Spinal Tap Moments, Air Hugs and Tongue Wiggling

The Date: 9.7.2011
The Place: Seinäjoki, Ilona Live Carnival 
The Album: Alchemy

Mikko and I arrived at the Live Carnival about half an hour before the gig started. At the front gate there were "no colors" -sign and I wondered, what has been going on in Ostrobothnia since I moved away? Has it become overrun by motorcycle gangs? Weird.

There were drunken people everywhere and I was a bit anxious. Nevertheless, there was still a spot open for us in the second row and we planted ourselves there firmly. The gig started a few minutes early, that was a first! We were at the left side of the stage, right in front of a huge loud speaker. Mikko had earplugs, but I hadn’t brought mine. I know, that was stupid but what can you do?

At the beginning of the gig there seemed to be something wrong while Dreaming Wide Awake. Olli was tuning some knobs, Captain mimed playing guitar at someone off the stage and Jaska seemed to be a bit lost. But after a while they figured things out and the gig kept on going. At first I wasn’t in to the mood: the music seemed too loud, it was too hot and some girl wanted to get a better view so she kept trying to run me over with her boobs.

But then my ears adapted, the girl backed off and the music swept me away. It was still hot as hell but it didn’t matter, I was lost in music with my loved one by my side.

Marko's Poet of the Fall character was channeling the overall mood of the audience: a bit aggressive and horny, or so it felt to me. He was clutching his crotch, swinging the microphone in front of his loins suggestively, twirling his fingers on top of his nipples and throwing some swear words among the lyrics.

And this time when people raised their hands as an answer to the question before Carnival of Rust "who of you have come here with someone?", he commented that it was a good thing that all of us weren't singles, otherwise the night wouldn't be long enough and wiggled his tong. He has done things like that before, but this time more than usual. But then there were some tender moments also, like the hugging gesture that encompassed us all and before Roses he said that he wished that he could give us all real roses.

It's been a long time since I have seen Marko doing introductions of the band or the whole band bowing hand in hand at the end of the show. All I remember from the introductions is Marko saying that Jaska plays guitar like Lucifer himself. Jaska changed his shirt at backstage at some point and when he came back, he got huge applause and a lot of cat calls. No wonder, he looked really hot that evening, even before the shirt change. Marko asked what he would have to do to get that kind of appreciation, take his shirt completely off ? But that was just a tease, pffft. Jani seemed to be in a very good mood, his smile lit the stage and I loved seeing him play bass back to back with Marko.

There was a lot of laughter on the stage during the gig. Before the encore songs started, Olli was still missing and Marko quipped that Olli had to go to take a pee. Then he started a joke but he never finished it: a man went to a bar...

After the gig I was exhausted from all the jumping and completely drenched. In addition to that my eyes had a kind of pandaish look because of a runny eyeliner. Someone might have thought that I had been in a shower with my clothes on. Oh well, it was worth it, like always. I spotted a familiar face, it was Carpe Diem that I hadn't seen in ages! I went to say hi and gave her a hug. She was in the middle of an conversation with some people, so I didn't chat long with her and went to say hi to redbossfan. It was nice to meet her but it was a bit difficult to chat while music was playing really loudly so we kept it brief. Better luck next time =)

Misc: Mikko noticed that Olli had a different acoustic guitar than what he had at the Tavastia gig.

Random funny line: (after the unfinished joke) This is the Spinal Tap moment of Poets of the Fall!

Summa summarum: One of the best things about that gig was being there with my love. Our fists pumping the air at the same time, our hands side by side doing the clock winding thing during Locking up the sun in unison with Marko, the looks and shaking our heads while laughing at Marko’s antics, Mikko giving me support to jump even higher during Lift and the kissess we shared. I am such a lucky girl that I can share the band that I love with the man that I love.

