OCTOBER 26th 2022
WARDRUNA

Review/Photos by: Char Tupper
http://www.metaltitans.com/concertpics/wardruna/

Tonight, it is time to step back into old Norse history, reconnect with nature and rejoice in the ways of traditional folk music. The mighty Wardruna returns to Vancouver, at the stunning Orpheum Theatre. A beautiful venue, the sound quality within the Orpheum was extremely crisp and clear, the joys of a rich, yet also, historic theatre. This tour is the third,  and "lucky charm" so to speak, as sadly it was announced 2 previous times and had to be postponed due to pandemic reasons. Now tonight, we get to bear witness, to the grand event, that is Norway's own, Wardruna.

As you may know, Wardruna was quite productive during the two year silence in the industry, with a successful livestream event "Kvitravn: First Flight of the White Raven", and of course, their latest record release, "Kvitravn" back in 2021, the band has a lot of new material to perform infront of a live, in-person audience. Speaking of new release, tonight Wardruna opened up with my favourite song from the new record, "Kvitravn", which really got the crowd excited very quickly, with loud cheering and clapping for them. The band had large light coloured curtains that reflected the lights and adding an ambience, almost textured look and experience to their stage show, giving a form of depth to the visual presence. Wardruna, last time I saw them in 2018, was my first time seeing them, and I knew from that moment on, I would be attending their shows when possible, as they may not have mosh pits (as a photographer, that is an extra bonus!), but the amount of devotion and energy the band puts into their performance, is unlike many. They truly commit to the true nature and atmosphere of Nordic traditional music, accompanied with the instruments such as mouth's harp, deer-hyde frame drums, tagelharpe, and various others. The duo of Einar and Lindy is truly whimsical, like being transported back to historic times sitting at a celebratory bonfire. They also played a variety of songs from their discography, like "Solringen", "Isa", "Tyr", as well as new releases "Skugge" and "Gra". The performance was breath taking, one thing that I was in "awe" over, was the crowd response, I have seen enthusiastic fans, but nothing like this in quite a long time. It was so refreshing to see that traditional folk music has such a strong following, and maybe Wardruna will help carve the path to a new realm of live performances in this way, inspire others whom may want to journey down this road, but may have felt "folk music isn't popular enough". Trust me, with how full the Orpheum was, and how well the crowd responded to the performance, folk music is forming a new music trend in the scene.

The encore was so strong, we got two extra tracks, one being, the poetic song of "Snake Pit Poetry", the story of, as Einar says, "rockstar viking", Ragnar Lothbrook (the mysterious legend) as he waited to die in the pit of snakes.  The song was written for the TV show, "Vikings", but the acoustic live performance, was captivating and beautifully performed by Einar as a solo. Overall, the night was phenomenal. If you haven't seen Wardruna live, I strongly encourage it, as there is nothing like it, and you will be mesmerized by this unique experience.



Buy Tickets HERE: https://www.wardruna.com/tour-dates/

WARDRUNA NORTH AMERICAN TOUR - REMAINING DATES:

OCT 29 -Elsinore Theatre- Salem, OR
OCT 30- Elsinore Theatre- Salem, OR
NOV 1- Paramount Theatre- Oakland, CA
NOV 2- The Magnolia- El Cajon, CA
NOV 4 - Orpheum Theatre- Los Angeles, CA
NOV 5- Ikeda Theater- Mesa, AZ
NOV 7- The Complex- Salt Lake City, UT
NOV 8 - Paramount Theatre-Denver, CO
NOV 10- Majestic Theatre- Dallas, TX