Gangar – Kinomaja, Tallinn, Estonia, 26.04.2024
Gangar – Kinomaja, Tallinn, Estonia, 26.04.2024
A concert review by
Ivor May 06, 2024
I eventually opted not to dive into Gangar's music before the event and decided on going purely on a hunch. Based entirely on highly positive reviews and introductory blurbs, I had a feeling that there must be at least a tiny amount of truth to what the collective internet is saying about these young Norwegians. And thus I found myself untangling a peculiar set of circumstantial contrasts that, in retrospect, are probably apt only for a band like Gangar.
As I was waiting for the warm-up act Lõõm to enter the stage, I was already somewhat intrigued by the audience – more on that later – and was beginning to second-guess my educated decision. That sinking feeling was emphasised when Lõõm revealed themselves to be a quintet of three violins, a bass violin, and a cello, playing a take on folk tunes. I mean, no fault there. Great and entertaining stuff by lauded young musicians but not quite in line with what I was blindly hoping for. You get what you mentally prepare for and this was, simply put – and no disrespect there – turning out to be slightly too traditionally square.
We Estonians pride ourselves on our folk music ways and our choir singing traditions. At the same time, we also tend to feel neighbourly kinship with the Finnish love for heavy music. And while at larger events you get folks of all kinds, sadly the demographical segregation tends to stand out like a sore thumb at smaller gigs. Moreover, as sexist as the following stereotype is, it just goes to underline the previous statement: for the predominantly male audience you turn to metal, and you turn to folk for a female audience. This particular audience was predominantly female by a very large margin. As I alluded to before, it was cause for second-guessing my decision but will also turn out to be important in a moment.
Now, Gangar were everything I could have hoped for and more. On the face of it they are a quintet consisting of a power rock trio as the backbone and with saxophone and Norwegian fiddle as the flourish. Musically they are firmly and deeply rooted in folk but also all over the place with jazz, rock, and metal, and thus drawing comparisons to various bands that have and have not consciously been an inspiration. To me they particularly nailed three associations. Firstly, there are their acclaimed compatriots Gåte, who also make elaborate use of the fiddle and lean expertly on Norwegian traditional music. Secondly, as their saxophonist Oskar later conceded: "yeaaah, there's a lot of Shining going on." Finally, I doubt that they even know it, but to me there's a certain Estradasphere vibe to them and their music.
The show was an absolute riot (in a non-riotous sense). On the one hand, there's the fiddle and the folk aspect prompting the audience to dance and jig along. Because, of course, it's folk. On the other hand, there's the sax and jazzy and even proggy interludes that kind of break the flow of rhythm and leave you admiring the musicianship. Finally, there's heavy that is well and truly heavy. And when it's good and heavy you headbang along to it like there's no tomorrow.
It looks like a sheer coincidence that Gangar have found their footing in the folk audience over here. As they were saying, they were a student band playing Oslo for 150 people. "Yeah, baby, we made it!" Then came Estonian biggest folk festival, Viljandi folk, two years ago that had their saxophonist "barfing and shitting before the gig" and, as the question from the stage confirmed, a large part of the audience were there at that gig. However, Gangar could've easily fit the bill for any rock and metal festival over here and would've been more than welcome with their upbeat energy among the rest of the probably grim lineup.
Which brings me back to the matter of audience. For a band as varied as Gangar is, it seems like the folk-oriented audience was a bit one-sided. I did see them go from swaying like trees in the wind to dancing a jig with the fiddler, from headbanging and throwing horns to doing a rowing pit on the floor. It's not like folk folk don't know how to rock; that's easy and comes sort of naturally by itself when the music is right. The rowing pit took some gesticulating and explaining, though. And, I mean, have you ever seen an all-female rowing pit at a gig?!
...I have and it makes me uncomfortably aware of the segregation in music and all the stereotypes that go with it. Don't get me wrong, as an audience they are as any other. The energy was a blast as you'd expect it to be. It's when you start thinking about it too deeply that you notice that something doesn't quite sit right; not here at the gig, but elsewhere, at large. It'd be just plain wrong to fault people who are, in fact, present at the gig. It does, however, make you wonder what's behind this kind of division along the gender lines, whether it's natural, and whether an effort should be made to tip the unbalance.
