Poets of the Fall – Circus Revisited – 12/04/2019

Show time – The Circus, 12/04/2019

I arrived to the venue slightly later than planned, but already some people were already standing in line, that included Laura. I had met her in Germany before and to my surprise, she recognised me. Ana arrived not long after me, and we fell in each other’s arms. I was so happy to see her and as my husband would call it, there is true chemistry between us, which makes our friendship rather strong and steady. We laughed a lot at ourselves because it was 16:30 and the doors were to open at 19:00 for VIP’s. I mean who does that? We do, obviously… Angela joined us at 17:00, then Tuija and Rod. We all chatted cheerfully, still wondering why we were standing in the chilly Helsinki air. I finally got to meet Kaisa-Mari whose precious advices saved me some money on my way to Helsinki. 

The doors open – VIP time

We were among the first in line, so we got to meet the guys pretty fast. Of course, all was organised almost in a military manner… although I must admit that when it mattered, such structure did not really succeed in protecting the guys. No harm no foul though. 

I had written a card for each band member, and I proceeded in distributing them, one at a time. First, Ollie who thanked me with his usual friendly smile. He apologised for not signing the booklets in Paris, so I will have to bring them to Poland so he can sign them; Jaska got his card next, and he asked if he could read it at once… to which I answered by the affirmative. Ollie saw that and all happy, opened his as well. It was pretty funny and heart-warming. Came Marko… “Where have I seen you before?” he asked me. Surprised by his memory, I smile and answered: “in Paris, you talked French with me.” “Oh yeah, that’s true I remember.” After this, he switched to French and we talked a little. Captain laughed when I told him that I could not avoid going back to Paris since I am French and finally took my compliment about his work on Ultraviolet. Jari looked a bit tired, since he had been travelling a lot with another music project, was delighted to hear I would be attending the shows in Poland. Finally, Jani who claimed he did not remember my saying “God Morgon” to him in the lobby of the hotel in Stockholm the morning after the show (Angela told me afterwards that she did not believe that for a second – lol), started speaking Swedish with me. All in all, the guys were so relaxed, that it was probably one of the best Meet & Greets I have ever been to (together with the one in Paris of course). 

Group photo… after which the people in the back started pushing to get front row… the only thing was that the guys were still getting up and Ana almost fell on Ollie. Ana and I got pushed aside and we ended up second row. Being two not so tall women, we were quite disappointed. In the end, we still had a great time because we could see better than expected. The two acoustic songs they played were Children of the Sun and Late Goodbye… maybe not in that order though…

More Waiting

Needles under my feet, back pain, side pain… we were finally at that point where we started laughing nervously because we felt so foolish standing for so long. In the end though, it was all worth it. 

Whatever you do… whatever you do… etc. Don’t scream!

The setlist was perfect, although I miss Cradled in Love, they played one of my all times favourites: Kamikaze Love. I was over the roof. The loss of Sleep for Shadow Play was also a relief, I guess I heard Sleep too many times, it was nice to get a break from it. The band was on fire that night and the ambience was electrifying to say the least. When Jaska played his solo on The Sweet Escape, I leaned on Angela in front of me, fighting the tears. He plays that part so beautifuly. His solo on War got be grabbing Ana‘s hand beside me so that I would keep it together. She held on tight. Loads of funny memories and one of them was Jani staring at Angela and I in the beginning of Lift. Wanna see… have a look. 

To see full video, follow this link: Poets of the Fall – Lift @ The Circus, Helsinki, FI 13.4.2019

I always say this after every show, this is the best show Poets of the Fall has done… in the end, they always manage to top the previous show I’ve been too. Perfection does not exist, but they are pretty darn close!

If you want to read more about the trip, then please read on, otherwise thanks for stopping by.
See you somewhere out there!

Setlist: 

Dreaming Wide Awake
Dancing on Broken Glass
False Kings
Temple of Thought
Rogue
Standstill
The Sweet Escape
My Dark Disquiet
The Game
Kamikaze Love
War
Choice Millionaire
Lift

Encore:

Shadow Play
Daze
Locking Up the Sun
Carnival of Rust

Friendships

Almost a year since I first saw Poets of the Fall at The Circus in Helsinki (‘t was 21/04/2018) and my very first Poets gig. Since then I saw them a few more time, and even more to come. These are not just concerts you go to, it is not just for the music… it is the whole package. I have made many friends, and at least one new for each show. This is the true Poets of the Fall effect… the most important one, the one that creates bonds that will never break if you tend to them.

