NORDIC NIGHT AT AMPHITHEATER GELSENKIRCHEN - A NIGHT TO REMEMBER
[Dajana] With the release of their latest and most successful album, Kvitravn, WARDRUNA wanted to do a very special tour. Well… you know. However, every pandemic comes to an end and lead bands back on stage.
Two weeks after midsummer and a month after the Rock Hard Festival, the NH crew returns to the legendary :: Amphitheater Gelsenkirchen :: to finally celebrate the NORDIC NIGHT.
:: Impressions ::
At splendid weather, more than 5000 fans made their way towards the amphitheater. Many of them in Nordic clothes, others in classic medieval robes. It was quite a motley crowd. Unfortunately, it was tough to get in. A miles long queue went through the park and thus many people missed the opening act LINDY-FAY HELLA. At least, they could hear her. I don't know what went wrong, perhaps too intensive security checks? They opened too late?
Once inside the fans had to face the high pricing for food and drinks (same as Rock Hard Fest: 5 Euro for beer, coke and fanta (0.4) plus 1 Euro deposit). There was plenty of merchandise items (well, the shirt I wanted to buy they did not have), but expensive as well. No nagging helps - I guess we have to get used to it.
[Seb] Hard to say if there were actually more people in attendance than at the RHF a few weeks ago, as everyone had to arrive the same afternoon and there was of course neither a camping ground nor the whole metal fair where people could stroll around. In any case, the Amphitheater was pretty packed and I’d have a hard time to recall when I saw virtually all seats occupied together with a densely filled stage area for the last time.
:: pics :: LINDY-FAY HELLA ::
[Dajana] It is more pleasant to talk about the music, right? Exactly on 6pm and under a blazing sun :: LINDY-FAY HELLA :: entered the stage to open the NORDIC NIGHT.
Back in the days, Wardrunas Einar Selvig hired her on the spot after he attended one of her shows. At this time, she already had made a name herself with her stunning voice and had taken part in many projects. Meanwhile she also pushes her solo career and has released to records: Seafarer in 2019 and Hildring last November, from which she presented her songs in equal parts.
Live on stage LINDY-FAY HELLA was accompanied by her band Dei Farne, except for drummer Sondre Veland, who was replaced by Wardrunas HC Dalgaard.
What a great voice LINDY-FAY HELLA has. She visibly enchanted the auditorium for around 30 minutes. Though, on this big open air stage I found the performance a bit powerless.
[Psycho] My wife and me made it into the arena shortly after the show had begun, though, I guess, one third of the fans were still outside.
That LINDY-FAY HELLA is a stunning singer was, of course, clear to every attendee right from the beginning. So, nothing could have gone wrong in this matter. To see her live I felt here and there reminded of Dead Can Dance, more anyway than on CD. No bad reference at all, although she doesn't need such name dropping. Yes, that was an entertaining first show.
[Seb] That was a really impressive kick-off to our NORDIC NIGHT, especially the opener instantly called up associations of unpopulated, majestic Scandinavian sceneries. I did particularly like the songs that had a distinct focus on LINDY-FAYs voice and would prefer them over the more “electronic” material any day, even though it admittedly added some degree of variety to the set.
A really great voice and a shame that a large portion of the crowd-to-be had little to no chance to listen to her while still being queued up across the entire parking site. But at least they would see her again with the headliner…
Band: Lindy-Fay Hella, Ingolf Hella Torgersen (drums), Roy Ole Førland (keys), HC Dalgaard (drums)
Setlist: Tilarids, Hildring, Insect, Seafarer, Los, Mars
:: pics :: KALANDRA ::
[Dajana] I haven't heard of :: KALANDRA :: before. When I checked them out it got quickly clear why they fit so well to this package, even if it might sound odd that Wardruna invited an Indie Pop band to support them.
[Psycho] Didn't know them either. But you cannot look any hipper these days, can you? ;) I'd say, they played atmospheric and psychedelic Indie Pop/Rock, but it's difficult to really label them. They used a lot of synths and loops but just as a means to an end. Vocally, Katrine couldn't fully hold a candle to her (Wardruna-) colleague Lindy-Fay, although there was nothing to nag about her performance.
