24-02-2015 Eluveitie

By: Basak Günel

That Tuesday evening had a special meaning for the Turkish fans of Eluveitie because the band was going to play for the first time in Istanbul. The anticipation could be felt near the venue even hours before the show started. Another good thing this time was that the weather was quite nice and there was no support act so the fans did not need to wait and get impatient.

Even before the show started, I could see that the venue was packed and it was literally really hard to breathe. When the band started the show with “King”, I knew it was gonna be a great performance from the beginning to the end. However, since I was in the middle of the venue, it was impossible to see anything so I guess the people in the front rows were the luckiest during the performance. Nevertheless, the sound system was well-arranged.

Generally, the band’s setlist could not be any better. Surely, this was the tour for their latest album, “Origins”, but the band played a lot of old songs including “Nil”, “Omnos”, AnDro”, “Kingdom Come Undone” and the fan favorite “Thousandfold”. In this sense, the fans of the ‘new and technical’ Eluveitie as well as the ‘folk-y’ Eluveitie could enjoy the show. The band was also really motivated and cheerful and I guess they did not expect such a hungry and passionate audience. At one moment, Anna Murphy (hurdy-gurdy, vocals) even mentioned that she was surprised that the audience could sing along in Gaulish to the songs so the interaction between the band and the audience was amazing, which must have been surely a memorable highlight for the fans.

One of the highlights of the show was definitely “The Call of the Mountains”, in which the vocals are sung by Anna Murphy. It was really interesting to see that the audience preferred her to sing in Swiss German rather than English; this made the show a lot more colorful! Let’s also not forget the last song of the show, “Inis Mona” which was sung along by the whole audience with the band.

What more can be said about the show? Eluveitie came, invaded the stage and left a smile on everyone’s face. Despite the bad conditions of the venue (which has nothing to do with band), this show will definitely be remembered by the fans!

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