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Welcome to Brian's Bits, where Brian gets to share at length about various topics stirring inside of him. Awesome Väsen! 1 September 2011 A couple of evenings ago I was fortunate enough to see and hear Väsen — in a rare Oregon appearance — at the Majestic Theatre in Corvallis, sponsored by the Corvallis Folklore Society. The 300-seat auditorium was packed with an enthusiastic crowd for this sold-out concert. Fans came from all over Oregon for a chance to see this Swedish folk-music trio in person. Because my teen-age children, Joanne and Jeremy, both have an interest in acoustic and folk music, I treated them to a night on the town.  For each song Väsen played, one of the three musicians would explain a little bit of the motivation behind why the song was written. Their dry Scandinavian humor kept the audience in stitches the entire evening — very entertaining! The first set passed all too quickly, and before we knew it, it was intermission time. The following video, shot in Berkeley, California, about six months ago, will give you a pretty good idea of what their music sounds like — only it's much more impressive to see them in person.  Before we knew it, they were announcing the last song, to everyone's disappointment. With the closing notes, Väsen received a standing ovation, and loud calls for "encore!" They returned, with Tatiana, and played one last piece, Josefin's Waltz — a beautiful melody and one of my favorites. You can listen to them play it below — again, shot in Berkeley, California, about six months ago. Fourteen years ago I had purchased Väsen's third album, Essence, in a music store in Uddevalla, Sweden. Hoping to get some autographs, I had brought the CD booklet with me to the concert. Sure enough, as we slowly made our way into the lobby, I saw the three band members in different corners of the room, pens in hand. Squeezing through the crowd, I eventually reached all three. Each musician had the same reaction when they saw the 18-year-old booklet — "Wow! That's rare! This CD is going for $100 on the Internet!"   Besides picking up a few of their latest CDs, I also bought Joanne the Väsen Tune Book, containing the sheet music for 18 of their songs. At this very moment that I am writing, Joanne is in her room practicing these pieces — and very happy doing so! While in Switzerland, she learned some Swiss folk music on her violin. Now she is excited to add some Swedish tunes to her répertoire. If you take a look at Väsen's touring schedule, you will see that, with all of the locations around the world where they are giving concerts, we were very fortunate to have them stop in Corvallis. I believe that we have Tatiana to thank for that — so, "Thank you, Tatiana!" It was truly an enchanted evening, and for me, as a long-time Väsen fan, a dream come true. If you ever get a chance to see them in concert, don't you dare let that opportunity slip through your fingers — you will be richly rewarded! For more information about Väsen and their music, be sure to check out the following links:
 
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