May052009
Paganfest USA II
Filed under Music by Kim at 11:07 pm on May 05 2009
Sunday we braved the downpour to see our second annual raft of viking metal bands. (See last year’s show review here at my old blog.) I was stressed out about other stuff but it was so very worth it, if for no other reason than pure catharsis and beer.
Thinking we’d be fashionably late, we arrived about 7pm, only to find we’d truly missed not only the opening local band, but also Blackguard and Swashbuckle! (I think I will catch the former this summer though. Wanna see their drummer in action.) That’s disappointing and next year if Paganfest returns, you can bet I’ll be there when the goddamn doors open this time.
We got in right before Moonsorrow went on. I noticed immediately that the drummer had a mic headset on… very exciting. I wasn’t going to be disappointed, either – at some point everyone in the band contributed vocals except the keyboardist – I never saw him open his mouth. He was busy being very serious and shirtless. But in all seriousness, I liked the songs, which is what really matters, right? I loved the melodies and the way the band brought in vocal harmonies while still being, well, metal. They had good control and the music was dynamic – no plodding or speed hammering. In retrospect I should have bought their cd.
Psyched after that very interesting set, I had my energy built up when Primordial came on. (I was going to say “we” and “our” but thinking back, Jack was probably not as excited as I was at any point in this whole excursion.) Primordial are from Ireland. You know this, because they tell you a few times. The lead singer also tells you to show him your hands. Our hands were requested to be shown approximately 795 times during the set. A note: directing excitement is not the same thing as inspiring it. Anyways, At first I was like “whoah! They are totally breaking out of the mold of regular meter.” But after about the third song I was like “The drummer, he really likes triplets.” and then we sort of sat at the bar and just observed. I think their music was pretty good but something wasn’t jiving between them and the crowd. Jack’s review: “I think they’re too angry.” Perhaps we’re just not angry enough.
Ah, but they gave me time to rest and knock back a few expensive cheap beers to prepare for the main event.
You could feel the crowd getting all keyed up in advance of Korpiklaani taking the stage. I’d tried to listen to their stuff online, but found it inaccessible. That is because the comfort of your own home may not be the right venue. Apparently a smoky sweaty showplace full of drunk people throwing horns is all it takes to go from inaccessible to FUCKING ROCKING THE HOUSE DOWN NO DOUBT. They were on, we were all injuring ourselves with excitement, there was accordion and fiddle and antler. If you feel you could replicate this atmosphere with your imagination and you would enjoy that, go to your music vendor of choice and download “Beer Beer” and “Happy Little Boozer” and try not to hurt yourself too bad.
For authenticity’s sake, I’ve included a picture I took with my iPhone (while jumping around like an idiot) which is terrible. But you can see some pretty fuckin’ amazing photos of european paganfest here as well as some with the lineup we saw here.
The whole production values seemed to have been improved from last year; unless those improvements are all Jaxx’s. It looks like my take on things is not too far off other folks. And just as I felt last year, if I could get right back on that ride I would. I will have to wait another year.