Blood, Sweat and Rock'n'Roll

The Date: 12.6.2011
The Place: Helsinki, Kalasatama

The Album: Alchemy

This time I was flying solo and I traveled to Helsinki by train all by myself. When I arrived at Helsinki metro station, I was a bit at loss, where to go and what to do. There I met S, who was also going to see Poets of the Fall and approached me asking for advise how to reach Kalasatama. We were both equally lost, so we decided to go all the way down to the platforms and figure things out together. As we descended, we witnessed an accident that happened on the escalator beside us. An older gentleman fell backwards and hit his head on the escalator. There was blood all over and S ran to help the man. She and a couple of guys carried him down to the platform, I also helped a bit with his legs. At first he was unconscious but soon regained consciousness. Someone had called an ambulance and we (and a few others that helped) stayed with the man until security guards appeared and took over for us. S went to wash her hands that were all bloodied as she had tended the man's injured head. She told me that she was studying to become a nurse.

After that we managed to find our way to the right metro cart but almost missed the Kalasatama stop and we ran out of the cart at the last minute. We followed the river of people and met S's friends near the gates. Then we proceeded near the stage as the gig was about to start at any minute. S and her friends decided to stay near the mixing booth but I wanted to get closer so we decided to meet again after the gig. I was able to get approximately to the tenth row where I had a really good view to the stage. I was wearing platform sandals and as the audience before me consisted mainly of young girls I had no trouble seeing. For once I can understand how my significant other feels while on gigs, as he is six foot five and most of the Poets of the Fall's audience is females.

The sun was shining without a cloud in the sky and it was almost 30 degrees Celsius out there. The gig started with Dreaming Wide Awake, followed by Given and Denied, Locking Up the Sun, Carnival of Rust and finally Lift. It was a great combination of fast rocking songs and slower ballads in between, perfect for a such a hot day. The slower songs gave the audience a breather and a chance to gather strength to jump up and down during the faster songs. Marko was on a funny mood, during the gig he laughed maniacally, knocked the microphone stand down, spread water all over, showed us his booty and conducted our yells and cheers like an orchestra. Before Carnival of Rust he asked the audience to show hands if they had come there with someone. Quite a lot raised their hands and Marko said that he was perversely disappointed, that there weren't more singles out there.

Other moments that stuck to my mind were during Locking up the sun when Captain waved his hand like a lasso, Marko did his clock winding thing and some point where Olli slided really coolly to the other side of the stage in front of Marko. Just before Lift was over, Marko urged us to shout: Finnish summer! Nice weather! Friends! And Poets of the Fall! That about sums that day up nicely. Captain had a really cool stetson on his head the whole gig and when the guys left the stage, he teased us by faking that he was going to throw that into the audience. But of course he didn't. What a shame, it was a really good looking hat =) The whole gig was over way sooner that I would have liked, it lasted about 25 minutes. It was great and all, but it was like an appetizer or a quick fix, I imagine. Just enough to keep the withdrawal at bay but not enough to leave me satisfied. But it was fun while it lasted.

After that I met with my newfound friends and we left the area since there wasn't anything that interested us anymore. We bought some ice-cream, sat in a park and enjoyed the sunny day until our trains departed. Mine was canceled because of an arson that took place the night before, so I had to pay some extra for a pendolino ride. I was happy nonetheless, since the day was an unexpected adventure, like all Poets of the Fall gigs are!

Money spent: 65 euros (train rides)
People helped: 1
New gig friends found: 3
Fun had: immeasurable

Joygasms and Good Old Times

The Date: 18.3.2011
The Place: Helsinki, Tavastia
The Album: Alchemy vol 1

When we (me and my significant other, Mikko) arrived at Tavastia, we decided to leave our jackets in the car, because we didn't have any cash with us to pay the “service-fee” for coats and the parking space we found was very close to the club. We entered and the doorman was a bit rude, he said that we would have to pay the fee nevertheless. I can understand paying for the service, but paying for the service I don't use? That's just ridiculous. So we just sneaked past the coat hangers.

Petri was selling merchandise so I went to say hi to him and talked a bit. Then we entered the stage-area. I would have imagined, that because we arrived there so late (about fifteen past nine) there were no chance to get even a decent view to the stage. But fortunately I was mistaken. We were able to find a great spot at the left side of the stage, first it was about 5 rows from the stage and then it was about three. We had a great visibility and Mikko was able to take some nice pictures also.

