Concert Review: Wardruna - Auckland - 30th January 2025

Presented by: Destroy All Lines

WARDRUNA LIVE IN CONCERT - PHOTO CREDIT GINNY C PHOTOGRAPHER

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL WARDRUNA GALLERY BY GINNY C

Review By: Riccardo Ball

Artist/Band: Wardruna (SUP by Turongo Collective)

Venue/City: Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand

Date of Event: Thursday 30th January 2025

Wardruna live isn’t a gig, show or even a concert - it’s an experience.
Wardruna live is something that happens to you, I thought I knew what to expect but I was wrong. The performance was much more than I was ready for, and it took me on a journey.
First there is the atmosphere, it builds, you can feel it in the air. It’s the expectation of what is to come, like waiting for a ceremony to start, and the crowd played their part also.

Many came dressed for the occasion, there were kilts and greaves, eye makeup and face paint and I’m pretty sure I spied a Floki look-a-like as well.
Then there was the unexpected in the shape of Turongo Collective, whose performance set the scene for what was to come. As Einar Selvik (lead singer of Wardruna), would later say, it was a visit to our shores 25 years ago that led him on the path he now finds himself, embracing his own culture despite the roots being farther in the past than Aotearoa.

Then there is of course the music. When I was thinking about how I would review this show I wondered how I would convey what was happening when I couldn’t name the instruments let alone how they were being played or utilised. This is no guitar, bass, drum kit set up, it is entirely its own thing.
I can however talk about what I witnessed and how it made me feel, sure I didn’t understand the lyrics, I didn’t need too.
Hertan, the second song of the set, is a perfect example. It is Heart in Norse and the song started with the rhythmic pounding of a heart and it built and built until it didn’t. Suddenly it was if we had been transported into the chambers of the heart, part of the organ itself, pumping from within.
The way the composition of not just Hertan, but many others in the set make use of dynamics is what I think really sets this experience apart.

There’s also the lighting to consider, often overlooked as part of a performance (unless it’s Pink Floyd) here it almost told as much of the story as the band itself. For the most part it was a sparse textured white wall in the background but the clever use of the shadows of the performers at times made it look as if you were watching cave paintings come to life, others it’s was muted and subtle like the dawning of the sun and yet others where the hectic flash of white light contrasted with blackout pulsing made me think of a Robert Eggers film.
Einar Selvik is something of a visionary, he said nothing throughout the performance until after the penultimate song, when he has something to say it is worth listening to. He talked about his journey to New Zealand all of those years ago and how culture comes from nature (I’m paraphrasing here) and as a result no culture is better than another as they all came from the same place.

A standing ovation greeted the final song the band delivered, fittingly Helvegen, something of funeral dirge/final goodbye.
There was however one last treat, Einar, who contributed music to over 50 episodes of the show Vikings, performed solo the death song of Ragnar Lothbrok, not only the show's main protagonist but also a hero of the Icelandic sagas on which the show is based.
Wardruna promised to be back and you should make sure you’re there to witness the return of the Skald supreme and his band.

SETLIST

1.      Kvitravn

2.      Hertan

3.      Skugge

4.      Solringen

5.      Heimta Thurs

6.      Runalijod

7.      Lyfjaberg

8.      Voluspá

9.      Tyr

10.  Grá

11.  Himinndotter

12.  Rotlaust Tre Fell

13.  Fehu

14.  Helvegen

Wardruna NZ AUS Tour PR 2025

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