KORPIKLAANI AT SALA SANTANA 27 IN BILBAO, SPAIN
On the 1st of march the “Wayfarer & Warriors Tour” made its first stop in Bilbao, and surprisingly the following concerts were in Malaga, Murcia and Zaragoza. Not a chance this time for Madrid or Barcelona, which is pretty unusual, but nothing to complain from my side.
Opening the night we had Trollfest, presenting “Norwegian Fairytales”, their new album. They were all dressed in princess costumes, except from the singer, who wore a massive balloon hat, setting their intentions from the beginning. Every theme they played was like a big party, telling the crowd to jump, make circle pits and even a big conga, that went out of the building with half of the assistants. Half an hour of continuous fun and but also of great music.
Then there was the turn for Turisas, which is supposed to be the second main group, but in my opinion their performance was the best of the three bands. I am not saying that Korpliklaani did not a good job, but Turisas were the real big thing that night. With a powerful epic metal, the change from the more folk style metal from Trollfest was clear. Caitlin de Ville, not the usual main violinist, was on fire the whole concert. Incredible solos and no one could notice that she joined the band some months before. The front-man, Mathias Nygard, added his experience and charisma, resulting in a perfect symbiosis with the crowd.
Korpliklaani entered the stage to close the night, starting with lots of sound problems, that ruined the show a little bit. Good performance overall, but nothing spectacular. I had the feeling that they were uncomfortable and the crowd also noticed it. But in the end they manage to close the concert with “Beer Beer” and “Vodka”, two themes that got a great reaction, and at least made the people go back home satisfied.
Iosu Apraiz is a spanish photographer based in Bilbao. Whether at a live show or hiking in the mountains he always brings his camera with him to capture the moment.