Ensiferum/Korpiklaani May 17, 2015 at Mill City Nights
Ensiferum/Korpiklaani
May 17, 2015 at Mill City Nights
Presented by AEG Live
Event Details: Ensiferum/Korpiklaani
Venue: Mill City Nights
Show Date/Time: Sunday, May 17, 2015 at 7:30pm. Doors 7:00pm. Ages 18+
GA Tickets: GA Tickets are $22.00 ($25 day of show).
Tickets on sale this Friday, February 20th at 10am at the Mill City Nights box office, at The Electric Fetus in Minneapolis, Discland in Bloomington, Down in the Valley in Golden Valley, by calling 1-888-9-AXS-TIX or online at www.millcitynights.com.
About Ensiferum:
Ensiferum - what name would suit a band playing battle metal better, than a name that in Latin means "Swordbearer"?
After founding the band in 1995, Ensiferum's mastermind, guitarist/main songwriter/vocalist Markus Toivonen has taken the band safely through turmoils of line-up changes and busy schedules ever since. The band's career fully took flight in 2000 after Spinefarm Records released their self titled debut album 'Ensiferum', and their busy touring made them a household favourite all over Finland. Their second album 'Iron' took Ensiferum a step further, all the way to Copenhagen's Sweet Silence Studios. There in Denmark, during the Fall of 2003, their second album was recorded in the capable hands of producer Flemming Rasmussen, known for his work on such masterpieces as Metallica's 'Master of Puppets' and 'Ride the Lightning.'
'Iron' was a great success and grew the band's popularity to whole new heights. The album also got the band some extensive touring abroad, but these gigs finally took a toll on the band. 2004 saw three band members depart: drummer Oliver Fokin, bassist Jukka-Pekka Miettinen and vocalist Jari Mäenpää (later known for his work with Wintersun). This was not the end of the world for the warriors of Ensiferum and mastermind Markus. Instead, new and capable musicians took their places. Bassist/vocalist Sami Hinkka, drummer Janne Parviainen (also known for his work on Waltari and Barathrum) and vocalist/guitarist Petri Lindroos all joined the ranks to finalise the new Ensiferum line-up.
The new line-up was tried and tested on the road touring all through 2005, and from the tour the members headed straight for the studio to make a new mini-album. This mini-CD, later titled 'Dragonheads', saw the band test their new growler Petri's vocals and their new bassist and drummer's skills in a recorded form. Such fun was had recording that the band did not stop with the mini-album, but also made a live DVD to honour their 10-year career. The "10th Anniversary Live" showed the new line-up playing hits from all Ensiferum albums, ranging from the earliest songs to the latest offerings of Dragonheads. Selling thousands of units worldwide, the DVD was the definitive proof that Ensiferum were as strong as ever.
In the end of 2006, Ensiferum took their gear to Helsinki's Sonic Pump Studios to record their third full-length album with producer Nino Laurenne. Metallic guitars combined with the traditional sounds of instruments as the Finnish kantele, bagpipes, nyckelharpa and bodhrans, the sound of 'Victory Songs' was a full, balanced mixture of folk, heavy and battle anthem-like power, accompanied by the gentle balance between Petri's growling vocals and Markus's and Sami's harmonised choruses.
'Victory Songs' was released during spring 2007 and right after the album release the band started their European tour, played several festivals and did a tour of Finland.
After the Summer Ensiferum again suffered a loss - the band's long-time keyboard player Meiju Enho decided to leave the band. A replacement was found in the form of Emmi Silvennoinen who has been playing with the band ever since.
More touring took place in the latter part of 2007, and the band stayed on the road for the whole of 2008, even playing their first ever tour in USA & Canada. Between the release of 'Victory Songs' and the beginning of 2009, the band embarked on 3 European tours, 3 North American tours and numerous festival shows around the world totalling 154 shows.
After being very busy writing and rehearsing new material in early 2009 Ensiferum entered studio Petrax (in Hollola, Finland) on the 13th of April to start the recordings of their fourth studio album with recorder/producer Tero Kinnunen (Nightwish, Amorphis etc.) and Janne Joutsenniemi (the producer of 'Victory Songs'). 'From Afar' was released in September 2009, with global touring to accompany.
