On Monday we went to see Finnish band Värttinä at the Mod Club Theatre—our first concert in mumblety-mumble years. They are a nine-member group consisting of three female singers and six instrumentalists (including button accordion, fiddle and bouzouki). The group originally started as a larger ensemble performing in traditional Karelian (a unique culture of music, poetry and dialect from the eastern region of Finland) folk song styles, but moved on to interpreting the music in more modern ways.

The powerful and hard-edged close harmonies of their singing is not unlike that of the Bulgarian singers, but Värttinä’s arrangements are more pop-orientated, heavy on the percussion. (The excellent percussionist made the obligatory drum solo into a dramatic and athletic display, rather than the usual snooze-fest.)

The songs ranged from fun and bouncy melodies (on a relative scale; we’re not talking Top 40 here) to intense songs that wouldn’t have been out of place if someone had updated Wagner’s Ring cycle with pop music (which, in fact, Värttinä has sort-of done in providing the music for the theatrical The Lord of the Rings). In fact, as the three singers sang songs of rage and betrayal, using stylized arm motions, they resembled of a trio of curse-muttering witches. Get a load of these lyrics:

I throw off sparks, I tear from my tongue words as twisted as tree-roots.
I poke the fire of hatred with my words, I hurl hate back at you.
My mood blackens, blacker than the mind of any mortal.
My loathing drips blood, my pain slashes, curses, drenches with pus.

Yikes! Good thing I don’t understand Finnish!

On the fun and bouncy side, in heavily-accented English the singers exhorted the uptight Torontonians to come to the front and dance (which the crowd finally did towards the end of the show). Though with the music’s tricky multiple time signatures and offbeat rhythms, I joked to Peter that it was dance music for people with five legs!

After the show the band came offstage and mingled with the audience, many of whom were also involved in the LOTR stage show. (The opening act was a co-worker as well, being a violinist from the pit.) The whole atmosphere had a chummy, collegial vibe that was nice. We struck up a lovely conversation with a visiting Finn—desperate for some Finnish culture, one presumes!—who was convinced that Toronto was laid back compared to Europe. We told her to visit Vancouver; then she’d discover what laid back was.

On a final note, it’s been so long since we’ve been to a club; it was soooo much more pleasant to come home from a concert not reeking of smoke. If this is the result of the tough no-smoking laws, me like!