Pagan Fest USA - Review and Pics

Subject: Pagan Fest USA - Review and Pics Fri May 16, 2008 3:57 pm

Well, it was a good day. Me and my preacher took off at 9:00 AM for Ft. Worth to hit cd shops, guitar shops, whatever....before the show.

The website said "doors open at 8:00 PM" so we finally arrive at about 7:25 or so and sit in the car till a little after 8:00. We eat some food and listen to Ensiferum and chat. We walk into the venue and give our ID's to the will-call window JUST AS ELUVEITIE WAS FINISHING THEIR SET???!?!?!?!?! angry

I'm trying not to get bent out of shape and be an a$$ so I give the lady owner of the joint some crap. We came all the way from Abilene and one of the bands I want to see it Eluveitie. She just lamely apologizes and shrugs. Man, I couldn't believe it.

So, deep breath. I need to relax and enjoy the rest of what's going on.

We go in and Tyr is setting up. Tyr is a viking-ish band and fits the mold. Their set is 4 songs long. Nothing Earth-shattering, but they play a tight set. Their anthemic closing number was about some hammer. Good stuff, if nothing memorable.

Turisus is next. Now we're getting down to business.

Out they come dramatically dressed for battle!!

Turisas were incredible! Great fun. I didn't know how they would pull their sound of live. They did it perfectly. Between their tight musicianship and their awesome soundman this was the best sounding show I'd ever heard. Every vocal and instrument stood out in stark contrast to each other. The fiddle/violin player and the accordian chick played so skillfully that my buddy and I stood amazed. This was the first concert I've been to where I thought the live sound was BETTER than the studio sound. They had no keys, but the accordian seemed to perfectly take the place of any keys used on The Varangian Way.

Most of their set was from The Varangian Way and they ended with Battle Metal (which seems to be their signature song). The lead singer was hilarious and really good with the crowd. My buddy is mostly into US bands and remarked at how much crowd interaction/fun the Euro bands had. His English was clearly accented but very proficient. Someone had supplied the band with Coors and he kept drinking it and saying "what is this F*#*## S*#*@? Water, I should just drink water. This is piss!" The crowd of Texans ate it up. Someone offered up a Shiner's Bock and he seemedo think it was a little better. Worthy, at least of the drinking song they exploded into.

Their cheesy war paint and dress was right up my alley. They were clearly having fun and gave a good show. Tight as a drum and my favorite set of the night, not that the next band dissapointed though.

Ensiferum! A band I love, and greatly enjoy all of their material. Their "get up" was a little more subdued, kilt type garb and some face paint.

These guys were tight! I thought Turisas had the better overall show, but these guys played faster, much more technical music with constant solos and the twin-axes were in perfect union. The vocals were in that "blackened-power" vein and well executed in the live setting. Not once did the vocalist seem to be out of his element.

Ensiferum didn't have the stage presence of Turisas. They weren't quite as animated and the crowd interaction, although present, was more low key. However, they were there as headliners and they gave an hour of tight, speedy metal. Their set was a nice mix of all their albums. They played most of their "best" (if they had a "best of") and afterwards I think you were left wanting a little more, but not exhausted and ready to leave. Perfect, really.

Their keyboardist did a good job with the atmosphere and her skills allowed them to do a good job reproducing the sound of their albums faithfully. The soundman (likely the same person) continued his superb job as every sound was distinct. No muddiness or aweful feedback to speak of. None. At no point was there reason to cringe or wonder if something could have been different.

Overall, depsite the Eluveitie fiasco, it was a very good day/night and I'm glad I went. For once I went with someone instead of alone and that made it all the better. I spent WAY TOO much money on the day and will be "in the red" for the next 6 months, but I'll have memories for decades. Well spent.

On a side note some dude came up to me and said (refering to the shirt I was wearing) "Is that Ultimatum, the Christian Thrash band from Albequerque?" I said "Yeah!" He said he used to live there and seen Ultimatum live a few times. Pretty cool little tidbit.
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Metal master Age : 40 Joined : 17 Feb 2007 Posts : 865

Great pictures Scott!!!
Glad you had a good time, great line up...
Too bad you missed Eluveitie, read somewhere that they were the highlight of the whole Pagan party.........
just kidding

Out of curiosity, how well known are Nordic bands like this in US? And how was the crowd?
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Subject: Re: Pagan Fest USA - Review and Pics Fri May 16, 2008 7:13 pm

A few hundred people. Not great, but for the USA and for this particular venue it's not bad. Those who ARE there are hard core and true fans, very familiar with the bands and material.

I saw Sonata Arctica at the same venue in Sept. and the crowd was about the same, maybe a little more.

I saw Dragonforce in Summer 2006 and the place was packed, maybe 1000 people, but they were on the Ozzfest tour and were known because of that. They had a day off and was able to headline their own show.
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Subject: Re: Pagan Fest USA - Review and Pics Sat May 17, 2008 4:25 am

Cool pics Scott,sounds like it was a great show.

Subject: Re: Pagan Fest USA - Review and Pics Sat May 17, 2008 5:38 am

Right on. Nice report. I love Tyr. Those choruses are just so damn catchy. I mean, how can you not get hooked on this?

Love that tune! No idea what they're saying, but I sing along like I do! Haha.
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Metal master Age : 42 Joined : 23 Feb 2007 Posts : 622

Nice review and really cool pictures. I wished I could have been on that tour as well. The event was also in Europe earlier this year, but somehow I did not manage to get there. Thanks Scott for sharing your impressions.

Subject: Re: Pagan Fest USA - Review and Pics Sat May 17, 2008 3:35 pm

Ghost, it was very good. I make sure and go out of my way to see the Euro bands as they just don't make it around very often. I want to do my part to welcome them and encourage them to come back!
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