Culture Shocks and Ramming Teenagers

The Date: 24.02.2007
The Place: Hotelli Kantri, Kauhava
The Album: Carnival of Rust

Jariq picked me up from the railway station of Seinäjoki at 7.30 pm and we left for Kauhava. Jariq had been informed that the venue would start selling tickets at 8.00 pm. When we arrived to this so called town, I was a bit shocked, cause the place was so small! It had one fairly long street and a u-shaped street that connected to it and that was it (excluding the streets that were covered with peoples' homes).
I have lived 18 years in a place even smaller than that but still it surprised me. We drove around the place two times before I spotted the venue. The place was the only one that resembled a bar from the outside, but it was very difficult to spot, no decent signs or name plates or anything. And it was supposed to be the town's only hotel.

When we entered the place, we had to show our Id's but the ticket sales hadn't started yet. So we went and got us seats. The place was an experience of it's own, in a bad way. The upstairs where the gig was held was still closed and all we had was a small pub-like place with few tables, chairs and sofas, a bar counter and a jukebox. There was some teenagers and drunken loudly cursing old men and the music was Finnish 'hits'. There were two non-smoking areas: first one was a corridor leading to the bathrooms and to the hotel rooms, the other was few tables at the back of the room, neither one had nothing tangible between the smoking area and non-smoking area. I wonder if the idea was that the smoke could read signs and stay away from those areas.

Half an hour later, after we had sit, complained about the music, asked about the tickets several times, greeted Satu and seen Jari and someone I don't remember anymore going to upstairs closed to the public, we decided to go to a local hamburger place and grab some food. When we came back about ninish, we finally got our “tickets”, meaning we payed and got an ink stamp to our hands.

Then we waited. And waited. And waited. We sat like 5 minutes in a table, but when seats next to us were conquered by the loud, obnoxious, swearing drunken men, we decided to move and stand around near the bathrooms. There when we talked, one nice lady started talking to us. She was Eija, this was about to be her first Poets-gig and she had come there alone. Brave woman! So she hang out with us the rest of the evening. During that waiting period Jani and Kiffe went to upstairs, then few minutes later Petri and Captain. The downstairs, called “The Pit” was opened and we listened few quite bad karaoke-performances there. When the clock was nearing ten, I went to check would the upstairs be opened soon. Then I spotted Carpe Diem and hugged her and talked to her a bit. I went back to the pit to get Jariq and Eija and we started to line up in order to go to upstairs. The crowd was tight and anxious and a bouncer was still holding the line at the bottom of the stairs. When he finally took off the rope, those who were the first just started running up the stairs laughing. I just commented dryly: “teens” and some guy behind me laughed and said: “teenage ryntäys” (surge).

When we finally got rid of our coats and arrived at the upstairs-place, we were somewhat surprised. I had supposed, that those running kids were headed to the front row. But no, they had ran to the bar counter and to tables. Only Carpe Diem and her husband were lounging around the stage and we joined them. So, once again we waited. 2 hours and 20 minutes. And most of that time no-one threatened our positions. Until the gig was supposed to start.

First of all, the stage was really really small. It didn't have any barriers of it's own, but a couple of tipped down tables were trying really hard to imitate it. They reached me about the knees. Then the audience started to gather next to us and behind us and everywhere. And boy, they were restless. Only Kouvola's audience can compete with that kind of behavior. They were ramming us from behind and from the sides, we had to fight to keep our standing grounds. Carpe Diem was harassed by some guy behind her and I just clutched to the table legs in front of me. At some point during the gig Mark said to the audience that we all could take one step backwards, so that the front row wouldn't be in such a pressure. Nice thought, but the effect lasted only couple of minutes and then it was back to mayhem. Little later on Mark asked the front row, if we could breathe. I could breathe just fine, I was just afraid being crushed. But I can't thank Mark enough for the fact that he asked us and was worried because of us, it was really sweet. Once again some people didn't respect Mark's and Ollie's physical space; they grabbed Mark by the legs when he was singing close enough and while Ollie was playing a solo near the edge, some woman started tapping the back of his hand rapidly. While he was playing!

