A RIP-ROARING, DRUNKEN, FUN TIME AT PAGANFEST
Thursday, May 29th, 2008 at 1:25pm by Vince Neilstein
The sense of community at the final stop of Paganfest USA — featuring Ensiferum, Turisas, Tyr, and Eluveitie — was unbelievable. These kinds of bands attract a very specific type of metal fan; perhaps a tad nerdier, weirder and a smidge smarter than the average bunch. After all, anyone who goes to watch a bunch of grown men dressed in fur loin cloths and full body-makeup play European folk songs in metal form can’t take their metal too seriously. But everyone in attendance at the sold out show at New York City’s BB King’s was there to fucking get down. Sadly I didn’t see any viking hats, but everyone had their beer steins raised high and kept them there all night long. There was a palpable feeling of excitement in the room — separate from the very obvious mass drunkenness — and everyone there was enjoying the hell out of these excellent bands in the most primal way. Excited chants of “hey! hey! hey! hey!” along with the beat, and fervent chants of each band’s name in unison were prevalent all night long. In short, the inaugural run of Paganfest was absolutely fucking awesome. This was one of the most fun metal shows of the year by far. After all, isn’t it supposed to be fun?
Highlights of the night for me were Eluveitie and Turisas. Eluveite, whose singer rocked a skullet that rivals Devin Townsend’s, featured a hurdy gurdy player, among other atypically metal instruments like a flute and violin. How the fuck does that thing work? No one could explain it to me. Eluveitie’s songs are so straight-forward and catchy that even someone who had never heard them before could get into the show. I’m hoping for another run so I can bring MetalGF. Turisas came out dressed in full body-makeup, with alternating red and black stripes diagonally covering every exposed area of skin. Their songs were just as jovial and care-free as Eluveitie’s. I’ve never seen an accordion rocked so hard.
By the time Ensiferum came on I was too swashbuckled to give you an accurate account of what went on; but I have vague memories of chugging beer and yelling “hey! hey!” at the top of my lungs, ad nauseam.
A fine fucking night indeed. I can’t wait for Paganfest 2.0 – MetalSucks will be there loud and proud.
-VN
Great show indeed, raping and pillaging all around – I even enjoyed Tyr, who I’ve never heard before. Each set was excellent. Hope you guys definitely sponsor another one of these tours.
I was at the Raleigh, NC show, and it was definitely a good. Time, Eluviete impressed me, despite the fact that I’d never heard them before. Tyr played well, but were a bit boring on stage. Turisas, now there’s a great band. They even took turns wearing a viking hat and using a hammer someone in the crowd tossed them. Ensiferum (as much as I love them) just didn’t do it for me, especially after Battle Metal at the end of Turisas’ set.
Having Metalsucks review Paganfest is somewhat akin to Blabbermouth reviewing a Roadrunner Records release, no?
Hell yeah! That show was awesome. I just kept wanting to get more beer and hold it above my head while chanting. Turisas is my gf’s new favorite band and she had never heard of them before that night. Can’t wait for 2.0!
DAMN this souned like an awesome show. those bands are all fun as fuck!!now… if only Gwar played this show as well…
[...] Below, check out Turisas stealing the show with their rendition of “Rasputin.” Then head over to Metal Injection for more super duper sweet clips of Ensiferum, Eluveitie, and Tyr. And don’t forget to check out Vince’s recap of the night’s shenanigans! [...]
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[...] of this year’s pagan/folk metal festival Paganfest will tell you that it was positively one of the best, most fun concerts of the year so far (see also: live footage!). And anyone not smoking crack (and perhaps a few that do) will tell you [...]
Fuck… I missed Eluviete because they skipped out on the Canadian shows.
Oh well, at least I’ll be able to catch them when Kataklysm rolls into town again! Hahahahaha!
[...] you miss Paganfest, aka the best tour of 2008? Fret not, for Turisas, the highlight of the bill, are releasing a DVD that brings you back… [...]
[...] don’t know about you kids, but the inaugural run of Paganfest USA was the most fun I had at a show all year in 2008. Turisas, Ensiferum, Eluveitie and Tyr absolutely killed it, and the entire room was pumping their [...]