To some degree, I missed a bit of structures in the songs but KALANDRA managed to create an atmosphere, lost in reverie and intimate at the same time. As if you would have experienced them play in their Oslo-based rehearsal room.
[Dajana] To be honest, I liked the voice of Katrine even a little bit more ;) Besides, she had somewhat of a witchy attitude, best shown later on with Wardruna on stage.
Funny marginal note: There was a boy who madly fell love with Katrine during the show and then desperately tried to get an autograph from her afterwards. That was cute ;)
Next to tracks from the band's debut album, The Line (2020), we also got one brand new track presented.
[Seb] KALANDRA did fit into the lineup for both visual and lyrical reasons, yet their music is, by no means, what people would usually file under “Nordic”, let alone “Viking”. Dressed differently, the band would probably not raise many eyebrows at your standard Indie-Rock-Festival. I was actually prepared for a no-guitars-at-all evening, and tonight was likely the first time ever that the most (or better only) guitar-reliant band was my least favorite act.
In all fairness towards the band, vocalist and promoters: As far as the pure voice goes, this was still a good fit, just the rest of the music was a tad “too normal”.
Band: Katrine Stenbekk (vox), Jogeir D. Mæland (git), Florian B. Winter (git), Oskar Rydh (drums)
Setlist: The Waiting Game, Naïve, Borders, Virkelighetens Etterklang, Ram (unreleased working title), Ensom, Slow Motion, Brave New World
:: pics :: EIVØR ::
[Dajana] I was especially looking forward to see :: EIVØR :: playing live. I tried several times but it never worked out. Till today. She often is labelled as Björk of the Faroe Islands, which perfectly fits regarding her uniqueness. But I also see a bit of Tori Amos in her, and Adele, even Amy Lee.
EIVØR is also incredibly creative and a hard-working woman. She meanwhile has released 9 records - her latest, Segl, in 2021 - plus EPs, many splits/cooperations, live albums and soundtracks.
What can I say? It was such a stunning show! What a voice! What a presence! Accompanied by her keyboard player Mattias Kapnas, a loop, a ukulele and a tambourine, she presented her songs. Sadly, so sadly, for 35 minutes only. This was, of course, way, WAY too short!
[Psycho] The NORDIC NIGHT was, strictly speaking, a singing event. Of course, no competition, but if you would follow this thought, EIVØR would have been the winner. Vocally, she is extremely varied and strongly expressive. Additionally she shined with a mighty stage presence and awesome, emotionally performed tracks.
Yes, the comparison to Björk can be often read but live I felt rather reminded of Kate Bush. Both comparisons EIVØR bears without any problems. The fact that there were only two (excellent) musicians on stage with only a few electronics made the experience even more intensive. Unfortunately, the show was way too fast over again. I would have loved to see more of EIVØR.
[Seb] Before EIVØR was able to impress me with heir stunning voice, my first thought was of the “muppet show”: By turns deeply hunched over his instrument or with his entire torso frantically swinging back and forth, EIVØRs keyboarder/synth player bore a striking resemblance to “animal”, haha.
Apart from that, I can only subscribe to the praises of Dajana (who had entered full fan girl mode by the time she came back from the photo pit) and Psycho. This lady is not only extremely talented but on top blessed with an effortlessly impressive stage presence. How many of her emotions actually go into the songs was very obvious, especially during her “love ballad” to the Northern Seas Salt and the final song Trøllabundin, which she performed on her own with only the frame drum as supporting instrument.
In my opinion, the decision to give her only the same 30-minute-slot as the other supports is slightly puzzling, both EIVØR and the audience deserved more and I am pretty sure that the following stage rearrangements could have been done somewhat quicker.
Band: Eivør Pálsdóttir, Mattias Kapnas
Setlist: Gullspunnin, Silvitni, Salt, Tides, True Love, Lívstræðrir (Soundtrack), Trøllabundin
:: pics :: WARDRUNA ::
[Dajana] What was meant to be an anniversary tour of ten years Runaljod – Gap Var Ginnunga, could now be the postponed release show for Kvitravn, or an early celebration of the band's 20th anniversary. However you turn it, finally we got to see :: WARDRUNA ::. There was a faint hope that Eivør and Einar would sing a duet. Wouldn't have been the first time, but no, unfortunately it did not happen.