But despite of all that, it was a great and fun gig. Mark was throwing matchboxes to the audience and said that those would equal one free drink when taken to the bar counter. He even claimed that he was pulling those boxes out of his ass, but somehow I didn't believe that. The list of songs was written on a round laced paper, the kind of that are underneath cakes. When the gig was closing it's end, some of the boys found a placard that was placed to the table in front of Captain's laptop. It said: No service at this part of the counter. And the ending solos, especially Jari's, were extra long. Otherwise it was pretty standard gig song wise, no surprises or treats and it lasted about an hour. After it was over, me and Jariq stayed there a while, danced and goofed around. I made Jariq laugh by doing funny faces during Justin Timberlake's Sexy back. All in all it was a good night and a strange experience. I just hope that the Kantri in Laihia will be a bit less exotic place.

Crowded House

The Date: 16.2.2007
The Place: Helsinki, Tavastia 
The Album: Carnival of Rust

Friday didn't start out good. I was feeling rotten, the flu had really caught up with me. If I hadn't had a ticket, I would had considered not going. I went there by myself and firstly managed to be at the wrong side of Kamppi so I had to ask where the place was. I have only been there once, so...When I found the place and gave my coat to the people at the coat hangers, I was informed that they didn't got any change and since I only had 20 euros, I was told that I should go and buy a drink so I could have the change. I waited for 15 minutes to be serviced by the bartenders and during that time I spotted Petri and Mako and hugged them.

When I finally got my drink and money, I went to pay the coat man and bumped into Satu, Jutta and their friend. Then we talked a bit with Petri and Mako, had a few laughs about stupidly funny jokes of bra strappings and then Satu and me heard the new intro coming from the hall where the stage was. It was half past eleven and we were just staring at each other and agreeing that it couldn't be the intro because the clock was only half past eleven! We were sure that the gig would start at midnight, but obviously we were wrong.

I gulped down the last of my drink and we entered the gig-area that was packed, I have never seen a place so full. We were right at the far end of the place when the gig started with Fire and soon enough I decided that I would go and try to get closer. It took me a half an hour, but I managed to get as close as third row. For once my small size was an advantage, I was able to squeeze myself around people to the small empty places and to follow bigger persons on their way from buying beer. I stopped for a few songs and then made my way again. Most of the people were nice, but there was one group that was linked to their hands and they swayed back and forth during songs and as I was going past those, one of them gave me a shove to my back, so a lurched uncontrollable ahead. I just hate that kind of behavior.
But most of my journey was a fun one, cause with every step the music was louder and with every step I could see much better.

The band was in a very good and groovy mood, Mark was swirling and jumping and bouncing and Ollie and Jaska seemed to have a whole show of their own. They laughed and played together many times and during Sorry Go Round they did little jumps at the same time, one after another while playing. Their joy was contagious and I just couldn't stop grinning. It is also always a joy to watch Mark's performance, it really is a Performance with a capital P. He often concentrates to the song with his eyes closed, does little hand movements that fit into the song and has expressions in his face that tell more of the song than the lyrics. Especially when CoR is played, he looks really similar than his white character on the video, only without that make-up. Sometimes when that song is almost over, he holds out his palm and pumps his fingers like he would have a beating heart on his palm. I can actually see it in his hand, red and bleeding. Talk about heart on one's sleeve. And sometimes during Maybe Tomorrow Is A Better Day while he is singing: razor blades on whips he actually does with his other hand a movement, that is similar to Tai Chi Yang's movement called lash of a whip.

I was very happy that the gig lasted a bit longer than the one in Espoo, and as a cherry on top they played Sleep as their final song. It was amazing to hear that live after such a long time and once again shivers run down my spine and tears filled my eyes. It was only after the gig was over that I noticed the new background sheet, I blame my flu for that. It looked really good, the yellowish background was chipped like it is in the cover of CoR and so was the white moth that was pinned with that swirly lollipop. I wouldn't mind hanging that over my bed. I had almost an hour before my train was due, so I hang there with the Cheerios and with Bolo Hamwich and his girlfriend.