All of that, however, has little to do with Gangar. They were on top of their game. And while I would say that on recordings they may sound slightly too fiddle-heavy (heh) and more something-folk rather than folk-something, that is a matter of personal opinion. They could, frankly, have good use for a proper vocalist, but on stage this role is so far filled with sax and fiddle taking the entertaining lead. As I said, there's a lot of energy to Gangar and I can imagine them going places. The real question for me is whether they dare to wander that adventurously and wildly. Which makes me think of Estradasphere again. Or Shining, for that matter. They chuckled at the question but when is going to be their Blackjazz moment? The spark and restlessness are most definitely there. Could it really be only a couple albums away, maybe?
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Posts: 3579 Quote: Knowing the author of these lines a bit, I'm certain that it was his very deliberate intention to use this little digression to prompt his readers to reflect on thoughts that have very little to do with the actual concert. But did he also consider that someone might end up thinking about it for 14 months? I don't want to exaggerate. Of course I didn’t spend over a year thinking about this article several times a week. I wasn’t at that concert, I don’t know any of the bands involved, and most likely I wouldn’t have connected with the music or the overall atmosphere at all. It’s just not my world. But every now and then, especially in quiet moments, I’d find myself mentally stumbling over that one paragraph about stereotypes and the gender imbalance. At its core, it seems to be quite simple: it's unfortunate that there are any divisions into groups and the associated role clichés when it comes to musical taste. I mean, wouldn't it be great if more women listened to black/death/doom/sludge metal? Sure! And wouldn't it be absolutely wonderful if folk rock gigs weren’t one of the few places where women feel safe and comfortable simply because they’re “among themselves”? Of course! But that’s exactly where my personal dilemma begins. As much as I’d like to claim that I judge music solely by my own taste and that I can enjoy all kinds of genres free from any clichés or biases, it simply wouldn’t be true. Because taste doesn’t come from nowhere. It’s not something you can simply change just because you want to, or because others want you to. Instead, it’s shaped by personal influences and experiences. Growing up and developing a musical taste is not just about who we are and where we come from, it's also about who we want to be. And that's where groups come into play. Not the groups we’re born into (and sometimes even want to break free from), but the groups and role models we look up to, and the movements and subcultures we want to belong to. Sharing the same taste in music somehow becomes part of that, doesn't it? As does a shared dislike of other music, to set ourselves apart from other groups. Gender, age, social background, religion, level of education, political views... I wish none of those things had ever kept me from being truly open to other kinds of music, but I'm afraid this ideal of absolute open-mindedness is just an illusion. And the proof that I’m not as open-minded as I’d like to be is right here: It’s just not my world. All it takes for me to say that is the label “folk rock” and a photo of a group of people I don’t biologically belong to. And if I’m being completely honest with myself, a rowing pit is something I don’t really want to belong to either. And even though I know how wrong it is to think that way, I can’t change it. Because I am who I am. And now here I am, trying to be self-reflective and say something smart and insightful, only to come to one single realization: that I can’t truly judge the gender divide in rock and metal music. Because you’re born into one of those groups, and society imposes gender-specific patterns of behavior that are instilled in you and stay with you for a lifetime. All of that, and much more, influences what kind of music you like, what kind of people you want to be surrounded by, and the musical environment in which you feel comfortable. How can I judge that when I can’t even look beyond the boundaries I’ve set for myself many years ago, and done so entirely of my own free will? So maybe we should all do it like Ivor and just go to a totally random rock/folk/nonmetal show once in a while, without having listened to a single song beforehand and without paying attention to the genre. That might not do much to change said imbalance, but it would at least be a small start. Because one thing is certain: as long as the male-dominated heavy metal scene doesn’t fundamentally change, we can’t expect more women to become metalheads on their own. The path in the other direction, from metal to rock and beyond, is much easier by comparison. Well... I can’t promise it will ever happen, but if I do end up attending a typical “women’s music” concert within the next 14 months, I will definitely think of this article again. 
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Posts: 5718 Written by Starvynth on 19.07.2025 at 00:21 You know, I'll take this as compliment of highest order. It's one thing to know that there are silent readers out there. It's quite another to get this kind of acknowledgment of the staying power of some of the musings that happen in the moment. Even if there are only a handful of you like this it makes it worthwhile. I.
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