Poets of the Fall – Bürgerhaus Stollwerk, Cologne; September 22nd, 2022
Unfortunately, the Poets of the Fall gig in Cologne felt like a bit of a let down for me. It was so far my least favorite of the tour, but I don’t now if it really was just an average show or if the stress I had to get there influenced my view of it. Either way, I wasn’t feeling it and that’s OK too. The next one will be better for sure.
The day was chaotic and stressful until I got there and basically everything that could go wrong did or rather, every possible train was delayed, starting from then first one betweeen Oldenburg and Bremen in the morning. At one point on the journey I found myself on a train to Braunschweig and seriously considered just going there and seeing Árstíðir instead, especially because at that point they just had announced that we’d be delayed “indefinitely”. In the end, somehow, I made it to Dortmund after all. Instead of being home for a hour, getting lunch and getting ready before laving again, I had barely ten minutes to drop my luggage, change clothes and grab my ticket before hurrying to the train to Cologne. That train, of course was massively delayed too and instead of getting to the venue by 4:30 I got there well after 5.
Luckily, my friends D., A., G., C. and J. were already waiting for me and being reunited with them after so much time was the highlight of my day. I had really missed them. While we waited, I eventually realized that this concert started one hour later than the others and I would not make the train home that I had planned on, which meant missing the last night bus and having to catch a taxi. *sigh* It also made me wonder why I had hurried so much, considering we’d be standing there for hours.
Eventually we got in and with a lot of luck made it to the front – on Jaska’s side. By now, I really miss being in front of Ollie, but with all the traveling I just don’t have the energy to get to the venues earlier. Sorry, Jaska and Jani, I love you too, but I need balance between both sides of the stage in my life. 😉
The support for the day was once again the Swedish band Bomber, who I had already seen in Hamburg. They made a lot of effort to win over the audience and with the low stage and no barrier we got a lot of guitar solos pretty much in our faces. It still didn’t impress me much, I just got bored after a while. The guys are very listenable and they work hard to pt on a show, it’s just not my cup of tea. Of course I clapped for them anyway. Being the support act is not an easy game.
Finally, at ten, which is pretty often my bedtime these days, the intro to ‘Requiem for my Harlequin’ started and he guys walked out. The sound was better now than it had been for Bomber, but the lights often seemed either blinding or non-existent and there was way too much artificial for. Why oh why do so many bands insist on using fog machines?
Still, I was happy to get a show and loved the excitement on my friends’ faces. They had been waiting for much longer than I have to see the guys play again. Just at the start I was laughing already, because Jaska playfully threw a bottle cap at Tuomas and they both laughed about it. So there were moments that I enjoyed and I sang along and did everything I usually do with a smile on my face, I just felt somewhat detached.
Anyway, the show was on the road and there were many little things to see that made it fun to be there. Some excited people behind us, kept yelling the band member’s names. Only they seemed to be confusing Jani for Jari. 🙄 Once, one of them yelled “Marko!” and he looked towards them and kissed the mic in response. I giggled.
Ollie was on our side a lot, when he wasn’t standing with Captain or (for lack of a better word) dancing around the stage with Marko. Only his jumps he did mostly from the keyboard raiser and whenever I tried to capture one on camera, Marko got in the way. 😉 Then he jumped high up in the air right in front of us and I did not have the camera ready. 😁
I remember Marko telling us during ‘Sounds of Yesterday’ to hug the people close to us, so Dinah, Alice and I stood there arm in arm, swaying back and forth. That was a lovely moment. Someone in the audience on Ollie’s side had a puppet in the form of a bat and kept holding it up to the stage. Eventually, Jani noticed and had some fun playing to the bat.
Apparently it was hot on stage, because Marko got rid of his tie eventually. I didn’t see if he untied it or Jani did, because they were standing together at that time. he also used the feathers he had hanging attached to his trousers to fan himself joking that he “brought my own tail feathers”. Later he borrowed a fan from the audience and used it to fan Ollie. Meanwhile Jaska was fanning Tuomas with a towel.
Of course there was the usual, guitar and bass duels, pointing to each other and other shenanigans like loosening strings on guitars or sneaking up on each other. Captain was playing air guitar several times along with Ollie and Jani sat on Tuomas bass drum for ‘The sweet Escape”. Tuomas got up and massaged his shoulders for a moment. Later, Jani visited him behind the drums and planted a kiss on his neck. 😀
It was a good show by all means, but the final spark was missing for me and while I cheered with everyone else I was just waiting for that little bit extra that makes a show special. It wasn’t there for me, but I am sure it was special for others in the audience. In the end, when ‘Carnival of Rust’ was over and they all waved to us, hugged each other and Jani lifted Captain up in the air. I smiled, they always make me smile. For the picture, Jani borrowed a cardboard sign from the audience. It was in Finnish, so I’m not sure what it said. When they walked out, Captain and Ollie shook many hands, but not mine this time. The next show will be different. 🙂
I hung out with my friends, but then hurried to the train station, hoping to catch an earlier train home, but it did not happen and I did not get back until 3 am. Exhausted, I dropped into bed, dreaming of the next show.
Setlist
Requiem for my Harlequin
Dreaming wide awake
Temple of Thought
Rogue
Firedancer
My Dark Disquiet
Sounds of yesterday
Choice Millionaire
Chasing Echoes
Stay forever
The Sweet Escape
Daze
Lift
Carnival of Rust
Ghostlight fall tour: Five gigs down, four to go. Next stop: Luxembourg