Poets of the Fall – Columbia Theater, Berlin; October 25th, 2018
Another day, another familiar venue, same band, same friends and always, always so much fun! Berlin was Poets of the Fall’s usual stop in Germany every two years, before they really started touring here. Therefore not only the band, but also part of the audience has good memories of past gigs that always carry over to the present ones and make them special. It was a great night, with energy flowing back and forth between the band and the audience and everyone looking happy. It was a concert like it should be.
With the second gig in Berlin the Poets of the Fall Germany tour was in full swing. The usual gang of friends had assembled to follow them and despite being on different trains and staying in different hotels we all made it to the venue at about the same time. A small crowd had already gathered there and only when it was time to go in we realized that most of these people did not have VIP tickets. Still, we got in just fine and they believed me when they said I have a photopass, even though it was not available yet. 🙂
The meet & greet still feels a little strange to me, but we got to talk a little. The question of the day was why the shows stat at 8:30 when they let people in at 7. Since E. did not want to ask and I did not want to be the one to be responsible for the critical questions I pointed out that “E. wants to know why….” They said they were told by the venues that people were informed the concert was to start at 9:00 and thus could not start earlier than 8:30. Interesting, because my email from the ticket seller said start at 8. Told them so too. Conflicting information I guess. Oh well, long wait ahead. E. pointed out that she was missing the hugs and I agreed. We hugged each other then, telling them this was our only option now, but the guys did not take the hint. 😉 Some more small talk and then securing a spot at the front while waiting for the group picture. The usual…
We got to hear ‘Desire’ and ‘Illusion & Dream’ this time. We got a Finnish lecture too with Marko telling us that the language does not distinguish between female and male pronouns. “we just say ‘it’ to everything.” We also learned that he spilled sauce on his pants, but was going to wear them to the gig anyway. I was hoping to get new songs in Germany, but that does not seem to be the case. Then again, it makes sense, since there is not going to be one person doing all the meet & greets in every country. 😀 It was a good song selection for me, I love ‘Illusion & Dream’ and enjoyed it. Still missing the old meet & greets though. I’m going to cherish those memories. 🙂
After the songs it was almost time for the regular ticket folks to go in. I got myself a drink and a T-Shirt ( nope, still don’t have enough of those). Slowly the venue filled up, we waited and joked with each other, giddy as usual, happy to be there. There isn’t much that could spoil the concert fun. Being there with my tour family is always great. I asked a security guy about my photopass and he picked it up for me. Sweet!
This time I chose to stay in the front row instead of going into the photo pit. Even off to the right side I had a pretty good view. The show rocked form the very start. Already with the intro the audience proved they knew how to scream. It only got better from there. “Where are you?” Marko shouted during ‘Dreaming Wide Awake’ and everyone answered. As always, I looked for Ollie jumping off of the keyboard raiser just intime for the “Flying deadly high” line and smiled when it happend. When I pointed at each one of the guys for the “I dream you” line, E. by my side did the same and somehow we both kinda pantomimed parts of the songs that night, having a ball with it, often singing to each other. From time to time I looked to the other side to smile at or sing with B. and G. These shows are so enjoyable with my tour family around me. 😀
During ‘Dancing on Broken Glass’ I noticed that D. knew every word of the lyrics. You go girl! “I want you to know I still love you!” I sang to E. and she sang it back to me. It was all about having fun with every song that night and we did. I have to admit this one has wormed its way into my heart though, because much of the lyrics ring true for me right now on several levels. 🙂 For ‘Temple of Thought’ I started waving my arm during the first chorus and half of the first row did it with me. 😀 For the second chorus Marko decided we should all do it. Of course we did. I always love it when that sort of thing works.
After that song a security guy came to me and insisted I could not take any more pictures after the first three songs. He would not believe me that the band doesn’t mind. It’s OK, he was just doing his job and considering I had to sneak them from then on, I got a few pretty good ones (and a lot of shots of the ceiling or random body parts 😉 ) Either way, it did not spoil my enjoyment of the show in the slightest and my smile just kept on growing. Standing right in front of Ollie was great as we not only got to watch him up close, but got to see a lot of smiles as well. Some time during the gig he handed B. a guitar pick. 🙂
‘The Sweet Escape’ had me waving my arms again, but this time it did not catch on. I’ve really fallen in love with the song, almost as much as with ‘Standstill’. I’m still not sure about the new order of songs in the setlist, but have to admit it works quite well like this. The awesome solos at the end of the song were brilliant. I loved listening to them, I loved watching the guys play and I love how Marko stays in the background for this, giving the others some room. ‘Brighter than the Sun’ was next and everyone around me had better command of the lyrics than I have. It did not matter though, I remembered most of the song, danced like everyone else and admired the bass solo in the end.
For ‘Cradled in Love’ E. and I started serenading each other, then hugged really tight and held each other, head to head and cheek to cheek for a while. Jaska was laughing at us and Ollie seemed amused as well. We did it for much of the song, then cracked up laughing. I found it especially funny that E. told me I had “the blue not sapphire eyes”. Much later that night we decided that we might just have gotten married. 😀 And with ‘My Dark Disquiet’ we got a wedding dance too, only that we were dancing separately. That song screams for a choreography, but by the time we get one ready for the next tour it may no longer be on the setlist. Marko was dancing across stage as well, having a lot more space to do so than we did. After a break for ‘War’ where a few of us were pointing out “you were there by my side on the front line” making the guys smile, we danced some more. ‘Choice Millionaire really works for that. As the guys were jumping up and down I jumped with them.
Quite a few times I saw them whisper to each other on one of them suddenly smile for no apparent reason. It is always cute to see those little things. I remember at one point Jari was talking with one of the others in the background. Jani went over and kissed Captain and if I’m not mistaken Jaska as well. I remember at one point Ollie went over to Marko touching his shoulder comfortingly, but the context is gone from my memory and during one song, Marko was on the floor rocking back and forth with Jani sitting down next to him. That might have also been ‘War’. All I remember is it fit the lyrics. 🙂 At one point (‘Lift’ ?) Marko got out his imaginary whip, i.e. pretended to hit Ollie with the mic. Later he was stroking Jani’s cheek. 😀
Everyone around me was smiling and having a great time. We danced some more during ‘Daze’, rocked and jumped some more for ‘Locking up the Sun’, sang along to every note of ‘Carnival of Rust’ and loved all of it. Somewhere in there E. and I started swaying with the music and a few others joined us. I filmed the last song and finally picked my camera up again for the very end to get a few more pictures of the guys saying goodbye. Unfortunately I was at the wrong angle to get a good shot of Jani lifting up Jari in the end. This time around I was not right behind them for the stage selfie though, thus I found myself on Instagram later. When it was over, we all hugged, agreeing it had been a bunch of fun. What a great gig!
On the way out we ran into Jani and had a brief chat with him that ended in a hug. <3 We left in search for food and ended up at an Indian restaurant that also had good and strong cocktails. Sharing food and stories we sat there until closing time. The perfect ending to a great night!
Poets of the Fall Ultraviolet Tour 2018: Nine gigs down, three to go. Next stop: Munich
Setlist
Dreaming Wide Awake
Dancing on Broken Glass
False Kings
Temple of Thought
Rogue
Standstill
The Sweet Escape
Brighter Than the Sun
Cradled in Love
My Dark Disquiet
War
Choice Millionaire
Lift
Encore:
Daze
Locking Up the Sun
Carnival of Rust
Choir of Cicadas
Ultraviolet Tour 2018: Nine shows down, three to go