In the vocals Mark and why wouldn't he be

The date: 5.5.2005
The place: Seinäjoki, Palaveri (acoustic set)
The album: Signs of Life

Palaveri was a cozy little place in the downtown of Seinäjoki. The gig was said to start at 10.00 pm but the venue warned that anyone wanting to get in should be there well before it, since it was such a small place. So I went there 8.30 pm and the place was already packed, there wasn't any tables left. Luckily I was
able to get in and after a while found Carpe Diem and her friends. So I sat with them and got to know them a little bit. I was very grateful for that, it would have been so boring to be there by myself because I didn't knew anyone else there.

I have never seen the boys in such a good mood. Ollie was this time a little more in the sidelines, but Marko and Jake... They were hilarious, giddy as schoolboys even. And we loved it of course! The mood was relaxed and warm, just like a bunch of friends had just got together to spend some time. We heard some silly bits of songs, including that Smurf-version of Late Goodbye. It went something like this:" Smurffilaaksoon ajellaan, siel' on Pappasmurffi ja Smurffiina..."

Mark had some funny speeches and also said something (I don't remember what anymore) with that gorgeous Irish accent of his. He also sang some doobydoos here and there and got exited when audience snap their fingers with some of the songs. Then he asked the audience to snap their fingers again and started to sang something in a low voice for a while. Jake told jokes and his motto for the evening was: Laulussa Marko ja miksei olisi? (translated: In the vocals Mark and why wouldn't he be?).
Sometimes before they started some song, they wondered if they could play it and Mark (or was it Jake) said that if we ever wondered how was it like when they  rehearsed, this was like it.

But don't get me wrong, when they really sang and played the songs from the album they sounded as good as ever, maybe even better. Mark had a bit of a cold, but he said that his mother had gave him something along the lines of  Echinaforce and it had made his voice all the better. (yay, Im all for natural medicine). Also Jake's voice matched really nice with Mark's and Ollies fingers conjured up such beautiful sounds from the guitar.

Mark made the audience sang along with him in some of the songs, but few of us sang along almost the whole gig. Because of the stage was so small, they couldn't act wild like they normally do in gigs, but that didn't stop Mark from trying. He got up and stood on his chair, but he came down pretty fast,
because the chandelier was about to fall on them (Ollie had done the same thing a little bit earlier, causing the chandelier to swung that is, not standing). Dangerous those lamps =)
But at least I didn't miss the jumping around, it was more intresting to see how Mark made the songs alive with his expressions and hands.

After the gig was over, the audience didn't settle for that, we demanded more. So they played Maybe tomorrow is a better day, which was a very nice surprise. After that the boys didn't disappear, but stayed for a while. They talked with the fans, gave autographs, allowed pictures taken with them, shook hands and hugged people. That is one of the reasons I love them, they connect with people and really seem to enjoy it. You don't have to go to them, they come to you. That is very rare these days and I hope they don't get tired of it anytime soon.

For me this was the best gig that I have been so far. And that was because they weren't just a megapopular Poets of the Fall, they were also just a bunch of guys having fun, playing with lyrics and playing really good music to the audience. I really really hope, that they keep doing these acoustic gigs every now and then. In electric gigs you can see an awesome show, but in acoustic gigs you can really listen to the music and lyrics and see the boys for who they are.