In April 2012, the latest Ensiferum album 'Unsung Heroes' was completed. The album was mixed by Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, Sentenced, Amorphis etc.), with a release date set for August 24th 2012 in Finland and Germany. In September 2012, the band embarks on their Unsung Heroes Finland tour, followed by the Bearers of the Sword European tour. With more shows and tours to be announced in support of the new album, 2012 marks the beginning of a new era for Ensiferum.
New album coming via Metal Blade Records 2015.
About Korpiklaani:
It is very early in the morning and still dark outside. Next to two enormous heaps of luggage on trolleys which can barely hold, we find a unusual group. Some of them sip coffee; others drink the last bits of luke beer and tell lame jokes. This is the band Korpiklaani and they are waiting for their plane to catch after a long and exhausting tour.
The first for your eyes to meet is Hittavainen; the enthusiast violinist of the band, who fell asleep at the table with his head resting on his arms and with a cup filled with an unknown substance next to him. Not far off stands bass player Jarkko, flipping through a catalog in search of a fine red wine to buy at the tax-free shop. The other band members are more likely to buy cigarettes and beer though. Jonne, vocalist and lead guitar player, looks pale and not too well. As usual, he is recovering from the flue that he always seems to catch when on tour. Despite his bad shape, he still pulls off hilarious stories to Matson, the drummer, who is even now drumming with his hands on the edge of the table. Guitar player Cane, who suffers from a slight hangover, laughs and turns to look at accordion player Juho, the junior of the band. Juho does not notice, he seems to be totally occupied by his own thoughts.
Passengers walking by, turn their head to watch the unusual looking group. A single fan recognizes them and runs to them for autographs and some mobile phone pictures, which are granted friendly.
Most people however, are unaware that they just passed Korpiklaani, the Finnish folk-metal band that started in 1993 under the name of Shaman, and changed their name in 2002 to Korpiklaani (Clan of the wilderness).
Their music consists of metal with a happy folky base. So does their choice of instruments, they use a mixture of electric guitars and drums as well as violin, woodwinds, jouhikko, djembé, and the typical Finnish folk instrument: the accordion. They reject synthesizers (of course), and use only genuine instruments.
To most people their music is so cheerful and lively that they cannot resist dancing, laughing and feeling happy. Maybe that is why fans call it 'beer-metal' (it certainly has the same effect as beer), but it could be also due to the many songs about this all-time favorite drink of Korpiklaani.
The first Korpiklaani albums contained merely English lyrics, but nowadays most lyrics are in Finnish. These lyrics are often written in the Kalevala-style (a special metre, from the Finnish national epic) and tell about nature, history, partying and the already mentioned beer of course!
At first Korpiklaani was just another unknown Finnish band. Nowadays they are widely appreciated for their unique and cheerful music. But it was a hard road to travel. In the beginning they were happy if they got a gig set, any gig... even for just some beer and travelling costs. They could not afford a proper place to sleep after a gig; often they had to spend the rest of the night stuffed together in a small room in a crappy and cheap hotel. They slept on the plain floor or in the bathtub. If they were lucky they could stay at some friend´s home. Their instruments were not of any quality, and if one got broken, there was no replacement. Of course they all had a job, because they had to make a living. It was hard to combine a job with a band; gig planning was really tough, and the band members always suffered a severe lack of time and money. But... these friends had a lot of fun together, and loved to play.
Some milestones came by: the first gigs abroad, the first time headliner at a small festival, a bigger festival, a big festival. Another milestone, the first time at WOA in 2006, and this summer they occupied the Party stage in Wacken again, at the 20th Wacken Anniversary! Things grow slowly in the right direction for this band with its original sound.
In 2009 one of the big wishes, the first US-tour, came true.and in 2010 another US-tour and the first South-America Tour, the Vodka Revolution Tour took place.
In many ways the hard days are over. Still it is not all sunshine. It is hard to go on stage if you are terribly ill and have high fever, if there is a family crisis, if you have a severe hangover, or if you have not slept at all because the damn hotel was closed, and you had to sit on your instrument cases all night to prevent them from being stolen.
Once the nightliner broke down in the middle of a crowded highway, hundreds of kilometers from the venue, and it was too dangerous to leave the bus for some fresh air. The reparation took so many hours, that the band members had to be rushed at the venue in a dazzling speed by taxis, to arrive in the last minute before the gig.
