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korpiklaani IMG 1850CK A2, Wroclaw, Poland
20th March 2019
Korpiklaani - “Wayfarers and Warriors” Tour 2019 - Support: Turisas, Trollfest

A fair dose of laughter, positive energy, strong sonic kicks, loads of fantastic sounds, sense of humour and sharp music blast - does it sound like a description of a Metal concert? Well, even if it doesn’t I must say the best I got from Wroclaw part of “Wayfarers and Warriors” tour was a huge amount of joy and endorphins. Three bands - KORPIKLAANI, TURISAS and TROLLFEST - played four concerts in Poland in March (Gdansk, Warsaw, Cracow and Wroclaw) and the combined Norway-Finland Folk / Power Metal attack on the city was a huge success. 


Trollfest

The band to open the night was TROLLFEST. The Norwegian formation who play Folk Metal was founded in 2003 - their name says a lot about the content of their music and lyrics. They released seven studio albums so far, the last one of 2019 is entitled ‘Norwegian fairies’. http://www.trollfest.com / https://www.facebook.com/trollfestofficial

Music & Performance
I had never seen the band before so it was quite a shock to see the musicians entering the stage decorated with balloons. Entering... that’s not really the right word, I should use rushing in, flying in, dancing into instead. Well, imagine my face on seeing the parade of bearded fairies wearing eye-sore pink-blue colours, daring make-up and lavish jewellery. Not sure which one had better legs or image, but I must say it was quite a view! To say I could not take my eyes of them would not be enough!

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The stage was a spectacle of colours, movement, energy and fantastic music. The costumes obviously caught the eye (e.g. hard not to see the huge crown made of balloons Jostein Austvik was wearing, balloons flying everywhere for the audience to play with or shining lipsticks, flashy make-up and dresses), but the other, even more important part of the concert was the most magnificent interaction between the musicians and the audience. Rarely do I see such an outburst of positive energy, crazy antics, the musicians playing and fooling around with such a joy and attitude. It really takes a lot of distance and sense of humour to play and look the way they do. At some point Øyvind Bolt Strönen Johannesen dived into the crowd and let the audience carry him back to the stage. There was also a chanting procession with more than half of the audience that was led by him all over the club.

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And the sit-ups the audience was engaged to perform and the hugging moshpit etc... As you can see the audience had no time to get bored. I enjoyed every minute of the show and the energetic music being a combination of raging guitars and abundance of instruments - drums, accordion, saxophone and bass. I do not now really how to describe the music, it was definitely cooked upon metal base but everything else added to the soup called TROLLFEST is a mysterious list of ingredients - they call it themselves True Norwegian Balkan Black Metal and indeed you may hear all spices there - Folk, progressive, black, pirate, harsh and even sea shanty. It’s diversified, crazy and extremely powerful and dynamic. I must say it was an amazing show, bravo!

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Setlist
01. Fjøsnissens fjaseri
02. Kjettaren mot strommen
03. Toxic (Britney Spears cover)
04. Steel Sarah
05. Illsint
06. De tre bukkene Berusa
07. Kaptein Kaos
08. Professor Otto
09. Solskinnsmedisin
10. Espen Bin Askeladden
11. Helvetes hunden garm

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 10
Sound: 10
Light: 8
Total: 9.3 / 10

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Turisas

The next band offered a darker, more powerful facet of Metal music. TURISAS who are located in Finland represent FOLK METAL and POWER METAL. The band was formed in 1997, they have four studio albums, on their account, numerous tours and fans all over the world. They get their inspiration from Folk, Metal, Symphonic and Power Metal, Finnish and Nordic mythology. Their most recent album is entitled ‘Turisas2013’. http://www.turisas.com / https://www.facebook.com/turisas

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Music & Performance
The performance of TURISAS was, as I already mentioned, a total shift in mood and atmosphere. Even though the music presented was extremely powerful, it offered a profound, more serious tone to it and as such it evoked different reactions in comparison to the previous band. It was a spectacle of expressive mimicry, make-ups, lights, smoke and the most marvellous display of violin virtuoso presented by exceptional Cailtlin de Ville, who accompanied the band during the tour. The most spectacular moments were the music duels between guitars and violin, or Caitlin playing solo, standing on stage on her own in the flood of most amazing lights.

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It was extremely powerful show, a real feast of metal power and scenic dynamism. As an encore the members of the band play some songs while sitting in half-circle, paying instruments which was definitely quite a treat for fans. Strong, wild, rich sonic journey.

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 10
Light: 10
Total: 9.3 / 10

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Korpiklaani

The headliner for the night was, of course, KORPIKLAANI. The Finnish Folk Metal band was formed in 2003 in Lahti. Their last album of 2018 is entitled ‘Kulkija’. http://korpiklaani.com / https://www.facebook.com/korpiklaani

Music & Performance
By all means one could sense KORPIKLAANI had been impatiently awaited for - the applause of the audience when they finally entered the stage was deafening. No surprise; they are extremely popular in Poland and whenever on tour they visit to play at least one show. Instrumental richness, vivid scenic movement, dynamism and joy - yet again we were given a shift in mood, back to joy, energy and crazy play with sounds.

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KORPIKLAANI music is a combination of diversified sounds, characteristic vocal of Jonne Järvelä and melodious, fast paced lines seasoned with crazy tempo beat. Controlled chaos, amazing atmosphere and mastery in operating the changing speed - all those elements contribute to a great scenic effect they achieve whenever they play. Focussed on interactions with audience, manifesting joy and energy, they manage to engage their fans in their shows. The stage was a field for great lights spectacle that created a magical, a bit mysterious atmosphere and most amazing music. A combination of Folk, Metal, but also elements inspired by traditional Finnish music, dancy, energetic Humppa that gets its unique tint also thanks to a great input by Jaakko Lemmetty’s violin and Sami Perttula’s accordion is as ravishing and heart-touching.

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“Wayfarers and Warriors” Tour was a fine feat for Metal music fans - three bands that line-up for the tour offered a rich variety of metal sounds taking us to the journey through various soundscapes oscillating for joyous and vivacious to mysterious, magical, dark and powerful. Thank you!

Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Sound: 10
Light: 10
Total: 10 / 10

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All pictures by Karo Kratochwil

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