Erki Pärnoja is an Estonian celebrity, most famous for being the guitarist of Ewert and The Two Dragons. In 2015, he recorded his first solo album, Himmelbjerget (‘heaven hill’ in Danish). The album is composed to take the listeners on an imaginary musical trip to the beautiful Danish scenery. It is inspired by Scandinavian nature and culture, which Erki experienced when studying in Sweden.
It is hard to choose a style to define Himmelbjerget. The show started with Western tunes that could be Tarantino soundtracks; then went into very classy post-rock, later had some upbeat indie vibes with a slight punkish touch to them.
The stage was full of action: Jonas Kaarnamets operated electric and acoustic guitars and synthesised sounds, Peedu Kass was switching from bass guitar to double bass, Filip Leyman was balancing between his keyboard and percussions, Ulrik Ording was playing with drumsticks, brushes and mallets, and during one song he was even hitting the drums with his bare hand and a tambourine. Such complex logistics required full concentration and cooperation from the performers. You could see them look at each other expecting the little signals unobservable for the spectator.
The audience clearly came well-prepared. It seemed everyone had listened to the album, so people would cheer to the intros of their favourite compositions. The end of the show sounded like an awakening sunrise, a rebirth right into space. Understandably, after such a sensation the audience asked the band to come for an encore. That is when they went full on crazy with guitar skills. Erki and Jonas played a long intro; and it was like two very elaborate guitar solos played at the same time and fused into one masterpiece. The rest of the band caught up, and they gave the audience one final rapture.
Check the pictures of the concert here.
Erki Pärnoja: Himmelbjerget (Estonia-Sweden-Denmark)
April 28th, 11 pm at Punane Maja
Erki Pärnoja – guitar
Jonas Kaarnamets – guitar
Filip Leyman – keyboard
Peedu Kass – double bass, bass guitar
Ulrik Ording – drum