I went with L and Kate to see Paganfest Jr. - featuring Eluveitie, Tyr, and Metsatöll at the Baltimore soundstage (~$20). I will say that I was not expecting nearly the crowd that was there. I saw so many people- Dan Paytas, Megan, Ethan, Kris, Jen P, Erika,Scott, Bridget, Kris, Russ, Sarah and Evan, Lex, Dorothy, Ariel y Ilem, Nathan with a J, Daniel G w/ Ben, Inga, and Sean, Greekgirl, Brittany,Larry and his brother, Lynn,Robin and Jennifer and Gat, and maybe someone else. Kevin, Victoria, and Jason were there too, but I didn't see them in the throng. Oh and that's only the people I KNOW, because there were like 700+ people there. Also this was the first night of the Origins North American tour! apparently this was
a sold out show, as Eluvietie just posted it.
WE ARE HELVETICAS
As we were walking to Soundstage close to 7:45, I noticed a line of people around the corner to it. I was perplexed. We also saw Chrigel Glanzmann (vocals for Eluveitie) in the darkness smoking or something as we were walking. Maybe we should have bothered him, but it looked like he wanted some time to himself. We made our way and discovered there were 2 lines (1 w/ tickets, 1 to buy/willcall). It was pretty crazy! There were a couple girls who looked to me like the
Folk Metal Butcher Babies (tho more covered up and probably able to write way better songs).
Call it Paganfest Jr.
We made it in a little after 8 to an already packed Soundstage. This was the most full I've ever seen it. The back bar area was open and full of people. There were lines for everything- to get in, to get merch, for beer, for the ATM, but thankfully not one for the restroom (which was sans attendant this evening somehow!). Then, at 8:05 Metsatoll started! A little later than advertised, but I was glad because there were people still in line, waiting to get tickets and get in! I def was glad we didn't miss anything.
Eluveitie Shirts, they had a hoodie and other stuff too
Some Tyr and metsatoll Merch
Merchandise wise, you should just look at the
pictures. There was tons of
merch- shirts for $25, Hoodies for an exorbitant $50, CDs for $10- 20, depending on which one, keychains, pendants, patches, the Tyr Bikini( $30), flags, and some caps. WHEW. I got a stack of CDs, including Anna Murphy's solo debut. I don't even know if I have enough words to discuss all the merchandise present and overflowing for the first night!
And now our next song..... ???
Metsatoll I unfortunately didn't get to enjoy as much as I wanted to, as I was getting acclimated to the tons of people- friends and otherwise, and checking out the merch (or trying to!). I did hear them play at least one song I know I've heard before, but I was pretty worthless recognizing songs- I think people mentioned that there were a couple new songs. I think it was a bit odd that I was picking up a stack of Metsatoll CDs, but could not really recognize any of their songs (by name). I thought they sounded pretty good, but not nearly loud enough. The crowd seemed pretty stationary for them as well, which I thought was odd, as they have a very good vibe (tho a very different one from the other bands on this build). I am not sure how the set compared to
last time. It was interesting to me that these Estonians have been on several tours that I've seen.
Take my Tyrant! or unblurry foto. Whichever
Tyr from the Faroe Islands was up next, and they had a pretty great reaction, nice and loud. People were pitting on several songs as well (a bit odd, but I can allow it for a couple). The silly My Little Pony (Friendship is Metal) song "Mare of My Night" got a surprisingly good reaction. They played 4 songs from their new one, and most of the songs I am pretty sure I've heard before live
before, apart from "Grindavísan." So they could have switched that up a bit more, but I know they are trying to promote that new album and how can you NOT play "...Heathen Hammer...?" Tyr was having some sound issues intermittently, and the bassist had no volume on his mic, and he kept on motioning it for the sound people to turn it up! Otherwise, Tyr sounded pretty great and the energy was flowing.
Bonus pic: SO MUCH MERCH
The pit had some interesting things going on, kilts, the girl in the extremely short skirt and thigh high fishnets, no less than 3 lost shoes, several very drunken people, pagans of all sorts, various leather armour, and of course one guy who threw up in the large trash can by the back at the end of the night. Only the wasted guy in the baseball shirt seemed to be trouble, everyone else was pretty well behaved. There were more than a few foot injuries reported from pit activities, however, so that really sucks. Some guys were also talking about Maryland Deathfest. There were mostly white people, but there were a fair number of brown people.
After Tyr there was a little bit of an exodus. I don't think people really left, they must have bunched up near the front instead. But as I was walking around a bit at the end, people seemed more spaced out than before and I felt like I could breathe more. The set times list I saw at the soundboard indicated that Metsatoll (8- 8:30), Tyr (8:45- 9:45) and Eluveitie (10:10-11:40), but Metsatoll got 10 more minutes, Tyr had 10 less, and Eluveitie had ~5 more. Interesting. I'm not sure if this will be how other dates go as well.
MUCH ENERGY
Swiss band
Eluveitie arrived on stage to to pretty thundering applause. I was stuck by how clear the harsh vocals were for the first half of the show. The vocalist's introductions to songs started out loud and grr then he would basically whisper the song title, which I found annoying. There were like 8 people on stage, but my focus was on Chirgel, Anna Murphy (vox, Hurdy Gurdy), and Nicole Ansperger (Violin, some vox). There were also drummer, 2 guitars, bass, and additional folk musician. It seemed very crowded up on stage, to say the least! The crowd didn't seem as mobile as they had for Tyr until the third song, and then things picked up. The crowd was very much into it, and everything (band AND crowd) sounded way louder than they had 20 minutes before. They sounded a bit muddier near the end, but once I went to the back bar area, things were a bit clearer.
Think I managed to get everyone in this one
Setlist wise (still working on it), they played most of their new album (10+ tracks), and some of their 'hits' ("Iris Mona," "...Epona"). We were given the choice of hearing the "Call of the Mountain" in English (4 votes) or their Swiss-German language that they speak. So that was different. At some points it was a little too Renn Fair with whatever woodwinds or flutes or whatever Cherigel was playing, but things evened out in the end. For "Thousandfold," they tried to announce it as a 'sing along,' but I didn't hear much crowd participation vocally. "Iris Mona" was a better choice for that. Cherigel was very intense with his performance, and reminded me a little bit of the Mikael Stanne from Dark Tranquility. Anna's vocals were good, but on "Vianna" I think the sound was cutting in and out a little bit, which almost ruined one of my favourites from the new album.
Finally one of some other ppl in the band
Overall, a pretty great show, I was very surprised by all the people- next time, these guys will probably hit the Fillmore, as that is a larger place. A very great turnout for Baltimore Soundstage, heavy music, and folk metal!
next show: Coheed and Cambria
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Setlists
Metsatoll ( 8:05- 8:45)
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ? twangy
- ? old song
- ? Estonians making beer? tyrants
- ?
- ?
- ?together
Tyr (9- 9:50)
- Blood of Heroes
- Tróndur Í Gøtu
- Mare of My Night
- Regin Smidur
- Hold the Heathen Hammer High
- Grindavísan
- By the Sword in my Hand
- Lady of the Slain
- Shadow of the Swastika
Eluveitie (10:20- 11:54)
- Origins
- Nameless
- From Darkness
- Celtos
- ?
- Thousandfold
- Virunus
- De Ruef vo de Bärge (Call of the Mountain (in their Swiss language))
- Slania's Song
- Iris Mona
- Inception
- Vianna
- ?kill first son (Luxtos?)
- A Rose for Epona
- Havoc
- Ogmios
- Carry the Torch
-
- Helviotos
- ? (Omnos?)
- King
Note: someone has a similar set
here too, may need to revisit the order
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