Poets of the Fall – MS Baltic Princess; November 25th 2010
After a four months break I was back in Finland – for the very last gig of the Twilight Theater tour, taking place aboard the “Ms Baltic Princess” on a cruise between Helsinki and Tallinn. I had no idea how long it would take until the next gig or if I was going to be able to go there, so I anticipated tears once again. Apparently I had not yet learned that their concerts make me way too happy to cry.
My trip went smoothly. Got up one hour before I had to, was at the airport on time, waited. Flight was on time too. In the space of two hours I came from rainy Germany to winter wonderland. Went downtown, shopped a little, took pictures until it was time to go to the harbor. Got to the harbor at 16:30 and waited for my friend K. to arrive..
She almost didn’t make it. She wrote me her bus was 15 minutes late and I wasn’t worried because we had until 18:10 to check in. However, I got worried when she had not arrived by 17:30. At 17:45 I got our tickets and a text message from her that she was at the wrong harbor (Helsinki has 4) and taking a taxi now. I was panicking in earnest by then. The one ray of light was that I spotted Marko going on board. Knowing te guys were there just made me smile. Anyway, I was at the gate, fully prepared to walk through alone at the latest possible time while hoping it would not happen, when K. showed up at 18:00. We hugged forever, then checked in. I was so happy to have my friend and traveling buddy by my side.
We got into our cabin, changed, had food, chatted, walked around and ended up sitting at a table by the dance floor in the club where the concert would be. It was around 8:00 p.m. then and they were not supposed to start before 11:00 p.m., but why wait elsewhere? Soon the club filled and many people were already drunk while we were having tea and coffee. We were wondering, who the drummer might be this night, since Jari was going to be in England for a year. Some drunk guy I had accidentally made eye contact with came over, trying to chat us up. We ignored him after a while and he left. S. and her mom M. arrived, later K. and T. too, but those were all the familiar faces there. S. told me that she had seen the guys at the terminal and that Jari was there, together with the old crew :).
There was a host for the evening and he lead a game of musical chairs before the gig. It was funny and I even understood a few things. He also kept asking where people were from and S. called me out as being from Germany so he came over and asked if I was a fan. I was not the only person from far away though – there were people from Russia and Hungary too.
Finally we were allowed in front of the stage. I had just enough time to get my camera ready when the curtain opened and the music started. YES! This was the moment I had been counting down to for the past months.
K. and I stood right in front of Marko. He saw us the moment he walked out and the look on his face was just priceless. He looked so happy to see us. <3 If a familiar face is all you need to feel at home, hey, that’s something I can offer 🙂 He looked at me so many times that night it felt as if the whole show was just for me.
It was way too close to take pictures so I limited the use of my camera and enjoyed the show. In fact, I was so close I could see the goosebumps on Marko’s arms at one point (and it was way too warm to be freezing).
The setlist was the short one, but wow did they have power and energy. Ollie was all smiles, Captain cool and everyone was having fun. I wanted to drink it all in. I screamed and I sang until I could feel that my voice was going.
Marko had written “tatska” (tattoo) on his left arm when he first walked out and for the encore he added “uustatska” (new tattoo) on the right. I have no idea why he does that, but it certainly was funny. When Jani introduced him he said something like “It’s been so long I don’t remember you name” so Marko goes “Peppo” and got stuck with the name for the rest of the night. Once again there, so many funny and cute moments that are impossible to list here. K. and I had a blast. Ollie shook our hands before he left, even though the curtain was already closing. 😀
After the gig everyone but the two Russian girls, K. and I left. I knew this was not going to be a night where I’d talk to them much, but at least I wanted to give Marko his birthday present. All three of them (Marko, Ollie and Captain) came out at once. The girls stopped the first two, asking for autographs, but Captain got away – he clearly didn’t feel like chatting. Neither did the others and were ready to leave. Marko hadn’t even seen us so I gently put my hand on his arm. He turned to me and when I looked at him with me arms open, he hugged me, thanking me for coming, then gave K. a hug too. I handed him his present and got another hug for it. His last words to me were “See you next year.” There was not a shadow of a doubt about it and it was not a question either. “Hopefully” I answered. See you next year. It just has to be true and I’ll do all I can to make it so.
The next morning I spent walking through Tallinn, enjoying the freshly fallen snow and taking tons of pictures before it was time to board again. K. and I had a good time chatting until we arrived and had to say goodbye.
The tears I had expected at the gig came much later, after I was back in Helsinki, on a night out with my friends when the house band played “Hallelujah”. Still, they were happy tears – as always.
Setlist (may be incomplete):
Dreaming Wide Awake
Diamonds for Tears
War
Dying To Live
Illusion & Dream
15 Min Flame
Locking Up the Sun
The Ultimate Fling
Lift
Encore:
Carnival of Rust