Last Friday, my Handsome Assistant and I went to Baltimore Soundstage to see Folkfest of the North, featuring Nini, TrollfesT, Ensiferum, and Korpiklaani. We were both only familiar with the latter two, but hey, I’m always up to hear some unfamiliar stuff in genres I’m into.

And it was a fantastic idea.

We came in at the end of Nini’s set because we were running late, despite our best efforts. It doesn’t help that I was wearing cargo pants (they’re men’s pants, so they have the good pockets) and had forgotten the amount of random life flotsam that I had accumulated throughout the day. So I had to fully unload some weird little art projects, about eleven lipbalms, my keys, a handkerchief, and a pocket full of lobelia seeds I had foraged on a walk while I was looking for skulls. (“Those are… emotional support seeds.”)

Anyway. We came in just as NiNi was halfway through a cover of Baby One More Time. I was glad we didn’t miss them entirely, but I would’ve liked to hear more. Fortunately, she has a pretty extensive YouTube channel with her other work — folk metal played with traditional Chinese instruments (Nini herself is Taiwanese).

Next was TrollfesT, from Norway. They came out in full flamingo costumes for Flamingo Overlord, a concept album about the rise of a world-dominating flamingo dictator. Their opening song was Dance Like a Pink Flamingo, which is loads of fun, very catchy, and an absolutely scathing indictment of remaining apolitical and distracting yourself while the world burns around you.

Their songs were great. There was a bubble machine. There was a massive venue-spanning conga line. It was a fantastic time and I’ve been listening to them on repeat ever since. I hate that it took me this long to hear them.

After that was Ensiferum, who probably needs no introduction. I used to listen to them a lot years ago, but kind of fell out of it (and I’m sorry I did). They were also very good, and it was immediately obvious that a ton of the crowd was there for them. I didn’t recognize their newer stuff, but that’s fine with me — I was 100% here for it regardless.

Last up was Korpiklaani, the band that originally got me to get tickets in the first place. They’re always a lot of fun — there’s never a lot of between-songs banter, so it’s just back-to-back bangers. Jonne Jarvela’s mic was also better than last time, so the vocals were much more balanced and not as drowned out.

Also, I’ve read the stereotypes of folk metal fans: We’re not as hard as other metalheads. We dig the silliness. We’re here to party. We drink room-temperature dark beer and are more likely to form kick lines and dance in a circle than mosh. And honestly? I get it. Hell, I embrace it.

(I have, however, never met a racist folk metal fan. That’s not to say that they don’t exist, of course — lift up any subculture and you’re bound to find all sorts of weird things crawling underneath — but the bands I enjoy don’t espouse those ideas, and the folk metalheads I’ve interacted with don’t either. Honestly, most of them have stories about bouncing dickheads from shows.)

Also:

Both my Handsome Assistant and I had a great time. All of the bands were delightful. I went home a sweaty mess from dancing (and honestly, you should come home with sweaty hair and streaky makeup from a show. At maximum, a minor concussion and maybe some loose teeth but your mileage may vary). I can’t wait until any of them are back in the area again. 🖤