For the third time already?! And indeed, less than two years have passed since the Finnish band's first visit. And here they are in moscow again.
The band formed in 2003 on the basis of the previously existing SHAMAN. Keyboards were replaced with accordion and violin. In 2005, serious lineup changes occurred — only the violinist and accordionist survived from the original formation. The lyrics became English-language (though the third KORPIKLAANI album was already half in Finnish, and the fourth, due out in June, is almost entirely in Finnish again). One of the first concerts in the updated lineup took place in September 2005 at moscow's Relax; the number of people practically made it impossible to be there — it was incredibly, nightmarishly hot — yet this had absolutely zero effect on the concert's quality or the musicians' boundless positivity. In May 2006, they returned, this time performing at Tochka and presenting their already third album. It was only natural that, after almost a year, one of the European folk bands most beloved by the russian public visited us once more.
While previous visits featured several opening acts, this time only st. petersburg's TROLL GNET YEL warmed up for the Finns — for the third time. TGE played about 40 minutes; everything was as usual. An enthusiastic reaction to TGE from the audience is, at this point, a rather rare phenomenon, since the band plays moscow far too often and, by and large, always the same way. A sizable portion of Tochka's visitors during the st. petersburg band's set was frankly loitering at the bar, "preparing" for KORPIKLAANI's performance.
TGE's set concluded, and the hall had already accumulated quite an impressive number of people — all quite cheerful and upbeat. Well, the entire hall awaited Jonne and his band. At the press conference, the musicians looked more than calm and a bit tired, but when they appeared onstage, every trace of that apparent lethargy vanished. Once again, this amazing sextet stood before moscow's eyes. The most jovial drummer, Matson, took his place. On one side of the stage, the band's most serious member — the almost-never-smiling violinist Hittavainen, who also handles bagpipes, and guitarist Cane, the tallest member of the group, somewhat reminiscent of a cowboy. Opposite them, the stockily built, shirtless-to-the-waist accordionist Juho, and silver-bearded bassist Jarkko. And in the center — hardly needs saying who. Naturally, in the center: a microphone and reindeer antlers. I don't think I forgot anything. Quite an unorthodox touch, you'll agree. No, wait — I did forget someone... Apparently, this particular band member radiates such an amount of energy, positivity, and incredible drive that you even forget about him, because talking about him is superfluous — KORPIKLAANI IS him. So, center stage, armed with a guitar and the aforementioned antlered mic stand — the founder and permanent leader of the band, author of all the music and nearly all the lyrics: Jonne Jarvela. And... the music began — or more precisely, a celebration. Sincere, joyful, kind, devoid of pomposity, filled with positive meaning, and drawing in every single person who came to the club without the slightest exception. What was happening onstage? A party! What was happening in the hall? Likewise. During one of the songs, Jonne unexpectedly removed one of his boots — held it up and launched it into the crowd. Soon it returned to the stage, nearly concussing the bassist. The main target of abuse this time was the accordionist — he got beer poured on his poor head, and Jonne generally didn't deny himself entertainment. Songs from all of the band's albums were played. Naturally, the hall sang along — and how could it be otherwise? How could you not sing "Spirit of The Forest" along with Jonne? And as for what happened during "Beer, Beer" — Jonne sent the titular beverage into the crowd, doused himself and the audience, and to cap it all off, pronounced the word "pivo" (beer) in russian.
Did people dive off the stage? A rhetorical question. There were quite a few stagedrivers. Jonne reacted more than calmly — even positively. One of the jumpers even took a security guard standing on stage down with him; the latter was probably less than grateful to this lovely individual from the crowd.
Nothing pleases the audience more than an unexpected encore. Not the situation where everyone understands that "goodbye" merely means the musicians will take a break and play a couple of hits to close the show — something everyone expects as a matter of course. In KORPIKLAANI's case, everyone was already sure it was all over, but they kept appearing again and again. In the end, the concert lasted almost an hour and forty minutes, and in the finale, Jonne — not for the first time — "went into the people." The Finnish frontman was carried on hands for about fifteen seconds, after which he, having said goodbye to everyone once more, departed the stage along with the rest of the musicians.
And so another concert by this wonderful Finnish band has thundered to a close. Let's hope — and even be confident — that it wasn't the last. One can state with certainty that Jonne and company will always find a warm reception in russia. So we'll be waiting for their next visit.
Written by Alan
Special thanks to DeltaMekong Concert and personally Volodya and Vitalik for the provided accreditation