At some point I wasn't sure what to do, should I go to get my coat or stay for bit longer when I spotted that Jani was talking to Bolo and his girl. So I decided to join them. I said hi to Jani and then he looked at me with an expression that said: yeah, what? Then I just grinned and said: Nothing, I just came here to hang out. He laughed and said that he unfortunately had to leave, but it wasn't because of me. So he left and I chatted with Bolo and his girl a while there. Later on I realized, that I could have thanked Jani for a great gig. But again, I blame my weakened health for that one too. And the gig high. The grin had returned to my face.

Roses and Hearts

The Date: 14.2.2007
The Place: Espoo, Sellosali
The Album: Carnival of Rust

When Toola and her husband came to get me from the station, I was already exited. First gig in a loong time and at Valentine's day. Only thing I was suspicious about, was the thing that the audience was suppose to sit on chairs the whole time. Luckily only two days away was a gig at Tavastia, so I wasn't that worried. The first thing we did when we entered the Sellosali, was go and hug Petri and Mako. I was especially happy to see Mako, as I have heard rumors that he won't be part of the team anymore on the gigs, besides maybe the Helsinki-area gigs. The place was crawling with little people and their parents and I felt out of place. Fortunately we didn't have to wait long before the doors of the hall were opened. I had a place at the third row, fairly middle and right behind Mika.

Thisisweirdthisisweirdthisisweird was everything I could think when the gig started and I had to sit on a chair. But soon enough the music swept me away despite of the weirdness. Mark himself said that this was the first time when they performed in a concert hall, but this could be nice variation to the audience; they could just kick back and enjoy the music. But for me it is just impossible to sit still in a gig, I can't do that. If I want to just listen the music or watch the performance, I can do that at home. I can listen the Cd's and watch the live concerts from PotFMedia. When I go to the gigs, I want to be immersed in the music, the atmosphere, the audience and just party. So I just took the most of the situation: I sat on the edge of the seat, clapped, shouted, sang along, moved my upper body and even moshed. All this while I was sitting on the third row, seat 13.

This time the opening song was Fire and the new intro sounded really cool. It had similar elements than the intro of Locking up the sun, but enough difference to be distinct. The stage was quite big but despite that, the mood was rather mellow than crazy. No jumping up and down or running amok on the stage. And it was quite fitting, after all it was a solemn concert hall and the audience was quieter than usual. The sounds were really great, clear and cool. The song list was quite standard and the gig lasted about an hour.

Then a few words about Mark's new look. I loved the look he had earlier, the spiky short hair and black rock clothes. But I have to say, I really love his new look too! A bit messy longer hair, striped shirt, black vest and a scarf made him look grunge and artsy and incredibly hot. That guy could wear a paper sack on his head and he still would look good.

The Cheerios provided a bit extra to the show, they threw a whole bush of pink roses to the stage, along with crocheted hearts. Mark immediately took those part of the show and he threw hearts and roses to the audience during the last part of the gig. He also picked up one long rose and during a one song he ripped all of it's leaves from it and then placed it on the buttonhole of his vest. During the last verse of Carnival of Rust he took it from the buttonhole and crushed the rosebud with his fist, releasing a sweet and strong scent of the rose that reached even the third row. After that he just grabbed another rose from the floor. Ollie also took a liking to the roses and pinned three roses to his guitar, one after another.

When the gig was almost over, Mark had disappeared from the stage and Ollie and Jaska had done their synchronized jump during the last chords of Illusion and Dream, something funny happened. The hall was surrounded with aisle of stairs from left and right and when the guys kept on playing, Jaska and Ollie left the stage still playing their guitars and climbed the aisle of stairs up and down. Ollie was on the left and Jaska on the right, playing like never before. Then they came back to the stage at the same time but Ollie still wanted to have some fun and climbed the stairs on the right. The gig ended with laughter and good mood.

After the gig had ended, me, Toola, her friend and the Cheerios still lingered there and watched how the boys handed autographs and talked to the fans. My throat was sore and it felt I was coming down with flu. It was a really great gig, but something was amiss. I was in a good mood, but I didn't had that huge grin on my face that I usually have after superb gigs. I think it was because of the damn chairs. But the Tavastia gig would be soon and I hoped that maybe Friday would be a better gig day.