| Alexander Theatre Sessions | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Live album by | |
| Released | December 11, 2020 |
| Length | 55:56 |
| Label | Insomniac |
| Producer | Poets of the Fall |
The Alexander Theatre Sessions were a series of live unplugged performances by various lineups from Poets of the Fall and Triosis+ at the Alexander Theatre in Helsinki, that were posted to YouTube once-a-month throughout 2020. The full collection of twelve performances was then released as an album on CD, Vinyl, Cassette and Digitally on 11th December 2020.
The performance of Angel marked Captain's first live performance outside of gigs and his first live use of the piano. Children of the Sun was also Jari's first non-gig live performance.
Track listing
| Track No | Title | Length | Members |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | King of Fools | 4:38 | Marko, Olli |
| 02 | War | 5:01 | Marko, Olli |
| 03 | The Sweet Escape | 4:10 | Marko, Olli |
| 04 | Dreaming Wide Awake | 4:19 | Marko, Olli, Jaska, Jani |
| 05 | Fragile | 4:17 | Marko, Olli, Jaska, Jani |
| 06 | False Kings | 4:20 | Marko, Olli, Jaska, Jani |
| 07 | Angel | 4:49 | Marko, Captain |
| 08 | Lift | 5:30 | Marko, Captain |
| 09 | Jealous Gods | 4:53 | Marko, Captain |
| 10 | Children of the Sun | 4:59 | Marko, Olli, Captain, Jaska, Jani, Jari, Triosis+ |
| 11 | Rebirth | 4:30 | Marko, Olli, Captain, Jaska, Jani, Jari, Triosis+ |
| 12 | Carnival of Rust | 4:30 | Marko, Olli, Captain, Jaska, Jani, Jari, Triosis+ |
Physical Releases
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CD -
Vinyl - Black -
Vinyl - Black (signed black pen) -
Vinyl - Black (signed gold pen) -
Cassette (closed) -
Cassette (open)
Merchandise
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Alexander Theatre Sessions T-Shirt
Interviews
Misfit Heart Interview with Marko Saaresto
Originally we just wanted to do alternative versions of our songs. Acoustic and otherwise. The basic idea was to shoot them with a smart phone and upload them on YouTube. Ambitious as we are, however, the project escalated, and we found ourselves looking for a cool venue and better gear. The Alexander Theatre Sessions name actually came to us first. We loved the sound of it so much, and the theatre is just a brilliant venue, so we decided to approach the theatre’s people with our idea, and lucky for us, they loved it too. The rest is history.
...
I think we already had ideas for certain songs, we wanted to do, others were songs we’d played before in alternative settings, so all of these seemed like the best choice to do. I think it was pretty straight forward for us this time around. Which it isn’t usually, when we are, say, choosing a live set etc. If we ever have a chance to continue the series with a second season, the choosing might be more difficult, but no less interesting.
...
The choice of who plays what and how was one of the most rewarding parts of the process. We had always wanted to do paired down versions of the songs and piano-vocal
versions as well as more orchestrated organic versions of songs like Carnival of Rust. So yeah, it was a lengthy process, but super interesting and also fun, when we got to play around with our music from a completely new perspective.
...
There was a certain atmosphere to the whole shooting of these videos, with the theatre empty and kind of hollow and melancholy, but at the same time, the shooting days were very serene and fun. We felt very grateful for the opportunity of being able to do the project the way we wanted, coming in the venue in the morning with coffees and snacks and just going about our business in our own pace.
...
I must applaud and credit Markus, who was instrumental in creating the videos, even shooting them as much as he could. He really was the editor and director throughout the entire project. All in the name of wanting to do something outside just music, so expanding more into filmmaking seemed like a good choice. All of us did help and lend a hand and our opinions and our critical eye where he asked for them, but after all the ideas had been laid out on the table, it was all his ball game.
...
Well… we had a jittery day when Covid kept us waiting for test results on the day we were supposed to shoot the final three videos, as one of us might have been infected. Just an hour before the shooting was supposed to either commence or be cancelled, we got the results and, no cover, so we were safe. So having the final three videos at all, was really up to chance and a very close call.
...
We asked Miika to come in and be an additional camera man, and he was more than happy to. In the end, we had four people taking care of the cameras and shooting the videos on location.[1]