Good food = good spirits. Got my nap after all and we headed for the venue around 5 pm.

When we arrived, there were surprisingly few people in line – most of the priority pass holders were not there yet. We had benches to sit on and there even were drinks we could buy. It was nice and relaxed. About 1 hour before the doors opened, we separated into two lines, but moste people didn’t arrive until about the last half hour. I had expected chaos when they opened the doors, but it actually went smoothly. When the regular ticket holders got in I checked my watch: It was 19:37. They did wait a moment after the last person with a priority pass was inside, before they opened for the rest of us.

The venue wasn’t great. Low stage and pillars on the sides blocking our view, with big speakers on them that didn’t help either. We considered going to the gallery, but the view was partly blocked from there as well, so we settled for 2nd/3rd row on the right. We were ready.

It was 20 minutes past 8 when the spoken word tape started. It was better understandable than it had been in Helsinki and I liked the idea, but the execution still wasn’t great. It’s nice to ask questions about how we got there and which songs we were thinking of to put us in the mood, but most people were not listening and it felt way too long overall. 5 minutes would have been enough. E. kept commenting that some of the questions were weird. They felt a bit like meditation to me, not sure if that’s really fitting. Either way, some people kept clapping and shouting “Poets! Poets!” and I#m sure that was not the desired effect.

We cheered when the tape said “The show will start i one minute” and even more so, when the guys finally stepped on stage. Especially Jaska looked really happy – he was grinning ear to ear. Jari was back too after Tuomas had played for the summer gigs. ‘Revelations’ was first and the sound was terrible. Granted, we were too close to the speakers, but it really felt muddy overall. 🙁 The lights weren’t great either, yet somehow I still had fun.

With ‘Locking up the sun’ I was moving along and of course turning back time – it was great to have some room to move. Olli, Marko and Jani had already spotted us and by the time ‘Illusion & Dream’ came around the sound had gotten better too. I was really enjoying this. ‘Temple of Thought’ was beautiful as always and they were back to playing ‘Rogue’ right after. I loved watching the guys show off their skills.

Marko returned and they powered through ‘Requiem for my Harlequin’, ‘Dreaming wide awake’ and ‘My Dark Disquiet’. By now it was almost unbearably hot and not only my T-shirt, but also my pants were soaked with sweat. In-between jumping and dancing I grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled it to get some air. Marko noticed and repeated the gesture. I can only imagine how warm it might be with the added heat of stage lights. It didn’t spoil the fun. When they ended the first set after ‘My Dark Disquiet’, I was glad to get a break though.

The side door was open so at least we got some air. The people to my left went away and never returned so we got a little more space as well. During the Intermission there was a Marko tape too, but I didn’t hear any of that. so far, no surprises and with only 45 minutes in the first set, it didn’t feel like this was going to be a “longer show”. Getting a breather wasn’t bad, but it felt too long and I was happy to hear the words “the show will continue in one minute” – yes!

Only Marko, Olli and Jani returned to the stage and Marko started chatting about a song they had not played in a long time. I was fully expecting ‘Late Goodbye’ and exchanged looks with E., both thinking “last week is a long time?” Then Olli started playing and I knew it was a different song. “I worry that I can’t give you what you need,” Marko sang. It made me instantly happy and I sang along right away, but it took me more than one verse before I could remember the name of the song – ‘King of Fools’. And old favorite of mine that I really had not heard in a log time. <3 So this was a different setlist after all.

Marko talked for a bit, asking the crowd about the Czech word for thank you after someone had yelled “kiitos!” – he practiced a few times, failing at first and joking that he was making a fool of himself as usual. It was funny. The rest of the band joined them and we got ‘Sleep’. People loved it. It was a nice gesture to bring that one back. I’ve never understood the obsession with it though. There are songs I love a lot more.

After that it was back to the regular setlist with ‘Diamonds for Tears’ and ‘Daze’. More jumping on our part and more sweating. At one point Marko said “I know how you feel – hot!” Indeed. I loved watching Olli visiting Captain, Jani leaning on to Jaska and them all posing for Glen, who as on picture taking duty. Only Jari I could barely see at all. The second set ended with ‘Late Goodbye’ and a pretty good sing-along. 😀

The encores started with ‘War’ and after it ended I kept hoping they’d play ‘Maybe tomorrow is a better day’ anyway, but they didn’t. 🙁 Now I was really glad I had gone on that cruise back in April and at least heard it once. We had already reached the usual finale with an awesome version of ‘Lift’ and a last chance to jump and sing along, following Marko’s lead. I love this part of the show, always. The last song was of course ‘Carnival of Rust’, because they never can let us go without it. After all these years it still makes me happy. 🙂

They thanked us, posed for a picture with the crowd, there was some hugging going on, Jani kissed Marko on the cheek and  just before they left Marko told us to “take care of yourselves so you can better care for others”. Then it was over. I checked my watch and it was 22:23 so the second set had lasted 48 minutes. well, guys, 93 minutes is not really a “longer show” – we have had shows of around 90 minutes on several tours, just without intermission. So the great announcement did amount to nothing much, but hey, 2 more songs is good.

We all agreed that it had been a fun show and we also agreed that ‘King of Fools’ was a great addition. Maybe that’s a spot in the show to play different acoustic songs? That would be even better. We will see. Soon. Onwards to Budapest!

Setlist

Revelations
Locking Up the Sun
Illusion & Dream
Temple of Thought
Rogue
Requiem for My Harlequin
Dreaming Wide Awake
My Dark Disquiet

King of Fools
Sleep
Diamonds for Tears
Daze
Late Goodbye

Encore:
War
Lift
Carnival of Rust