Concert Reviews - Finntroll

Wooo! Did I ever get to see Finntroll again the other night.

They were playing a small show before their gig at Sauna Open Air up in Tampere the day after, so I went with a couple of friends who also love Finntroll.

Some strange band called Draugnim opened up for them. They were dressed heavily in cloaks/robes and mail and whatnot. I had never heard of them before. They looked pretty metal. The music was fine and the vocals were fine... in theory, however, it was rather boring. If you've read any of my other reviews, you know I have a big problem with monotonous sound. The music was okay and sort of folky, which is good, but still, just sort of droned on after a while and I lost interest in it after 3 songs or so. Considering all the shitty bands that have opened in other shows I've seen in the last year or two though, this one wasn't terrible by comparison.

And then there's Finntroll. I met Vreth (the singer) at the merch table and chatted with him for a while before the gig got going. I'm not sure why but I sort of expected him to be a bit stuck up but he was actually quite friendly. Their merch was all on sale, from anywhere from 5-15 euros, which is an absurdly cheap price, especially in Finland. This was apparently because they didn't really have any merch for the show so they just grabbed whatever they could find... turned out it was all old tour stuff from around 2004 and on some of the shirts, they didn't even play most of the gigs because they were cancelled. He was nice to chat with and took a couple pictures with Garance and I (unfortunately I looked like hell in both of them :P but oh well) and then we went to watch the opening.

Finntroll's show was fantastic. Vreth came out with his crazy stick-finger glove that always amuses me (and never seems to leave on for more than one song, which doesn't surprise me). We were right up front so it was great to be right up there, unlike their other show, which I saw from about 20 meters back, behind the mosh pit. The set list was excellent and the performance was fantastic. I could have been happier if I could hear some more of the keyboardists but that is a very small complaint.

I am always happy to hear Trollhammaren, En Mäktig Här, and several others, but the real highlight of this show was the last song they played, off Visor Om Slutet (their acoustic EP), Forsvinn Du Som Lyser... one of the most ecstacy-inducing songs you could possibly imagine, played way faster than normal, and I wanted to jump and dance around like a maniac when I heard it.

So, Finntroll has yet to fail me live, with a spectacular performance each time. I definitely wouldn't pass up another chance to see them!




Year: June 2009
Opening bands: Draughnim
Who I went with: Garance Bascle, Teemu Maarela, Marc Taylor, Marc's two friends, Antti and ?
Location: Helsinki - Virgin Oil Co.

Concert Reviews - Finntroll

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.

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