Ah, Finntroll. One of those bands that you think, "they'll never come here, so hopefully if I go to Sweden (or some other European country) one day I'll be able to catch a show." Imagine my delight when I heard they were coming our way!
I've never been to The Warehouse before, and I imagine, of the three main venues in Calgary, that it is by far the smallest place to go see a show, which is appropriate for Finntroll since I imagine they aren't particularly well known in these parts.
Opening for the touring bands was local pirate metal band, Verbal Deception. I had borrowed one of their CDs and was, needless to say, not particularly impressed, so I was curious but not particularly excited to see them. What a pleasant surprise for me! The music was enjoyable, the singing quiet and unoffensive, and the keyboarding... interesting. During the parts where the harpsicord didn't sound like a small creature being tortured, it added the pirate-y flavor to the songs. The sound, I believe, wasn't set up optimally for them, but they were enjoyable to watch and fun to listen to.
The actual opening band was called Warbringer. As someone who detests thrash metal, I don't have much to say about them. The singer was annoying, and the kick was ruined by the incessant banging on cymbals, etc. That aside, the music wasn't too bad. I think I slept through the first two songs because it was annoying me and I was tired. The set seemed to last 3 days and I was forgetting why I came to the concert in the first place.
So finally Finntroll came out. My first thought was... umm what? Who is that scrawny guy? Where's the big fat scary dude from the Trollhammaren video? Que? Well, if I hadn't known better already, this tiny little man (Vreth), youngest of the group and newest as of 2006 (and the newest album's vocalist), might have been the singer all along. He had a horrendous (in an awesome way) voice and sang all the old songs just as well as I might have expected from the behemoth who used to sing for them.
I've never been to The Warehouse before, and I imagine, of the three main venues in Calgary, that it is by far the smallest place to go see a show, which is appropriate for Finntroll since I imagine they aren't particularly well known in these parts.
Opening for the touring bands was local pirate metal band, Verbal Deception. I had borrowed one of their CDs and was, needless to say, not particularly impressed, so I was curious but not particularly excited to see them. What a pleasant surprise for me! The music was enjoyable, the singing quiet and unoffensive, and the keyboarding... interesting. During the parts where the harpsicord didn't sound like a small creature being tortured, it added the pirate-y flavor to the songs. The sound, I believe, wasn't set up optimally for them, but they were enjoyable to watch and fun to listen to.
The actual opening band was called Warbringer. As someone who detests thrash metal, I don't have much to say about them. The singer was annoying, and the kick was ruined by the incessant banging on cymbals, etc. That aside, the music wasn't too bad. I think I slept through the first two songs because it was annoying me and I was tired. The set seemed to last 3 days and I was forgetting why I came to the concert in the first place.
So finally Finntroll came out. My first thought was... umm what? Who is that scrawny guy? Where's the big fat scary dude from the Trollhammaren video? Que? Well, if I hadn't known better already, this tiny little man (Vreth), youngest of the group and newest as of 2006 (and the newest album's vocalist), might have been the singer all along. He had a horrendous (in an awesome way) voice and sang all the old songs just as well as I might have expected from the behemoth who used to sing for them.
A foggy shot of the singer, Vreth, and his amazing hair.
Interestingly, I noted that the drummer seemed to be very intent on his work. Unlike most drummers, who thrash around and bang their heads, this round, bald man played brilliant kick and amazing drums whilst evidently not moving his body at all. There was a rare and occasional turn of the head slightly to the left, but I was simply blown away by the fact that a drummer, playing like he was, could not move himself at all. I was unaware that this could be done.
The music was lively and fun and as enjoyable as always to listen to. I was particularly pleased, being rather infamiliar with Finntroll's actual songs (sans En Maktig Har and Trollhammaren), that I actually recognised a few songs, like Jaktens Tid and several more whose names I didn't know offhand. Swedish does that you know. The fact that the music, with everyone playing, was clear made it more enjoyable than the din that preceeded it.
Another foggy shot of stage.
So for Finntroll's first appearance in Calgary, I was very impressed with their show. You truly have to respect a band that, even though they're just playing in a small bar, doesn't fail to give the show their everything. I would say that if you're into the whole folk metal bit, take a chance to see Finntroll if they're in your area because you never know when a band like that will be back.
Year: September 2008
Opening bands: Verbal Deception, Warbringer
Who I went with: Michael Widmer, Graham Widmer*, Gianna Romano*
Location: Calgary - The Warehouse
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