Eluveitie - Los Angeles, California - 3/22/23
Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie announced their first North American tour in a few years. This time, they would be bringing with them Omnium Gatherum and Seven Spires. Eluveitie got off to a rocky start when it announced that frontman Chrigel Glanzmann would not be participating on the tour due to a family emergency. The tour would continue with singer Fabienne Erni taking the reins for most of the songs. This tour would also mark the first Eluveitie tour for newcomers Annie Riediger (Hurdy Gurdy) and touring bassist Yannick Urbanczik. This package was not one to miss and it was set to be one of the best tours of the year.
Seven Spires came out and started their show with Gods of Debauchery, the title track from their newest album which was released in 2021. Vocalist Adrienne Cowan changed vocal styles between clean vocals and growls. A nice touch to their music. Seven Spires would continue to warm up the audience as they played hits like The Cursed Muse, Succumb and Shadow on an Endless Sea. So far, they only have 3 albums and are relatively young, but they've made themselves known and still have a long career ahead of themselves. The last song from their set was Dare to Live. Once they finished, they said their goodbyes and left the stage. The show was already off to a great start.
Omnium Gatherum is a melodic death metal band from Finland. In 2021, they released their ninth album Origin. It had been a few years since OG came to the states, so it was nice to have them come back and surely their fans were happy to have them back too. The lights went out and the already packed venue cheered with excitement as the members came out and started their show with Frontiers. The pits once again went wild with mosh pits. Vocalist Jukka Pelkonen unleashes guttural growls to give the band's music that classic melodic death metal sound. The crowd stayed very energetic as OG played more hits like Gods Go First, Be the Sky and even Slasher, a newly released single that came out at the beginning of the month. The ending song was The Unkowning and with its heavy start, had fans headbanging and raising their horns. Even with a short set, OG made every minute count and they did not disappoint their audience. They left the stage and made way for the headlining band of the night.
The venue was packed to capacity as fans eagerly awaited the arrival of Eluveitie. The lights went out once again and the packed venue cheered as loud as they could as Eluveitie made their way to the stage. The first song played was Exile of the Gods, a newly released single that came out in 2022. Their beautiful music filled the stage and fans were seen singing along, banging their heads and moshing. The next two songs were Epona and Omnos. These two songs, as well as the rest of the albums that these songs belong to, are sung in the extinct Celtic language of Gaulish. Even though chances are that no one in the audience spoke Gaulish, the songs are still beautiful to hear and the fans loved it. The next song played was Deathwalker. This song involves the growls of Glanzmann and as a surprise, Eluveitie brought out Adrienne Cowan of Seven Spires to handle the growls and it was executed perfectly. The presence of Glanzmann missing from the show could be felt. To make up for it, Eluveitie mainly played songs that singer Fabienne Erni could sing on her own. Some of those songs included A Rose for Epona, Ambiramus and Breathe. Other times when growls were needed, Eluveitie would also bring out Jukka Pelkonen who sings with Omnium Gatherum. He would come out to song Thousandfold and King. To end their set, Eluveitie played one of the most beautiful and popular songs called The Call of the Mountains. In this case, Erni sang the Swiss German version called De Ruef vo de Bärge. Eluveitie exited the stage and all seemed quiet. The crowd kept chanting, "Eluveitie! Eluveitie!". They clearly weren't ready to call it a night even on a Wednesday night. Eluveitie came back out for some encores. The first encore was Aidus featuring Cowan on vocals. The next encore was Ategnatos featuring Pelkonen on vocals. To end the night, Eluveitie played their most famous song Inis Mona. This called for a special occasion and the band was joined by both Cowan and Pelkonen to handle the growls of the song. It was truly a spectacle thing to witness. Eluveitie bowed to their audience and left the stage once more. It was an amazing show from start to finish and no fan in attendance would just say it was an ok performance.
Photos and review by Misael Ruiz
IG: tarantulamanmr
Eluveitie
Omnium Gatherum
Seven Spires
