Keep on Galloping: A Night at Paganfest (sort of)
May 13th, 2009 by Price
So last week, I was back in NYC for a week-long trip of debauchery and some good music, beginning on Monday night with the Paganfest. We were pretty pumped for this show, as it provided a nice even mix of pirate, viking, and folk metal. However, as usual, we were only able to make it for the closing act.
Why? Mainly because of mine and Vincent’s propensity for alcohol, and general bad timekeeping. That being said, I’m not sure how much more of the madness I could have taken beyond one ridiculous metal band. That band was Korpiklaani, and the mixture of metal and pure joy of being alive almost blew my mind away.
I think singing about booze, having bits of dead animal on stage, and being signed to Nuclear Blast records make you pretty damn metal. And just bizarre, which makes a perfect fit for us.
Korpiklaani is the only band I have ever friended on Facebook. That is no lie.
These guys were not only amazing musicians, but in general had fantastic stage presence and attitudes, regardless of the rather small crowd size. How can you NOT have a good time though, when you have an accordion player in your band, and a bass player that looks like a dwarf straight out of a Tolkien tale.
Most importantly, these guys sing about things we can relate too: beer, drinking, galloping through the woods, and saving the trees. Mainly those first two things, but how can you not get down with the latter two either? They have songs entitled “Vodka” and “Beer Beer”. I mean come on people, can we get a Grammy here sometime soon?
Sadly, they did not perform our favorite song, Keep on Galloping:
The show still kicked ass. As much as I can remember. A few more pics for you:
Tags: beer beer, concert, korpiklaani, paganfest, vodka