Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
While the majority of the last Wardruna’s tour actually happened last year, the performances in Finland and Estonia were moved forward by about eleven months. After such a long wait, however, the concerts really happened on October 15, 2026.
In Helsinki, the major, newly renovated Finlandia-talo was chosen as a venue, and it was sold out. The venue has very good sound across the entire space, and despite press seats being tucked away in a balcony, apart from the inevitable fact that the stage was further away, one can hear everything clearly. Wardruna performs without any warm-up, as usual, and the setlist was divided between last album’s songs such as Birna and Hertan, and the older material. At some point, Einar Selvik announced that the touring stretch of the band comes to an end and they will be less active for some time.
The mood was appropriately solemn and uplifting, although I do prefer performances in a standing pit where one can dance and otherwise live through the concert more vividly. While Finlandia-talo is arguably a prestigious, high-end location, having bands playing intense music in a seated arrangement does not match the vibe. (The inaugural concert in the same place was Apocalyptica, which, again, faced the same discrepancy.)
Unfortunately, only photographing from the balcony was allowed, likely in order not to spoil the first rows’ viewing experience. Hence, this post contains only photos taken from a distance. The band does not use much of the theatrical light, relying on direct spots and music alone.
As a side note, recently Wardruna has opted to have its own mobile app that you can download via this link.
The app offers a feed from Wardruna, much like Instagram, and a forum to discuss stuff for fans. In the inaugural message, Einar expressed that the band “are not musicians and not content creators”, and in essence is not willing to painstakingly deal with uncertain algorithms of the common social media, therefore opting for the application way as a main space for their news and interaction. The app also features a store with app-exclusive merch. While we say goodbye to Wardruna live for a while, the community continues to be active on the Forum of the app.
We remind you that Wardruna recently released “Helvegen II“, a version of their signature song. Chaoszine reported it here: https://chaoszine.net/wardruna-releases-helvegen-ii-a-re-telling-of-the-iconic-song/
