Words: Letty Sharp // Photos: Ian Mc Donnell
On the 19th of January, the experimental folk band, Heilung brought their
tour to the Emerald Isle. The tour had first started in the middle of
August and was now ending with Dublin being the penultimate date of the
tour. The band had brought along support acts singer Eivør Palsdottir
who hails from the Faroe Islands and Italian singer and multi-
instrumentalist Lili Refrain. Everyone in attendance was in for a show
and a half for the night.
Lili Refrain was the first act to grace the stage of the Bord Gáis Energy
Theatre. She kicked her set off with, ‘Ichor’, and all the eyes went to
her. Lili proved her singing ability as she got everything set up on the
loop pedal and she took her position behind her synthesizer and began
singing. Each song led into the other very nicely with her only stopping
to thank the audience. Her voice is haunting and for anyone who enjoys
atmospheric soundtracks, this was the concert bill for you. Lili finished
her set off with, ‘Earthling’, and she once again thanked the audience for
coming to see her. Lili won’t be one I’ll forget anytime soon.
Setlist:
Ichor
Sangoma
Mami Wata
Terra 2.0
Earthling
Eivør was up next, and she took the stage dressed in a black dress and a
blue spotlight on her. With just her drum, guitar and drum pad
accompanying her onstage, all eyes were once again on her and
everyone was entranced by her powerful voice and her drum. She also
seamlessly led one song into the other and she gave us a bit of backstory
on her song, ‘Í Tokuni’, about how she got lost in the mountains as a
child. Eivør was also very haunting and made the hairs on the back if
your neck stand up. If you also get the chance to see her, you should take
it as you will not be disappointed.
The main event followed quickly with Heilung, which means healing in
German. The band is made up of members from Denmark, Norway and
Germany. They describe their music as an amplified history from early,
medieval Northern Europe. The band came onto the stage to perform
their opening ceremony, adorned in their robes and antlers. The theatre
was silent as they went through their mantra. ‘In Maidjan’, followed
after with a horn sounding the start of a very spiritual couple of hours.
The band have a very unique stage presence, combining traditional
instruments that people had access to in the Iron Age and throat singing.
The show continued with warriors joining them onstage throughout,
really making you feel like you’re with them on the battlefield. Each
song made you feel different. ‘Traust’, opened peacefully with bells and
slowly with co male and female vocals on it. The band’s second last
song, ‘Hamrer Hippyer’, got the whole venue on their feet.
A few of the dancers made their way into the crowd and one even crowd
surfed to the middle row of seats. But just like a storm, the insanity
stopped and it came to a calm end with the band performing their closing
ceremony and walking off the stage as calmly as they had come on.
Heilung Setlist:
Opening Ceremony
In Maidjan
Alfadhirhaiti
Asja
Krigsgaldr
Hakkerskaldyr
Svanrand
Norupo
Othan
Traust
Anoana
Galgaldr
Elddansurin
Hamrer Hippyer
Closing Ceremony
If you get the chance to see any of these acts live, I highly recommend
you do as you will never see a show like it. I won’t be forgetting this one
anytime soon and I don’t think I’ll experience anything quite like it
again.
