Because they are worth it

The Date: 16.8.2005
The Place: Frannz, Popkomm, Berlin, Germany
The Album: Signs of Life

When MelesMeles, SLS and I found the ticket office, we were baffled by the fact that the timetable had changed. It showed that Poets would be at 10 pm. instead of 11 pm. Well, me and SLS were glad because we wanted to see another great Finnish band called Lullacry. They were supposed to perform at 11 pm at a nearby club. Another thing that surprised us was that I had reserved us tickets via e-mail but no one in the office seemed to know that. We got our tickets anyway and left to tour the city a bit.

We were at the meeting-site at 7.00 pm sharp. Only problem was that we were unsure of what side we should be: the entrance-side or the side where there was a big sign that said Sparkasse. So we just kept patrolling between those two and we were getting a bit bored and irritated. But we kept our spirits up by singing Someone Special, Shallow and Late Goodbye. The others (Jutta, Perla, Sascha, Vilma, Rasputin, Paulex, Johannes, Ellen and her boyfriend) arrived about 7.40 pm. There were lot of hugs, greetings, talk and gossip. Then we decided to search a place to eat and found ourselves in an Asian restaurant, the Royal Elephant. I wasn’t that hungry, I had had a big Falafel-thingy earlier. So I just ordered Irish coffee and some baked apples from the desert-menu. When I made the order, the waiter just laughed at me. I was like wtf, what was so funny?

The atmosphere was warm and happy, but the table was very long. Therefore there wasn’t any chance to talk to the people at the other end of the table, only those that were near you. I was getting exited and wanted to go already, but we ended up missing almost the whole gig of Humane.
When we were almost in, Rasputin realised that he had forgotten his ticket to Sascha’s car. When he and Sascha went to get it, we spotted Jani who was entering the club and said Hi to him.
When we finally got in, we found out that Poets were going to perform at 11 pm. After all. Weird.

But at the end I was glad about that. Before Poets a band called Iconcrash performed and once again I became an instant fan. I have seen them once in Tampere, but this time I really fell in love with them. After their gig SLS and I talked with the singer a bit. He was really nice and very surprised that we were from Finland.

Then the guys started to carry their gear up to the stage. I was happy that I got a few shots of Tapio; normally it is really difficult to get a decent picture of him behind the drums. And he looked really hot with that black shirt. Luckily we forum-peeps were able to get to the first and second row and I was in front of Mark’s microphone. And there weren’t any borders between the stage and the audience.

Mark gave us handshakes and soon after that the show started. He was wearing a black bowler hat and he kept playing with it, he even put it on Ollie’s head for a while. I was looking forward his speeches and I wasn’t disappointed. The normal lines were absent and he talked about watching rainy Berlin from the seventeenth floor window and driving around in a taxi. Another funny line was when he joked that luckily he was jumping so much, otherwise he would have to run backstage every now and then because all of the water he was consuming and that wouldn’t be fun at all…
I could have listened to his Gorgeous Irish Accent ™ all night, but unfortunately he wasn’t speaking so much.

Another thing that was absent was that Mark didn’t ask us to sing the lalalaa-part in Shallow, neither the chorus in Late Goodbye. But he did ask us spell the L-I-F-T and to clap our hands. At one point he asked us if we were having a good time and we shouted our lungs out and throats red. Then he pointed to the back of the place and asked if they were having a good time. I think one or two voices answered and Mark was happily surprised: he did get an answer!

The first half of the gig I was taking pictures and then I put my camera away and jumped, clapped, sang and partied. I was enjoying the fact that I was there with my friends from the forum but every now and then it hit me: this was the last gig for a very long time. Emotions ran very high and affected my brains making my memories a bit blurry…A good example of that is that I can’t remember during which song Mark grabbed my hand. I think it was Everything Fades but I’m not sure. He was reaching out his hand and so I reached mine. Then he grabbed it, leaned in, looked me in the eye and caressed his cheek with my hand. I can clearly remember only the feel of his cheek: a combination of roughness and softness. At that point I could have been knocked down with a feather. God, that man sure knows how to mess with girl’s head!
I also shared a moment of synchronised jumping with him during Lift and then he turned and shook his ass to us *laughs aloud* This time I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to the other guys, but I did notice that Captains comp almost fell off! I think it was because of Ollie’s wild guitar…

When Illusion and Dream ended, the guys vanished from the stage. We clapped and yelled and made an awful racket. I think I have never clapped and yelled so much after a gig before. But that didn’t help; they didn’t even come back for a final bow.