[Psycho] Despite the great support acts, it was now clear for whom all the fans came for: Einar Selvik. It almost appeared to me like a personality cult. A bit odd to me. Seems like WARDRUNA were able to extend their fan-base massively during the pandemic, which might be due to the clever media presence.
There might be some talking about a hype around the band (tonight's attendees surely won't do so) but after this show those suspicions would have found an end in a twinkling of an eye. WARDRUNA focused on their music only, shone with musicianship and gave us the creeps with every song. Compared to some of the band's live streams, Einars voice did not stay dominantly in the foreground this time. That was no disadvantage; much more, it amplified the atmosphere.
Of course, some electronics were used too but as Einar said in one of the two announcements, he did so to transform the music from the past to the present to keep it for the people. Yes, so they did, truly impressive.
[Seb] While there was no backdrop in use for the first three acts (as far as I know, due to concerns with winds, even though there wasn’t any of note), it was finally lifted up for WARDRUNA. And it would have been a shame if it hadn’t been possible, as the light show, little shadow plays and short video clips/effects, albeit simple, added a lot to the show’s atmosphere.
WARDRUNA opened the show with the hypnotic, sinister fiddle and drum sounds of Kvitravn (the title track of the 2021 album). Over the course of the evening, a vast array of historic instruments (frame drums, lyre and lur, mouth harp and tagelharp, goat horns as well as war horns and some more), would be brought to use, often playing an important or even leading role in “their” respective song.
What could be called the center piece or “main event” of the evening was of course Einars somber and strikingly beautiful rendition of the famed poem/song Voluspá, only accompanied by his own lyre. Right after this, Tyr finally saw the large war horns in action before blending over to my second favorite number of the set: Lindy-Fay started calmly to something like “raindrop sounds”, followed by alternating solo parts by her and Einar (with the spotlights changing between the two of them as the sung) before finally culminating in a fulminant duet.
Unfortunately, it took almost half the show until it became somewhat dark, so that the simple, yet impactful stage effects could be well and truly appreciated during the final songs only. At one point, at the horns-driven UruR (making it almost a full circle to the opener) the stage appeared to be covered with pulsing embers, while during Rotlaust tre fell the clever use of smoke und flashing lights, along with the thunderous music, created the illusion of a Norse thunderstorm or a wild hunt.
After little more than one hour and to standing ovations, Einar took to his first announcement. Even though he did sneak in a bit of humor (“I might do Britney spears” towards a fan with a rather eccentric suggestion for an encore), most of his words were both sincere and emotional. After addressing some rather general topics (e.g. acknowledgment of their team as well as some observations regarding the current and miserable state of the world, concisely summarized as “the world is a mess”), Einar talked about how important music and especially singing used to be in the olden days and still should be today in everyone’s lives (“singing is medicine”), and how both can help to deal with death, loss and grief, leading over to the first encore: Helvegen, a long and moving tune dealing with these topics. Of course, one encore wasn’t enough for the frantically cheering crowd, and thus Einar returned alone for one final extra. Ormagardskvedi (Snake Pit Poetry), despite the grim lyrics a hauntingly beautiful song about the end of Ragnar Lodbrok (Einar did not only write music for the Vikings series, he also noted upfront, that the lyrics of Norse battle poems make average Black Metal lyrics appear as tales for toddlers…).
Unfortunately, the regulations at the venue did not allow for anything more, and a fantastic concert concluded on a high note. I have to admit that I did not know exactly what I’d be getting into with WARDRUNA as I’d never seen them live before, but one thing’s for certain: As soon as they’re back anywhere in my range, I’ll be going to watch them again. Great show!
[Dajana] I agree! This was for sure one of these concerts you will never forget. Truly a night to remember!
Band: Einar Selvik, Lindy-Fay Hella, Arne Sandvol, Eilif Gundersen, HC Dalgaard, John Stenersen, Katrine Stenbekk
Setlist: Kvitravn, Skugge, Solringen, Bjarkan, Heimta Thurs, Raido, Lyfjaberg, Voluspá (Einar solo), Tyr, Isa, UruR, Grá, Rotlaust tre fell, Fehu, Odal // Helvegen // Snakepit Poetry (Einar solo)
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