The Date: 21.4.2007
The Place: Pirkkahalli, Tampere
The Album: Carnival of Rust
Following PotF's gigs takes me to the strangest places. This time it was a car show. I admit, that I do like to check out cars, especially American cars from the 50's or 60's. But I would have never gone to an actual car show, if PotF hadn't been there. The place was Tampere's biggest convention hall and it was only 3,5 kilometers from my place. So I decided to walk there. The sky was pouring big, cold and wet snowflakes and the wind was chilly, but by buss the amount of time spent in the journey would have doubled, cause there isn't any straight buss line from my place to Pirkkahalli. So after half an hour walk I was there and I had enough time to check out the cars a bit too. Lots of black leather, shiny metal and an awful lot of people. I even got a glimpse of a strange show: some girls with skimpy outfits, fake tans and blond hairs were performing and singing to a pulsing beat with lyrics that went: my boobs, my boobs, my boobs are ok... Right after that I made my way into the D-hall, where PotF would be playing in 45 minutes. There were already some fans gathered near the stage, so I went and reserved me a place in the front row, fairly middle.
The sound check started right after that: Petri was banging on the drums, Jaska was tuning his guitar and Einari was just generally fixing the stage. Jaska and Einari also checked the microphones and during that, Einari blurted out: A dachshund! A cow! A pig club! And that made the gathered audience crack up. The Cheerios and some other fans arrived as well and Satu, Toola and Jolie came to say hi to me. Cause I was there so early, I had time to look around the area. The stage was pretty big. Almost as big as in some of the summer festivals. There was a space between the front row and the stage large enough to walk and in front of the first row were iron bars. This time those were at the right height for me, my arms didn't hurt and I could take a hold of them when I jumped up and down during Sorry Go 'Round and Lift. The hall was really big and very cold. It was the coldest place I have been in a gig, including outdoors. At the other end of the hall was a smaller stage and a fenced bar area. The people around me seemed quite young, this gig didn't have any age-limits. When the starting time was closing, more people started to gather around. Right next to me in the front row came a little girl that was half of my size and the other side of me were some girls who had with them some paper sheets. In those sheets were written song request and some stuff I didn't see.
When the familiar sounds of the intro of Fire begun, I started grinning. The band came to the stage and it was time to rock. Only when Fire started, it was without Ollie. Once again he had some trouble with his guitar, but the band just kept going without him. It actually didn't sound that bad, but luckily he got the guitar working in no time and the song sounded once again the way it should be. The song list was the standard: Fire, Sorry go 'Round, Delicious, Gravity, Stay, Late Goodbye, Carnival of Rust, Don't mess with me, Lift, Locking up the sun and Illusion and Dream. As usual, I jumped, moshed, sang along, danced and partied my head off in that small space in the middle of the front row. The little girl next to me spent about half of the gig staring at me, she must have thought I was a complete and utter mental case, cause most of the people just stood there and stared at the stage. But I came there to have fun and that goal was fulfilled. It is amazing how the guys are able to keep the shows fresh, every time there are special ingredients that aren't in any other gig. This was my 29th PotF-gig and I never get tired of the songs nor the show.
In between the songs Mark gave funny speeches: after Fire he said that it was a song about faija (faija is a Finnish slang word for dad), he reminded us, and especially the little ones, to drink enough fluids because of the long day and then he quirked that that was an unnecessary reminder for those at the bar-area, but they should drink water too. When Carnival of Rust was about to start, he passed the microphone to Jani, who introduced the song: now it is time to be a bit more serious, to go to the backyards of love and dig up things long buried...Then Mark took the mic back and started to sing an intro to the song: without your love my life aint nothing but this carnival of rust by repeating and prolonging the words while an acoustic guitar and a chair was brought to Ollie.
After the gigs I always have hard time remembering, what happened during what song. Anyway, during one song Ollie was playing a solo near the edge of the stage, on his knees. First Mark was by his side, but when the solo just kept on going, Mark moved behind Ollie, grabbed the mic stand and mimicked hitting Ollie with it. Poor Ollie had no idea what was happening behind his back. I just love those funny moments that happen between Ollie and Mark on the stage (the singing/playing competition during Late Goodbye, Mark singing to Ollie etc.), sometimes I swear they could be brothers! Somewhere around the end of the gig Ollie disappeared from the stage and appeared at the walking space between the stage and the front row. He went right in front of Mark, bowed to him, turned around and walked straight to me and shook my hand. After that he had to shook ten more hands that were reaching towards him and then he went back to the stage. I just LOVE the fact that they are so nice to the fans and do notice the ones that have been going to the gigs from the start. It makes the gig so much more special when you get a smile from the stage and see from the look of their eyes that they recognize you and appreciate your coming to the gig.
After Lift the whole band disappeared from the stage. I was a bit worried that the audience wouldn't demand more, but my worry was unfounded. Clapping just continued and after a while the band came back to the stage. Mark joked that now that only true fans were left, the party could really start, that the gig before was just a warm up. Oh how I wished he wasn't kidding. But he was and after two more songs it was truly over. After that I talked a bit with Cheerios, Toola, Jolie and maaru and I also spotted Jack of all trades, who had really awesome short leather jacket on him. After I left the hall, I noticed that the guys were handing out autographs at the corridor, so I just stopped to observe the situation for a while and Ollie waved at me and said hi. After a while there was only Captain writing his autograph for two young girls and then he asked if the girls wanted autographs from the whole band. The girls said yes, so Captain just knocked on the nearby door (on the door there was taped a paper that said Poets of the Fall) and went in to get the rest of the autos. Right about that time I left the building and started to walk home. The clock was 2.30 in the afternoon and it was somewhat surreal to be walking home in daylight.