The new intro was cool. Mikko said that it was definitely made by Captain, he could hear the demoscene-influences in it. When you have seen enough demos, you recognize the style. The gig started only 5 minutes late, that was surprise to Mikko but not to me. For some reason Tavastia gigs usually start on time.

The gig started with "Can you Hear Me" and was a nonstop joygasm for me from that moment on. I sang along with all might of my lungs, jumped, danced, giggled and laughed. I was surprised that "No End, No Beginning" was the third song, I was dead sure that it would be the last song of the gig and the lights of the stage would go out as the last sentence of that song would echo. But maybe it would have been too obvious of a choice. It was nevertheless amazing to hear those new songs live for the first time.

I loved hearing Sleep after such a long time. I think I have heard it live once or twice, it has been very rare indeed. And as I love Roses, it was joyous to hear it first time as a live performance. As Marko introduced it, many people have wished that it would be on their set list.

There were a lot of “oh, those good old times” vibes and moves present on the show. During Locking up the Sun's “Someone who holds out a hand and turns back time” Marko held out his hand once and turned it like winding back time. There was raising of bottles and glasses during Illusion and Dream, I had my own juice bottle with me just because of that. The song/play competition between Olli and Marko during Late Goodbye and using Illusion and Dream as the fake-ending. I have heard it so many times as a final song or final song before encores, that now every time I hear it on the radio or from cd, my mind automatically adds “Poets of the Fall thanks you, good night!” to the ending of the song!

But there were also some unpredictability also. The thing that sticks to my mind mostly, was just before Carnival of Rust. At the front row there was this young girl, who had a gray felt bowler hat. Marko asked her if he could borrow it, put in on top pf his head and said that he has to get into the character. Then he struck a pose that was straight from the video and held it for a few moments. Then he “came to life”, grinned maniacally and started moving mechanically as the song started. Then he returned the hat and started to perform the song as usual. I was awestruck and just stared at the stage and said “whoa” under my breath.

During some of the songs, Marko started draw with black marker pen some doodles on his left arm while singing. During at the end of “Given and Denied”, there is this sort of outro, where the music swells up and rises. I love that outro and what I love even more, is that Captain does this thing with his hands during it, he raises his hands while the music is rising. I noticed it when they were touring with “Twilight Theater” and was pleased to see that he still does it.

There were also some mistakes and missteps, as Marko forgot what he was singing during Locking up the Sun and Captain stumbled on his way back to his keyboards at the beginning of Late Goodbye.

Marko also mentioned that there were quite an international audience gathered there that night and he hoped they would enjoy their stay. And then they performed Stay.

The encore songs were fittingly Late Goodbye, Carnival of Rust and Lift. I just love that Carnival of Rust and Lift are back to back, because to me they are different sides of a same coin. Carnival of Rust is heart wrenching, achingly beautiful song, that makes me want to cry and Lift is so full of positive energy that it makes me laugh out loud. I also love the little changes that Marko does to the melody while Carnival of Rust.

And so the gig ended. All the 15 songs from Alchemy, hour and a half of pure joy.

But the fun wasn't over yet. I had no idea that there were so many old friends. There were Bolo Hamwitch and his girlfriend, Tuitu and the Cheerleaders with plastic inflatable instruments and for a longest of time, LivingDeathGirl.It felt like the good old days again, a lot of hugging, laughing and enthusing. I also said briefly hi and bye to Mako. For a while, it felt like I got back my family that I thought I lost.

After a while, the boys appeared to give out autographs. I had with me the Alchemy cover, because this time I wanted to get all of the autographs at the same page. And so I did. I thanked Olli for the gig that was the greatest party ever and Jani thanked me for being there. I couldn't stop smiling and at the end of the night my cheeks were actually hurting for smiling so much. I got to share awesome gig with my love and lovely forum peeps. Cherry on top was seeing LivingDeathGirl after such a long time, I didn't even realize how much I had missed her. Then we said our goodbyes and I left with my love back to Tampere, high as a kite.