As a restaurant, I often recommend Kivi Paber Käärid to folks regardless of their dietary restrictions or preferences, because the food is delicious and inclusive no matter what’s on the menu, and the cocktails are delightful. I’d not had the chance to experience it as a music venue, however, until the TMW’s Saturday Roots Session. I’d stopped by earlier in the day, hoping to snag a table and eat as Nihe was full of folks enjoying the free music over brunch. Turns out they’d closed shop for sound checks, so I returned for the show that evening (and dined at F-Hoone midday).
All-day technical rehearsals made sense ahead of this absolutely massive line-up, with more than five hours of jazz, folk, and blues-infused music spanning Europe from the Faroe Islands to Croatia, with influences knowing no borders at all. I always like to show up early (though not always sound-check early) because then you get first go at the bar and the best choice of any available seating. This is especially true of venues that convert their spaces, shifting from daytime tables to nighttime standing room – when any house gets packed, as it was this evening, it pays to have scoped out the fixed furnishings and relevant routes (toilets, bar, exits). Doubly important for an event that itself felt like a festival – seven acts with thirty-five minute sets, with breaks between for resets on stage and refills at the bar.
At the top of the line-up was The Crosslegs, a rollicking folk crew out of Tartu who kicked the night off perfectly with great harmonies and handclapping, and followed through with big, juicy syncopation, switching through time signatures and tempos. Friends since childhood, their near-decade of playing together shows in their tight orchestration and skilled songwriting, shifting gear effortlessly from boot-stompers to balladic storytelling, even within the same song. Their sound owes as much to jazz as indie, folk as spoken word poetry – and the flautist is key.
Juurakko, a five-piece blues crew out of Finland, followed with their own intricate harmonies, unusual instrumentation, and driving beats and bass. The word atmospheric is underlined several times, their music transporting the packed-tight crowd to the riverside as they wove classic blues tropes into songs of modern struggles. Their sweet jangly strings, keys, and harmonies flowed nicely with storytelling between.
Next up, Croatian duo Hojsak & Novosel on double bass and tambura, their bowing, picking, and plucking enhanced through skillful use of looper pedals. The opening number brings an immediate mood shift as couples begin to dance and embrace, seeming to trigger a “hold close” instinct. Music demanding movement is the tone of the setlist, though the genre ranges from romantic to experimental jazz to clap-along dance numbers. Both musicians contribute to the lovely vocals, whether crooning or shouting through songs inspired by Croatian cities, scenery, and cultural blends.
Also blending cultures are Viljandi-based Araukaaria, an alt-rock band with Argentinian and Estonian backgrounds and songs in Spanish, Estonian, and English. They bring maximalist, layered soundscapes that move through tempos and bodies, whether slow-tempo not-quite-ballads or rockish anthems. The crowd gets moving as the tempo and complexity step up, a groovy blend of sounds and lyricism that TMW rightly classifies as psychedelic.
Megan Black carries on with the big sounds and psychedelic style. Though clearly dedicated to a Look, the band brings substance with wrenching blues serenades, shake-the-rafters rock, and vibrant pop anthems on love, heartbreak, and community. “They want us to leave but they need us to stay,” was a particularly stand-out lyric.
Next on stage, hailing from even further north and west than Scotland, came Dania O. Tausen and her five-piece Faroese band, bringing the crowd from the fervent energy of the previous set to dreamy, string-forward indie rock with Faroese lyrics heartfelt enough you don’t need to understand the language. Set against powerful drums and rolling guitars, the vocals – whether solo, duet, or multi-part harmonies – are very much the centrepiece of the performance.
It’s worth noting at this point that the crowd had been changing throughout the evening, though I held down my post in the corner. The bar and technical staff did a fantastic job handling so many drastic changes between bands and audience as the venue emptied and filled with the tempo of the line-up and changeovers. The audience itself was a mix of local music heads, bands’ friends, international residents and musicians, and the random Finns who stumbled into real luck choosing this weekend to be in town.
I mention the changing audience because SARĀB, in Tallinn by way of Paris, wrapped the night with a mad slide into metal, with French-Arabic infused sounds and lyrics, tempo changeups, and a wall of layered, pounding sound. The vocals are absolutely killer, and in direct conversation with the guitar, a duet of growly strings and pure singing, with yips, howls, and high notes that are screams as much as arpeggios. The gritty, dirty guitars bend towards desert sounds – slouching, if you will, towards Bethlehem. There is judicious use of a megaphone. This is vital noise.
Author: Laurie
Laurie likes alliteration, ambiance, and lists with three things.
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