Following PotF's gigs takes me to the strangest places. This time it was a car show. I admit, that I do like to check out cars, especially American cars from the 50's or 60's. But I would have never gone to an actual car show, if PotF hadn't been there. The place was Tampere's biggest convention hall and it was only 3,5 kilometers from my place. So I decided to walk there. The sky was pouring big, cold and wet snowflakes and the wind was chilly, but by buss the amount of time spent in the journey would have doubled, cause there isn't any straight buss line from my place to Pirkkahalli. So after half an hour walk I was there and I had enough time to check out the cars a bit too. Lots of black leather, shiny metal and an awful lot of people. I even got a glimpse of a strange show: some girls with skimpy outfits, fake tans and blond hairs were performing and singing to a pulsing beat with lyrics that went: my boobs, my boobs, my boobs are ok... Right after that I made my way into the D-hall, where PotF would be playing in 45 minutes. There were already some fans gathered near the stage, so I went and reserved me a place in the front row, fairly middle.
The sound check started right after that: Petri was banging on the drums, Jaska was tuning his guitar and Einari was just generally fixing the stage. Jaska and Einari also checked the microphones and during that, Einari blurted out: A dachshund! A cow! A pig club! And that made the gathered audience crack up. The Cheerios and some other fans arrived as well and Satu, Toola and Jolie came to say hi to me. Cause I was there so early, I had time to look around the area. The stage was pretty big. Almost as big as in some of the summer festivals. There was a space between the front row and the stage large enough to walk and in front of the first row were iron bars. This time those were at the right height for me, my arms didn't hurt and I could take a hold of them when I jumped up and down during Sorry Go 'Round and Lift. The hall was really big and very cold. It was the coldest place I have been in a gig, including outdoors. At the other end of the hall was a smaller stage and a fenced bar area. The people around me seemed quite young, this gig didn't have any age-limits. When the starting time was closing, more people started to gather around. Right next to me in the front row came a little girl that was half of my size and the other side of me were some girls who had with them some paper sheets. In those sheets were written song request and some stuff I didn't see.
When the familiar sounds of the intro of Fire begun, I started grinning. The band came to the stage and it was time to rock. Only when Fire started, it was without Ollie. Once again he had some trouble with his guitar, but the band just kept going without him. It actually didn't sound that bad, but luckily he got the guitar working in no time and the song sounded once again the way it should be. The song list was the standard: Fire, Sorry go 'Round, Delicious, Gravity, Stay, Late Goodbye, Carnival of Rust, Don't mess with me, Lift, Locking up the sun and Illusion and Dream. As usual, I jumped, moshed, sang along, danced and partied my head off in that small space in the middle of the front row. The little girl next to me spent about half of the gig staring at me, she must have thought I was a complete and utter mental case, cause most of the people just stood there and stared at the stage. But I came there to have fun and that goal was fulfilled. It is amazing how the guys are able to keep the shows fresh, every time there are special ingredients that aren't in any other gig. This was my 29th PotF-gig and I never get tired of the songs nor the show.
In between the songs Mark gave funny speeches: after Fire he said that it was a song about faija (faija is a Finnish slang word for dad), he reminded us, and especially the little ones, to drink enough fluids because of the long day and then he quirked that that was an unnecessary reminder for those at the bar-area, but they should drink water too. When Carnival of Rust was about to start, he passed the microphone to Jani, who introduced the song: now it is time to be a bit more serious, to go to the backyards of love and dig up things long buried...Then Mark took the mic back and started to sing an intro to the song: without your love my life aint nothing but this carnival of rust by repeating and prolonging the words while an acoustic guitar and a chair was brought to Ollie.
After the gigs I always have hard time remembering, what happened during what song. Anyway, during one song Ollie was playing a solo near the edge of the stage, on his knees. First Mark was by his side, but when the solo just kept on going, Mark moved behind Ollie, grabbed the mic stand and mimicked hitting Ollie with it. Poor Ollie had no idea what was happening behind his back. I just love those funny moments that happen between Ollie and Mark on the stage (the singing/playing competition during Late Goodbye, Mark singing to Ollie etc.), sometimes I swear they could be brothers! Somewhere around the end of the gig Ollie disappeared from the stage and appeared at the walking space between the stage and the front row. He went right in front of Mark, bowed to him, turned around and walked straight to me and shook my hand. After that he had to shook ten more hands that were reaching towards him and then he went back to the stage. I just LOVE the fact that they are so nice to the fans and do notice the ones that have been going to the gigs from the start. It makes the gig so much more special when you get a smile from the stage and see from the look of their eyes that they recognize you and appreciate your coming to the gig.
After Lift the whole band disappeared from the stage. I was a bit worried that the audience wouldn't demand more, but my worry was unfounded. Clapping just continued and after a while the band came back to the stage. Mark joked that now that only true fans were left, the party could really start, that the gig before was just a warm up. Oh how I wished he wasn't kidding. But he was and after two more songs it was truly over. After that I talked a bit with Cheerios, Toola, Jolie and maaru and I also spotted Jack of all trades, who had really awesome short leather jacket on him. After I left the hall, I noticed that the guys were handing out autographs at the corridor, so I just stopped to observe the situation for a while and Ollie waved at me and said hi. After a while there was only Captain writing his autograph for two young girls and then he asked if the girls wanted autographs from the whole band. The girls said yes, so Captain just knocked on the nearby door (on the door there was taped a paper that said Poets of the Fall) and went in to get the rest of the autos. Right about that time I left the building and started to walk home. The clock was 2.30 in the afternoon and it was somewhat surreal to be walking home in daylight.
