Poets of the Fall – Bar Kino, Pori; March 10th, 2017
The first time I saw Poets of the Fall at Bar Kino in Pori was in 2010, then again in 2015 and this was my third show with them at this venue. Each time people arrived to the concert late, so late that I feared the room might stay half empty and each time it ended up being an amazing show. When the guys arrived, the venue was still pretty much empty, but when they hit the stage 90 minutes later, it was nicely filled. The audience was great from the start and the band fed off their energy, giving the same back to us. I absolutely loved it!
As usual my tip to Finland had started in the middle of the night (damn Finnair for scrapping their 8 am direct flight!) and by the time I got to Helsinki at 10:45 I had already been on the road for more than five hours. Things went smoothly thought, S. picked me up and we were on our way. It is practically one straight road to Pori and about three hours later we were checked in to our hotel. Some food, some rest and off to the gig we went, waiting alone for quite some time. H. joined us eventually, but there were still very few people when the doors opened. Some time later my friend J. and her boyfriend K. showed up and we said hello. Since the music they played before the gig was much too loud, we didn’t say much else, deciding we’d go out after.
The stage wasn’t that big and when they walked out, Jaska had trouble getting to his spot because Jani stood a little too fa back and there was a lamp in the way. In the end Jaska just stepped over it. 🙂 The band made as much use of the space as they could, but had to be mindful of where they moved. Also there was no barrier in front of the stage and standing right up against it I feared getting hit by Jani’s bass. He was careful though and always raised it above my head. 🙂
From the start it seemed the guys were enjoying the show very much. Especially Jani looked very happy all night, but everyone else seemed to be having a good time too. The audience reaction was great from the very beginning, people got really into it. The band was probably as relieved as I was that the venue had filled in time for the show after it had not looked like it would earlier that evening. For the first few songs I was so engrossed in the music, I did not even lift my camera once. Only when Ollie joined Captain behind the keyboards and they played together for a while, I just had to take a picture of it.
During ‘Shadow Play’ Marko didn’t wink, but blinked a me several times, smiling. It made me smile in turn. He used his mic stand like a guitar a lot during the show, but this time he did not stop there, put used it as a cello too (or it might have been an upright bass). Either way, it was fun and the mic stand saw a lot of action. 😛 Got a lovely close up view of Jaska too. He played right in front of us many times and the stage was just the right hight to watch his hands work the guitar.
Two Russian fans had brought roses and had given one to Nina before the gig. Ollie got one later and put it to the side, but when Jani got one he held it between his teeth for a while and continued playing. It later ended up being tucked behind the strings of his bass. 🙂 Marko received and entire flower basked, which was a bit difficult to maneuver and was carried off stage right away.
Being slightly left of center I had a nice view of Jari all night. I always love watching him, but he is so often hidden in darkness or artificial smoke that he may be hard to see. This time, I watched him a lot. I also saw Ollie and Captain talking, apparently sharing a private joke, because they were laughing a lot. It is always fun wondering what goes on at such moments and why they might be laughing. Never knowing the real reason is part of the fun too.
During ‘The Labyrinth’ Marko was down on his knees in front of us once again. It is beautiful how much he gets into this song. Everyone just seemed really engrossed in their work that night. I could hardly decide whom to watch. There were so many amazing moments where I just admired their skills. When they reunited on stage after ‘Rogue’ they just stood there at first, then started clapping in unison at the start of ‘Drama for Life’. The audience responded right away and turned it into a powerful experience where everyone in the room became one creature for a while. Only Jari was not clapping, but keeping the beat on the drums. Awesome!
The whole show was so much fun, time went by ultra fast. By now the setlist feels familiar and right, the lights match the songs perfectly and the sound is really good ever time too. My only complaint is that the shows are too short, but I think they’d feel the same way even if the band played for two hours.Time just goes by too fast when you’re having fun. The main set ended, the encores flow by and ‘Children of the Sun’ was already being played. It moved me to tears that night, perfectly summing up what it was all about. When it ended, they guys said goodbye and Ollie gave me a lovely handshake, then continuing along front row. <3
Slowly we gathered our things and our group, making our way to the coat check and out. We were out of the venue so quickly we saw Marko leave with Nina. I really wanted to hug him, but knowing I’d have that opportunity the next day I settled for just saying thank you and told him it had been a great show. He thanked us in return and like that… poof… he was gone. The rest of us ended up at Amarillo, sharing a drink and a nice chat before it was time to call it a night.
Setlist
Shadow Play
Daze
Dreaming Wide Awake
Diamonds 4 Tears
The Game
The Labyrinth
Temple of Thought
Rogue
Drama for Life
Everything fades
Locking up the sun
Carnival of Rust
War
Lift
Children of the Sun
Clearview Finland tour: 5 gigs down, 10 to go. Next stop: Seinäjoki