Heidevolk and guests
Colos-Saal Aschaffenburg, January 17th 2024
It is Tuesday evening and I am on my way to today’s venue and Heidevolk‘s “Wederkeer”. The weather forecast is a bit frightening, with a wall of snow and ice expected the following morning. It seems to be holding back spontaneous visitors to tonight’s concert, so the Colos-Saal is about a third full at the start and a little more than half for the headliner, if I have guessed correctly. Nevertheless, we get a hot show from three excellent bands.
Jonne
The opener from Finland is none less than Jonne Järvelä, vocalist of Korpiklaani, with his partner Jaana Turunen. The music is quite far away from the usual Humppa-style of Korpiklaani. It reminds me more of Heilung, but with fewer people and more melody. Experiencing Jonne this way is quite mind-blowing. Jaana’s vocals are absolutely outstanding. It’s almost like another dimension of Folk Metal.
Nytt Land
The middle band is another duo, Siberian Nytt Land. Dark as their country in wintertime is their music. The two musicians are Natasha “Baba Yaga” and Anatoly Pakhalenko. They invite us on a journey to a mystic world of ancient percussive instrumentation and mesmerising vocal spheres. Funny side fact, after their set, my neighbour to the left and I realise, we know each other from the April Art show in Weinheim last year. She is just dressed completely differently, with a different hairstyle and glasses. She is a regular concert-goer, having attended over 90 concerts just last year, not including festivals. These are the people who keep live music alive. While I preferred Jonne’s performance, she preferred Nytt Land.
Heidevolk
Together with the little more than half-filled venue, we wait for the headliner, although the waiting time is not very long this evening. Then it is time for the “Wederkeer” of Dutch Pagan heroes Heidevolk. Wederkeer is not only the title of their recent album, already released in 2023. The whole show feels like a Wederkeer because it feels like ages ago since they toured Germany last time. It must have been around 2019 apart from festival participations in the 2020s. Of course, Wederkeer translates as “return” as you might have guessed. Heidevolk return with vocalists Jacco “Bühnebeest” de Wijs and Daniël Wansink, guitarists Mat van Baest and Koen “Vuurdichter” Romeijn as well as Rowan “Roodbaert” Middelwijk on bass and Kevin van den Heiligenberg on drums.
Three Part Set
Heidevolk more or less play a set split into three parts. The first third presents full metal force, powerful, rough, Pagan music. The second part is a rather acoustic set, and the third part lets them return to pure metal music. Even though the venue is far from overcrowded, the six musicians of Heidevolk are very enthusiastic about the mood of those present. The well-deserved encores are what they give back. Heidevolk meet their fans after the show at the merch for a drink, autograph and photo together before the tour leads them to the next venues.
What remains to say!
We have celebrated Heidevolk’s Wederkeer and experienced three excellent Folk, Dark and Pagan Metal bands. All three bands have played with full heart. What I still don’t understand is the lack of audience. It can’t only be the weather forecast which holds people back. I don’t know what is going on with the scene! If we don’t go to concerts in small clubs, support smaller bands, buy their merch and physical music at the shows, they will die out because they can’t bear the costs anymore. Happy are those big bands who at least have a label backing them.
What do you prefer?
But what about the small and independent artists? Do you want them to become a cashier in a supermarket or fast food chain for their livelihood? Or do you want them to create new music, go on tour, sell their merch and music there and make their living on it instead? Decide for the right side but don’t complain when there is no new music and the club next door closes its doors forever if you prefer to stay at home and stream everything.
Online:
Please buy merch and physical music or downloads from the bands official sources and don’t stream it for free because it steals your artists’ income.
Proofreading by DeepL