On my way – 12/04/2019

05:00: waky-waky… “c’est l’heure du réveillage”, yes thank you Muchu!
05:50: heading first to Ludvika to wait and catch the bus to Borlänge
07:30: hop on the train, first class with disgusting bathrooms, towards the airport… tick-tock, tick-tock… three hours wait there until my flight would take off… late by the way.

The dreaded wait

The wait at the airport was more pleasant than usual. I ate some tappas, had a glass of Chardonnay and chatted with my soon to be roommate Angela who was also on her way from her side of Europe.

The flight

12:55: Yeah… and we have take off!
Who likes to fly anyway? However, when I boarded I felt the same exhilaration I felt when I flew from France to Sweden to meet my then to-be husband for the first time. It is a feeling you never forget.

In Helsinki

14:50: Landed, wait what?! True, Finland is one hour ahead of Sweden.
We landed before I could say “Quidditch” and waited a while for my suitcase.

15:30: caught a train for Helsinki city
As Kaisa-Mari had promised, the train was rather easy and cheap to my liking (5€). From Helsinki station, I had to find my hotel… it took about 30 minutes or so (thank you Google Maps) … I think I actually took a detour even with the map…
16:30: Finally arrived at the hotel… sorry, this booking has been cancelled! (see FB for details)

Long awaited Angela

I did not wait for Angela very long. Her plane landed one hour after mine and she was at the hotel maybe 30-40 minutes after me. Waiting in the lobby I was recuperating from the scare the receptionist gave me. We took our time to get better acquainted, settled in the room, talked like girls do, cleaned up and by about 18:30 we were out again to get some food. I had noticed that nice little Japanese restaurant by the hotel and I wanted to go there. We waited for Andrea, who was about to arrive any minute according to Annie. In the end we went ahead because we had an engagement at 20:00 with Carolina. 

Do you know what Buffé is? It is eat all that you can… so you pay, and then get as many servings as you want… my friends are newbies… I took one big helping and I was stuffed, they went for more, just once though. 

Not my cup of music

We went to a last minute show, and the way there was not as simple as we’d expected. We ended up on the wrong side of the harbour, but it was a gorgeous place… to me it is always magnificent when the ocean (or the sea) is part of the picture. We got there on time… if there was such a thing, had a drink and then went up to the show.

Four bands were planned, but we missed the first one – you have no idea how happy I was with that. If it hadn’t been for the great company I had, I would have left at once. Dark / Death Metal is really not my cup of music. Angela and Carolina made the evening a success though. Since I am not 20 years anymore, and we went to bed at about 2 o’clock in the morning, my head hurt when I woke up and I had not had 2 Laku-shots as Angela did. 

Show day: 13/04/2019

After breakfast, and some pain-killers for my head, Angela and I headed out to meet with Andrea and Annie. It was maybe 11:30… I don’t recall exactly. Of course, I had only one pair of shoes and that was my winter boots. I was so warm I thought I’d die. I bought myself some kind of sneakers and went ahead on my own. I loved the Dome. It is a gorgeous place and the seaguls are not shy for a penny. One of them just flew straight down to a girl and stole her sandwish. I did not go beyond because I was too tired… but it was a nice walk around, thing that I had not had the time to do the first time I was in Helsinki. I will be back though.

I went back to the hotel for a spot of lunch at the bar. An hour or so later, I went up to my room to get some rest. Angela arrived not long after and we just chilled, sharing some music other than Poets of the Fall, and chatting like old friends. Soon, it was time to go to the venue and stand in line for hours… crasy, I know. I met with Ana as planned… Read the beginning of the post for the rest.

Time to go home: 14/04/2019

After some sleep (we went to be at 2:30 this time), I was still very tired and decided to take a cab to the airport. 53 euros… quite expensive but worth it when you are exhausted as I was. Everything went smoothly and the trip home seemed somewhat shorter than the way to Helsinki. 

Next stop: Krakow, Poland – 26/04/2019

Until next time,

Claire