While German band FAUN is a staple in the pagan folk genre and I have been following them for a good while, I yet had to witness one of their performances. Thankfully, the Tuska Live organization brought the German folk band to Tavastia on March 7th, 2023, and even though the show had to be rescheduled quite a few times due to the pandemic, fans of the band found their way to the center of Helsinki to enjoy some folk music.
The opening band of the evening, EMIAN, was new to me. The Italian duo, consistent of Emilio A. Cozza and Anna Cefalo, brought a lot of passion to the stage and showcased what turned out to be a very interesting set. Emilio, being a multi-instrumentalist, brought out a fair few traditional instruments and thus was entertaining to watch. In between songs, Anna provided a lot of context on the history of the songs, something that doesn’t happen nearly enough in concerts. If there was one downside to that, it was probably that their set was one of the shortest I experienced, having played only a handful of track. Hopefully, the band will have the opportunity to come back to play their tunes again!
Being a fan of medieval-inspired folk music, FAUN was a name to cross off my bucket list! With six members and props, the stage was a little crowded, but the band made the most use of it. In general, it was just a very magical experience to watch them play their instruments and see the many different ones being used for different songs – you can never have too much hurdy-gurdy, right? Having recently released their newest album, “Pagan,” in April 2022, FAUN had plenty of songs to choose from to round out their setlist. The selection of songs turned out to be quite diverse, ranging from more serious songs such as “Diese kalte Nacht” to more upbeat like “Walpurgisnacht.” All-in-all, it was a very unique experience and hopefully, it won’t be too long before FAUN re-visits Finland!
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Emian
Faun
Photos by Laureline Tilkin
