Poets of the Fall – De Pul, Uden; December 7th 2016
For the second time this year I was visiting Uden to see a concert and for the second time I wondered why bands play in a town that does not even have a train station. It’s a nice town though and I had good memories of the last time I was there back in March. Different band and different venue this time, but I was sure it was going to be great and had good feelings about the meet & greet especially. I was right, everything about the show and the meet & greet was brilliant. This tour is so good, I am running out of superlatives to describe the individual shows. 😀
Started the day in Haarlem with a good breakfast and traveled to Nijmegen where my hotel was. Made it to Uden in good time before the concert, grabbed some fries at a nearby food place and waited alone for quite some time, busy with my exceptionally large portion of fries (and I ordered a small one). C. and friends arrived, decided to get food too and was alone again. It took quite long until more people got there and even by the time the doors opened there were not all that many people yet – it was a small meet & greet just as I had expected. Since I had been the first person there (so early in fact that I was wondering if the venue was right), I scored the front row center spot. C. had brought Pam, a plush reindeer who had come especially for the concert and was now introduced to the guys. 🙂
When Nina gave the usual m&g instructions she mentioned they had a surprise planned for us and I wondered what that might be. But first we had our pictures taken with the band and time for a chat or a few. Everyone told me how much tey had love the Haarlem gig the previous night. I also remember talking to Marko about wanting to see some Revolution Roulette songs on the setlist and he told me they had considered adding ‘Fragile’. Ollie told me they had seen this venue the previous year because they had parked their bus there and the others had some nice little things to tell too. 🙂 Talked with Nina for quite a while too, telling her about Iceland Airwaves (noo, I do not have anything in mind… *cough*). The surprise was totally unexpected for me. They wanted to take part in the mannequin challenge that has been going around the internet and wanted to involve all of us. Nina directed the whole thing and positioned everyone. I ended up with Ollie, leaning on his shoulder and playing his guitar. Once we were in place it was time to hold still and wait to be filmed. After three run throughs we could relax again. It was a lot of fun and I could not wait to see the results. Before I left the stage I hugged Captain and Jari because I had not gotten the chance to do so earlier. The band left soon after and doors opened for everyone else.
Without a support act that night, the concert started early again. The stage had a nice size and I had the perfect view from where I stood. C. and Pam were to my right with Pam sitting on a stage monitor. She was in for some nice action that night. 😀 During the first song, Marko picked her up, cuddled her and sang to her before returning her to C. <3 Later on though, Jani almost kicked her in the head by mistake. :O Pam got a little scared and wanted to hide, but soon she realized that Jani didn’t do it on purpose, that’s Rock ‘n’ Roll and she had lots of fun! 😉
Ollie and Jaska were on fire that night! Headbanging, rocking, guitars in the air and moving around even more than they usually do. Both spent much tie on the keyboard and drum raisers, watching Jari, pointing to Captain, standing up there fully concentrated on their playing and jumping off of there with Ollie flying high in the air. 🙂 Both got caught up in guitar duels or played up close for the audience. I loved it! Jani and Ollie got in a mock fight, pointing their instruments each other and chasing each other across stage. 😀 Marko visited all of them, checking out their playing or copying them while using his mic stand like a guitar or bass.
The band was having so much fun it was contagious. I could not stop smiling all night and when I looked around me, I saw the same happy look on other people’s faces too. It feels like this tour is one of the best ever with the band having the times of their lives. I cannot recall any other tour where I have seen them smile so much at each and every gig. They have fun every tour for sure, but to see each of them looking so happy throughout the tour seems exceptional. Of course it might just be my own happiness with tis particular tour that I’m projecting or my memory playing tricks on me. 😉 Either way, I am loving it!
Somewhere in Germany, I think it must have been in Dortmund, D. and I had been talking to Marko about the dance moves he did in Hannover during ‘The Child in me’ and how much we had liked it when he instructed the audience to dance with him. D. showed him an extra move: pinching her nose closed with two fingers and raising up the other arm, pretending to dive. It’s kind of hard to describe, but looks really funny and I never expected Marko to incorporate that move into the routine he showed us to dance along to. In Uden, however, he did and I laughed so hard I did not manage to take any picture of it. 😀
Standing between the drum and keyboard raiser with one foot firmly planted on each of them was the popular thing to do that night. After Jaska and Jani had been there, Captain stepped out behind the keyboards and tried it as well, raising his hands and showing us how to clap. 🙂 Later he stood in front of the keyboards, watching Ollie and Jani dance around each other and during ‘Locking up the sun’ when Jaska hit the cymbals, he air-drummed along with him. During the early part of the show Nina handed earplugs to someone in front row. Marko watched her and quippid “Just passing drugs from stage, no biggie.” 😀
At the start of the acoustic set Marko sang they were going to do some acoustic songs now. It was lovely and as always it made me smile when everyone in the audience too out their phones and held them high with the lights on. <3 I was still.using my sparkler app and Jaska smiled when he saw it. Ollie and Marko got into a competition where Marko tried singing what Ollie played and the other way around. Marko clearly won, because at one point Ollie could not follow him any more.At that moment though, Jaska picked up and played the notes Marko had sung.
I loved everything about this gig: the great sound, the fun, the energy, my perfect spot. I wondered if it was possible for the band to have any more fun than they were having. I certainly think it would be hard for me to feel happier or enjoy myself more than I was right then and there. I smiled all the way through, rocked out, danced and sang along all the time. During ‘Running out of time’ I screamed out the words so loudly that I managed to almost choke on the gum I was chewing – I accidentally swallowed it and could not get it down at first. No worries though, it went down eventually. 😀
Even the best gigs have to end and too soon we arrived at ‘Children of the sun’. Marko told us to hold on to kiss someone or something so Jani went and tried to kiss him. 😀 Everyone loved it, they guys were hugging each other. Before they finally left, Ollie, Captain and even Marko were shaking hands with the people at the front. Jari not only threw his drumsticks to the crowd but pretended to throw the cymbals as well. It was a wonderful gig that left me high with happiness. With a tour that is so amazing overall I find it difficult to pick favorites. Every concert has been amazing so far, but this was certainly a highlight. Thank you, Poets of the Fall!
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: 13 gigs down, 11 to go, next stop: Mannheim