Tag: metal

Korpiklaani, Ensiferum, TrollfesT, and NiNi at Baltimore Soundstage.
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Korpiklaani, Ensiferum, TrollfesT, and NiNi at Baltimore Soundstage.

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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:

A meme of a frowning man in a button-down plaid shirt and navy blue puffer vest. The text says "Folk metal fans when a song doesn't have an accordion solo."
Shamlessly stolen from the r/MetalMemes subreddit.

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. 🖤

Korpiklaani at Baltimore Soundstage (Or, how thick thighs really *can* save lives.)
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Korpiklaani at Baltimore Soundstage (Or, how thick thighs really *can* save lives.)

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Remember when I said I couldn’t maypole dance because my ankle’s still janky (a jankle, if you will) and so I had to pick my battles?
This is what I meant.

Sunday, my Handsome Assistant and I got to see Korpiklaani. They were part of a lineup of bands that were mostly symphonic metal — Foretoken, a local band from Virginia; Illumishade, formed by some members of Eluveitie; and Visions of Atlantis, which I wasn’t familiar with but, if I had to describe them, I’d probably say “what would happen if Nightwish got really into seafaring.”

Also, also, also! As we were pulling up to the parking garage, we passed within a few feet of Jonne Järvelä. I waved and smiled, he waved and smiled back, I had an embarrassing fan nerd moment in the car in front of my Handsome Assistant, it was rad.
(I didn’t stop, get out of the car, or try to actually talk to him or anything, of course. Man was taking a break, and I definitely didn’t want to be rude or make a nuisance of myself. It was just a brief gesture of, “Hello! I am super excited about what you are about to do,” and it was cool to get a smile and wave back.)

The show started on time, which kind of amazed me. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a concert that actually started when it said it was going to before. There wasn’t a lot of downtime between bands, either.

All of the bands were enjoyable — Visions of Atlantis, in particular, was a lot of fun — but Korpiklaani brought the house down. Since my motion was somewhat limited and it’s still a bit challenging to put weight on my ankle for too long, I had to stay by the railing. Even so, I danced enough that I accidentally butt-donated (or, I guess, leg-donated) to the Share the Meal app.
Multiple times.
With a working ankle, I probably could’ve solved world hunger and gone devastatingly and irreversibly into debt.
My Handsome Assistant, on the other hand, went into the pit to dance.

There wasn’t a lot of banter or downtime between songs. As soon as Korpiklaani got on stage, they kept the energy up the whole time. It was sometimes hard to hear Jonne Järvelä singing, but I think this was a mic issue and it wasn’t exclusive to them.

Honestly, this was one of my bucket list items. I’ve got a pretty long list of bands that I need to see either before I die, or they stop touring. Korpiklaani absolutely lived up to and surpassed my expectations. I had a fantastic time.

Some kind soul has also made a Spotify playlist of Korpiklaani’s setlist, if you’d like to know it. I’ve been listening to it pretty much on repeat ever since.

If you get the chance to see them live, do it. It’s absolutely worth it.

Elvenking is coming to the US! Kind of!
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Elvenking is coming to the US! Kind of!

J.5 Comments

So, I use Spotify a bunch. I tried YouTube Music and wasn’t super into it, and I used to be into Pandora, until I wasn’t. As a result, Spotify likes to send me alerts about nearby events featuring artists that I follow. I have a very generous definition of “nearby,” however.

Anyhow, Elvenking is one of my favorite folk metal bands. I don’t think they have a single CD that I feel like I need to skip any tracks on. Every one’s a banger. Unfortunately, like many of my other favorite bands, they’re not from the US and so opportunities to see them are a bit thin on the ground. From what I gather, the last time they were anywhere in the US was sixteen years ago.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered that they’d be playing in Pittsburgh, a mere three and a half hours away! (Like I said. Very generous definition of “nearby.”) Since I have no idea when I’d have the chance to see them again, I was stoked as hell.

And… then I realized that they were one of the opening bands for Alestorm.

Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy Alestorm. I’m not above pirate metal and their songs are genuinely fun. What went on behind the songs wasn’t. While Chris Bowes issued an apology, the article I linked points out a few things that seemed… hinky. Apologizing after the fact, because you got caught, also isn’t the same as shutting down disgusting (and, honestly, creepy) behavior in the moment. It’s also goofy as hell to try to pass that kind of thing off as a joke, also after the fact.
I’ve laughed at jokes in poor taste before. Hell, I’ve told jokes in poor taste before. But what the hell, man. This wasn’t humor, this was a bunch of middle-aged dudes being gross, racist weirdoes. Would the fans they were talking about think it was funny?

This isn’t to suggest that I think that Chris Bowes or the other members of Alestorm and Gloryhammer should publicly flog themselves. If other people are satisfied with the apology, or unbothered by the behavior that warranted it, that’s up to them. It did sour my enjoyment of music I once liked — way too much to be able to go, “eh, screw it,” hold my nose, and buy the tickets.

So now I’m left wondering what else to do. I have no reason to believe Elvenking endorses racism or misogyny. I don’t know if the members of Elvenking even know about what happened, or how much power they have in this situation. I don’t want to pay to see Alestorm, but I want to support Elvenking and show that there’s interest in them coming back to the US on their own.

As things are now, I’m going to give this show a pass, as much as it sucks to do. Bands make more money through merch anyway, so at least there are more efficient ways to support them than going to shows.

If we have our deck redone and the pergola up in time, maybe the Handsome Assistant and I’ll have a listening party when Elvenking’s next album drops. We’ve got the space and plenty of homemade mead. We’ll see.

I’m still feeling pretty salty at the moment, though.

Good music transcends time and language.
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Good music transcends time and language.

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I’ll let one of the The Hu’s frontmen say it.

Music transcends any language. Even when we were growing up and listening to Western rock bands, to this day I still don’t understand some of my favorite songs. But [through] the music, the rhythm and the tune and the way it’s delivered… It’s something special. You’re able to ‘understand’ everything because you feel it. 

Gala (Galbadrakh Tsendbaatar), in an interview with Louder

I don’t remember how I first learned about The Hu. When I write or paint, I often end up putting a song on, then letting whatever algorithm is currently spying on me keep recommending things. I remember being captivated by Wolf Totem, and put their songs on heavy rotation afterward.

This past Monday, my partner and I finally got to see them in concert. It was at Warren Theater, which isn’t quite what you’d picture when you think of a metal show (think lots of seats, chandeliers, ceiling medallions, you get the picture). I thought the seats might get in the way of moving around. I did not allow them to.

The band was fantastic. The energy was contagious. The crowd was enthusiastic and friendly. (The guy sitting behind us photobombed us in a hilarious way, and I almost regret laughing so hard because the shot ended up blurry.) And the music. It’s hard to describe the fusion of traditional Mongolian instruments and throat singing with metal in a way that does it justice. I could write about it for what feels like forever, but, as the old quote goes, “writing about music is like dancing about architecture.”

This is what modern bardic tradition should feel like. It feels like the kind of power old stories talk about when they speak of bards that could strike a person down with a verse.

I barely know a few words in Mongolian. If a song interests me, I need to look up a translation, and a romanization so I can at least try to approximate the pronunciation. It doesn’t matter, I still try. My lack of linguistic skills meant that I couldn’t know any of Jaya’s between-song banter. It didn’t matter, I cheered with my fists in the air anyway.

This was easily one of the most fun shows I’ve been to in ages. If you have the opportunity to see The Hu, take it.