PERFORMANCE OF 2016 : ELUVEITIE
70,000 Tons Of Metal 2016 | Pool Deck Stage February 6, 2016
Every year, I go on 70,000 Tons of Metal to get away from the wet Vancouver winter and to fill my head with music experiences I never would have had otherwise. Of all the bands I see during the 4 days of musical debauchery, there’s always one that sets itself apart. While 2016 had some pretty good contenders (Carach Angren playing at sunrise, both Turisas shows, and Twilight Force’s last set, for example) Eluveitie’s pool deck stage wins the best performance of the year, hands down.
On a rather chilly night, under a starless sky, in high winds, eight musicians walked on a yellow lit stage and gave the performance of a lifetime. Though the elements were beating on them like never before, nothing seemed to shake them. Violinist Shir-Ran Yinon’s hair whipped her face, sticking to her blood red lipstick when she headbanged, Skálmöld bass player Bibbi Ragnarsson’s beard parted from the wind as he replaced Kay Brem with brilliance, Merlin Sutter’s hair engulfed him even with his cymbals getting the brunt of it, but none of it affected their performance.
From their opening with “Helvetios” to the bittersweet closing with “Inis Mona,” the Swiss band delivered a set that redefined their own standards of excellence and amazed even those such as myself who had been so lucky to see them multiple times before that night.
Though my emotions towards the band didn’t factor into how much I enjoyed myself on the slippery pool deck, that night became my fondest Eluveitie memory as it also was the last time I got to see Anna Murphy, Ivo Henzi, Merlin Sutter, and Shir-Ran Yinon on stage with Chrigel Glanzmann and the rest of his troubadours. A bittersweet fact for sure, but one that also leaves me a bit excited for my next Eluveitie show.
See the full gallery from that night here; all images courtesy of Goblin Photography.
