12-04-2009 Alestorm

Supports: Adorned Brood, Heidevolk, Týr; Venue: Club Lantaarn, Hellendoorn (The Netherlands)
By: Elvira Visser

The second day for me to see these bands. What I like about Biebob is that all the times I have been there the atmosphere in the venue is very good. The people are friendly and there to have a good time, it does not matter for what band you are coming. The funny thing is, that even though I was there pretty early, after waiting in the queue I finally got in when Adorned Brood was playing. Again. Adorned brood was founded back in 1993 and gained many fans after they co-worked on a track with Erik Hecht from Subway to Sally. Which also led to touring with Subway to Sally. However today they made a better impression to me, partly because it seemed they were standing a bit more relaxed on stage and the audience was more into the band, paying attention and shouting along. The response from the audience lacked a bit in Hellendoorn.

When it was time for Heidevolk, after a quick change over, the fans had gathered in front of the stage with their drinking horns ready. What seemed to be in Heidevolks advantage was that the stage was bigger then the day before, which resulted in them walking around more to cheer up the audience. Onto which the crowd gladly obeyed and asking for more or that one song. When the band played that song, the party was even bigger and not only in front of the stage. The band really seemed to enjoy the response of the crowd, and I think this was for me their best show. They played their songs, talked a bit but still played their show in a fair pace. The guys from Alestorm seemed to enjoy this as well and decided to join on stage. When two of them were dancing like the riverdances on the Heidevolk music I really had to laugh. It was a very funny bunch on stage and there were many people crowd surfing. The energy that filled the venue was all around. Next to me was a France speaking couple shouting for “Het Gelders Volkslied” and “Saksenland”. It was pretty funny to hear them sing along with their France accent. The performance of Heidevolk was great and when they left the stage the crowd demanded more. Luckily the band played a bit more. Great performance.

While people could catch their breath and order a drink the stage was quickly ready for the vikings from the Faroe Islands. They are dressed up in nice leather and that gave their performance a little extra. What I liked about the crowd is that they all seemed to be able to sing along on all the tracks. Even the new ones “Hold the Heathen Hammer High”, “Tróndur I Gøtu” and “The Northern Gate”, which can be bought on the Black Sails over Europe Tour CD. Heri (vocals) told a bit about the new album and the tracks were received with cheering. What I enjoy most of this band is the diversity in their music, the traditional parts, the foreign languages and the great guitar solos. On the three new songs the drums seem to be more present, which is very nice and makes you nod your head along even more. I think Týr is a band that you have to see live to get their magic, as it is so different compared to any other band. Which makes it a pleasure to watch. Gunnar on bass is the one that smiles the most on stage, Kári is hidden behind his drumkit but heri asked the crowd to cheer for him. Althought he band has fun on stage and walk around and laugh they still manage to play a very tight set. To bad the end of their performace came too fast.

When I thought the venue was filled when Týr and Heidevolk were playing, I was wrong. As soon as Alestorm started I got almost crushed as everyone wanted to be in the front, ready to built a party and shout and cheer along. That is what Alestorm is really good at. The people around me started to jump and mosh and before I new the heat was getting me again. Like the day before I had to go outside. When trying to get back in, because I could hear the band outside and hear which song they were playing and the cheering of the audience, it made me very curious what was going on. A wall of warmth was greeting me again, and I could only manage a song or two. I think that was enough to catch the essence of a Alestorm gig. The music was not the best played. I think this evening it was Týr who played really tight, and Heidevolk had the atmosphere going and Alestorm had the audience going mad. For those who could not stand the heat either, Alestorm is coming with a new CD pretty soon: 29 May their CD “Black Sails at Midnight” is coming out.

When seeing all the people leaving the venue completely soaked by their own sweat there was only one conclusion to make. This was a party to end a very good evening

More pictures of this gig available at photographicretentions.nl

Links:
Black Sails Over Europe MySpace
Adorned Broodde MySpace
Heidevolk MySpace
Týr MySpace
Alestorm MySpace