After a while Mark showed up to greet us and I got an autograph and a hug. Then Tapio tapped at my shoulder and we talked a bit. I asked him an autograph and a hug too and then we talked a bit more. He was happily surprised that we were there; it had been nice to see familiar faces.
It would have been nice to hug and thank all of the guys, but they didn’t show up. After Mark and Tapio disappeared, we hang there a bit but then everyone just scattered around and left (but I had the chance to give the chocolate to Rasputin and meeting Rubbishrose at the gig was also nice).

I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t a proper forum-meet. We didn’t even take a group-picture, not to mention group hug. And I was sad that now the whole reason to come to Germany was over and done with. But there were some adventures waiting, the Berlin-report is coming up soon.

Before I left home to come to Berlin, I thought that I was crazy. Why would I go all the way to Germany to see a Finnish band that I have seen 12 times already? After the gig the answer was clear and simple:
Because they are worth it.

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8 months with PotF, a total:

New friends: at least 20
Gigs seen: 13
Towns visited: (Tampere), Seinäjoki, Vaasa, Helsinki, Hämeenlinna, Kouvola, Berlin
Gear: red t-shirt and one red and one black wristband
Euros spent: I don’t even wanna know
Gigs top 3: Hämeenlinna, Seinäjoki acoustic, Berlin
Joy, happiness and excitement experienced and spreaded: immeasurable

A big THANK YOU and *HUG* to Marko, Olli, Captain, Jani, Jaska, Tapio, Marko, Petri, the rest
of the team and every fan that I have shared these months with.
Every single gig was a dream come true.
See you next year!!

Mesmerized in The POTF-Dimension

The Date: 31.8.2005
The Place: Helsinki, Tavastia, Star Wreck Release Party
The Album: Signs of Life
 
When I arrived in Tavastia, the clock was 7.30 pm and the doors were opened at 8.00 pm.
While I was waiting, I saw quite a lot familiar faces, including Jaakko and Jani, who exited from the building and said hi to me. When I finally got in, I talked a lot with Mako, who was really bored behind the merchandise counter. He told me that all of the hoodies were sold out, for good. So you, who have one, be glad of those rare items. Just before the movie was about to start, Captain showed up and ‘stole’ a couple of wristbands from the counter; he had forgotten his own pair at home.

The movie was awesome! If there had been room, I would have been rolling on the floor laughing for real (the movie itself would require an entry of it’s own, so I just leave you with that). After the movie it was Roihu’s turn. It really wasn’t my kind of music, but I still went to the first row and took some photos of those cute guys.

And then it was PotF’s turn. This was my first time at the most famous gig place in Finland, Tavastia. Frankly, I wasn’t that impressed. Yes, it is spacey and has a big stage but other than that,
quite ordinary. There weren’t any borders between the stage and the audience but there was a little space between the edge of the stage and the amplifiers. But you had to crane your neck a bit at the first row in order to see properly. Luckily Mark had a good connection to the audience as always (although he sang with his eyes closed more than once), so that didn’t bother too much. He ran and strut along that space near the edge, shook hands with people, swung his microphone stand and sat on one of the amplifiers. When Shallow was played, he crouched in front of me, looked me straight in the eyes and sang. I was totally mesmerized, everything else faded away except his eyes and voice. Still I managed to sing along somehow and that goes to show that my mouth doesn’t need a connection to the brains in order to work :)

The guys were on a good mood, Jani almost lost his plectra and was laughing openly at that. It was really hot, so I didn’t have the energy to jump and party, so the first half of the gig I took photos. Then I put my camera away, danced, sang and grinned to Ollie every now and then. Mark was drinking a lot of water, sprinkling it all over the first row and even spraying it from his mouth. The reason for all that drinking was his voice; he didn’t want it to end up in same condition as in Linnanmäki.

At one point Mark asked if we were tired. When he got his answer he replied: “Good, cause I’m just getting started!” But to my shock, after a couple of song they just stopped and went away. We cheered them back and we got Someone Special and Illusion and Dream. As usual, before Someone Special Mark asked who had come with someone and who had come alone. That is a tricky question for me, because I usually go to the gigs by myself, but end up bumping into friends or meeting new people.

Ollie took a stool and an acoustic guitar, Captain and Tapio went to sit side by side on the drum stand for the first part of the song. When it was time to start Illusion and Dream, Mark ‘clapped’ his index fingers together and when the audience started to clap their hands, he gave us a thumbs up.

And then it was all over, once again too soon. My last gig in Finland before the gig break and I felt a little bit sad…