These poor souls have to endure a lot, sometimes they froze almost to death in nightliners with a broken heating, other times they almost suffocated from heat. Things got lost, broken and stolen. Fingers got cut by guitar strings, voices got lost by flue. The waiting is endless, the nerves go sky high and worst of all, sometimes they are even out of beer!
Busses, people and instruments might break, but the show must go on. On stage Korpiklaani has an endless energy; being on stage and playing is sheer fun for these guys. The teamwork is excellent: if someone gets in trouble, it is fluently taken over by another band member.
These Finns not only do love to play, they also love their audience; one of the greatest things a band can have is a cheering and happy crowd, loyal fans that show up whenever they can, and heartwarming feedback.
The huge support boosts the gigs, and makes fully up for all exhaustion during touring.
These Korpiklaani guys play because they really like to, they write songs because they cannot resist it, and they enter the studio because it would be waste not to do anything with the endless stream of songs. Therefore they released two albums under the name of Shaman, and as Korpiklaani already seven full length albums. There seems no end to Korpiklaani's victory march yet. Despite the amount of countries visited, many fans are still waiting for Korpiklaani to visit their country, Korpiklaani loves to play everywhere, as long as their very tight schedule allows it.
....But this story is partly in the past now, because Korpiklaani had a recent line-up change. Hittavainen left because of health issues. He was a great band member and still is a great violin player who composed among others Pellonpekko, one of the liveliest and famous songs the band plays on stage.
So, a new violin player had to be found. On a chilly morning the band of Korpiklaani left their wooden cabins with the rising sun to hunt. They traded the smoky scent of last night´s fire for the dense and dark forest, looking for game. They were just tracking down young doe, when suddenly an unearthly sound broke through the silence of the early morning. The Band members froze to the ground. It was only after a minute they heard Jonne utter: ´Darn me if that ain´t a violin!´. Juho chuckled and waved the others to follow him as they made their way towards the gentle melody. They soon arrived at a sunstrewn clearing where in front of an old shack an angelic young man sat with a violin on his shoulder playing, as they only just recognized it, Spirit of the forest. The enchanting music stopped abruptly as the young man s eyes widened with surprise when these five men approached him.
Korpiklaani greeted the young man and asked who he was and why he was playing here in the forest, where none could hear him elict these heavenly tones from such a simple instrument. Hours of talking went by, they learned his name was Teemu and that he had lived alone in the forest as long as he could remember. When he was a boy he visited the local markets every now and then to play with other boys his age, and to sneak fruit from the stalls. In one of these adventures he encountered an old grey lady, who in a creaky voice spoke to him: This instrument is for you, it will be your future. Teemu never forgot the old lady and he mastered violin quicker than a bird learns to fly. The violin however never brought him the great fortune he had hoped for. His dream to become one of the great violinists of his time was forfeit and though he enjoyed playing, he did no more than playing at local pubs from time to time to have some coin to spare.
When Teemu finished speaking, the band members shared a long glance. Jonne scraped his throat: How would you like to come with us? We have a band but lack a violin player, we would be honored if youd join us. Teemu stared in the distance, he did not know what to say. Would his dream to become famous come true? After a long moment he grinned and answered: Hell yeah! Id love to!
And so, unfortunately that is not exactly what happened. Jonne found Teemu through the internet. But all the same Korpiklaani is very happy to have him on board!
In 2011 their seventh album Ukon Wacka was released. KORPIKLAANI took things even further: seven-string guitars, mandoline, mandola and jouhikko are just a few of the instruments that were used on Ukon Wacka. The album title refers to a pagan sacrificial feast from ancient times, on which a special made beer richly flowed. As can be expected from the title, this album has an ancient and very folky feel and is totally in Finnish, frontman Jonne explains. One title doesn`t seem very Finnish though: the drinking anthem Tequila which is dedicated to all South American fans of the band. Ukon Wacka also features a guest appearance by famous Finnish singer Tuomari Nurmio! All in all a joyous affair in the traditional and beloved KORPIKLAANI vein, Ukon Wacka boasts ten party tracks that make you wanna raise that drinking horn up high! Also make sure to grab a limited edition copy of Ukon Wacka to check out the brilliant MOTÖRHEAD cover version bonus track Iron Fist! Believe Jonne when he says: A big folky feast for all!
Connect with Ensiferum:
www.twitter.com/ensiferummetal
www.youtube.com/user/EnsiferumTV
Connect with Korpiklaani:
