When i heard Alestorm were touring again, i decided it was one of those gigs i just needed to go to. I'd seen them twice before, once at the Metal Hammer Awards and once in Peterborough. So we all decided we were going to go, but when it actually got around to it, only two of us actually 
went... So we had to go on the train and then figure out how to get to the Park, a small club that holds perhaps a couple hundred people, maybe less.. So we are walking around Peterborough and see some kids in Alestorm shirts wandering about so decide to follow them. They'll know where to go, right? Well we followed them, then see the former bassist (now guitarist) Dani, walking along the road. So instead of following him, we kept following these people and got lost. When we finally got in we looked at the merch stand and managed to get a shirt for £9 and a twirl instead of the £10 they were asking. Result.
So the first band come on (Above), and they were awful. This is completely my opinion but i simply can't stand the kind of "music" they were doing. Their set was pretty much people playing instruments, and a fat guy growling at a microphone. The rest of the band seemed pretty out of place if you ask me, they seemed to be in the wrong genre but i thought it was awful... The singer decided to inform the crowd we could buy their t-shirts, yet didn't other to say who they actually
were..
The next band wasn't any better, these were at least older (the first band seemed to have a combined age of 30) but it was still mindless screaming and growling which i really don't like.
After a short wait, the third support act came on. After the first two i honestly wasn't expecting much. I'd heard these guys (TYR, Right) were sort of viking metal so wasn't hopeful. When they came onstage in their chainmail and battle armour, the first thing that i notice was that the singer held a remarkable resemblance to James Hetfield (Metallica), and i was sat their going "Please be singing, please be singing etc etc) and they started to play. My god. They were amazing. Before each song, the singer introduced it by explaining what the song was abut (a specific piece of folklore, some mythological thing or whatever) and then they played it. Now
normally i only really listen to music in English, because i like to know what is being said, but they way these guys had written and sung these songs was just mesmerising. I couldn't take my eyes off them. They seemed to be having a great time, and were clearly well known amongst the crowd. Halfway through the set, the singer finished his drink (from a horn type thing) and simply said "So who has alcohol for me? No beer!", and passed his drinking horn into the crowd. When someone complained it was empty he laughed at said "haha i know, that is my problem!!" When he got himself some drink, the songs returned.
They played a mixture of old a newer songs, such as Hold the Heathen Hammer High, and Hail to the Hammer, and many more, but as i am not familiar with the band, i don't know the names. Also, many of them were in different languages, which just made the whole scenario more amazing. Slightly later on, the singer took off his armour, and someone in the crowd shouted
"Strip" to which the response "Oh no, you first" was given, which the crowd thought was hilarious. They played for about 45 minutes, then left. This, however, was the first time i had seen a support act do an encore before. They ran back on and said "Do you guys mind if we play another song?" everyone cheered. Now, remember i said the guy reminded me of James Hetfield, the song they chose for the encore was "Whiskey in the Jar" by Metallica. Conicidence? I think not!
After waiting about 15 minutes, Alestorm came onstage. When i saw these guys first 2 times i thought it was brialliant, they seemed to be having a really great time, and so did the fans. I'm not sure why, but this gig was slightly dissappointing. It may have simply been because the crowd was much more violent then the
previous 2 times i had seen them, and i ended up being crushed into one corner. Luckily, i'm tall enough to see pretty much wherever i am in gigs, so my view was still pretty good. Unfortunately, Chris, the singer seems to have taken to swearing much more than normal, which really ruined to whole atmosphere. Instead of being like the last time filled with piratey childish jokes, this time the show was just filled with as many profanities as he seemed to be able to fit in. They seem to have cut the piratey jokes out of the show altogether, which sucks, they've kept the voices and seemed to be trying to make it funny by doing a song about swine flu, but in my opinion they couldn't recreate the effect their last show had on me. Halfway through the show, some genius decided crowd surfing would be a good idea, and as there is no security at this venue, there is no gap between the stage and the crowd so this guy got thrown forwards and crashed into Dani and Chris, Dani almost falling over and looking incredibly uncomfortable for the rest of the show. Some guy did run onstage and throw the guy back into the crowd though, but it's people like that that make security a necessary precaution at most gigs, which i think just ruins it for the other people there.
They played a very mixed selection of songs from all their albums, including Captains Morgans Revenge, Nancy the Tavern Wench, Wenches and Mead, Huntsmasters, Leviathan, Keelhauled,
Pirate Song and That Famous old Spice. For the end of their set, however, TYR joined them onstage and altoghether they sang Wolves of the Sea, which was awesome. There were about 5 people playing Chris' keytar and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was a very entertaining evening, but not as good as previous times i'd seen them. I was surprised they didn't even mention that Gavin (Former Guitarist) had left, they just walked on and it seemed they didn't really care, which i thought was quite bad. I would gladly go see them again, i just hope they haven;'t started to take themselves too seriously as that will be their downfall.
went... So we had to go on the train and then figure out how to get to the Park, a small club that holds perhaps a couple hundred people, maybe less.. So we are walking around Peterborough and see some kids in Alestorm shirts wandering about so decide to follow them. They'll know where to go, right? Well we followed them, then see the former bassist (now guitarist) Dani, walking along the road. So instead of following him, we kept following these people and got lost. When we finally got in we looked at the merch stand and managed to get a shirt for £9 and a twirl instead of the £10 they were asking. Result.So the first band come on (Above), and they were awful. This is completely my opinion but i simply can't stand the kind of "music" they were doing. Their set was pretty much people playing instruments, and a fat guy growling at a microphone. The rest of the band seemed pretty out of place if you ask me, they seemed to be in the wrong genre but i thought it was awful... The singer decided to inform the crowd we could buy their t-shirts, yet didn't other to say who they actually
were.. The next band wasn't any better, these were at least older (the first band seemed to have a combined age of 30) but it was still mindless screaming and growling which i really don't like.
After a short wait, the third support act came on. After the first two i honestly wasn't expecting much. I'd heard these guys (TYR, Right) were sort of viking metal so wasn't hopeful. When they came onstage in their chainmail and battle armour, the first thing that i notice was that the singer held a remarkable resemblance to James Hetfield (Metallica), and i was sat their going "Please be singing, please be singing etc etc) and they started to play. My god. They were amazing. Before each song, the singer introduced it by explaining what the song was abut (a specific piece of folklore, some mythological thing or whatever) and then they played it. Now
normally i only really listen to music in English, because i like to know what is being said, but they way these guys had written and sung these songs was just mesmerising. I couldn't take my eyes off them. They seemed to be having a great time, and were clearly well known amongst the crowd. Halfway through the set, the singer finished his drink (from a horn type thing) and simply said "So who has alcohol for me? No beer!", and passed his drinking horn into the crowd. When someone complained it was empty he laughed at said "haha i know, that is my problem!!" When he got himself some drink, the songs returned.They played a mixture of old a newer songs, such as Hold the Heathen Hammer High, and Hail to the Hammer, and many more, but as i am not familiar with the band, i don't know the names. Also, many of them were in different languages, which just made the whole scenario more amazing. Slightly later on, the singer took off his armour, and someone in the crowd shouted
"Strip" to which the response "Oh no, you first" was given, which the crowd thought was hilarious. They played for about 45 minutes, then left. This, however, was the first time i had seen a support act do an encore before. They ran back on and said "Do you guys mind if we play another song?" everyone cheered. Now, remember i said the guy reminded me of James Hetfield, the song they chose for the encore was "Whiskey in the Jar" by Metallica. Conicidence? I think not!After waiting about 15 minutes, Alestorm came onstage. When i saw these guys first 2 times i thought it was brialliant, they seemed to be having a really great time, and so did the fans. I'm not sure why, but this gig was slightly dissappointing. It may have simply been because the crowd was much more violent then the
previous 2 times i had seen them, and i ended up being crushed into one corner. Luckily, i'm tall enough to see pretty much wherever i am in gigs, so my view was still pretty good. Unfortunately, Chris, the singer seems to have taken to swearing much more than normal, which really ruined to whole atmosphere. Instead of being like the last time filled with piratey childish jokes, this time the show was just filled with as many profanities as he seemed to be able to fit in. They seem to have cut the piratey jokes out of the show altogether, which sucks, they've kept the voices and seemed to be trying to make it funny by doing a song about swine flu, but in my opinion they couldn't recreate the effect their last show had on me. Halfway through the show, some genius decided crowd surfing would be a good idea, and as there is no security at this venue, there is no gap between the stage and the crowd so this guy got thrown forwards and crashed into Dani and Chris, Dani almost falling over and looking incredibly uncomfortable for the rest of the show. Some guy did run onstage and throw the guy back into the crowd though, but it's people like that that make security a necessary precaution at most gigs, which i think just ruins it for the other people there.They played a very mixed selection of songs from all their albums, including Captains Morgans Revenge, Nancy the Tavern Wench, Wenches and Mead, Huntsmasters, Leviathan, Keelhauled,
Pirate Song and That Famous old Spice. For the end of their set, however, TYR joined them onstage and altoghether they sang Wolves of the Sea, which was awesome. There were about 5 people playing Chris' keytar and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was a very entertaining evening, but not as good as previous times i'd seen them. I was surprised they didn't even mention that Gavin (Former Guitarist) had left, they just walked on and it seemed they didn't really care, which i thought was quite bad. I would gladly go see them again, i just hope they haven;'t started to take themselves too seriously as that will be their downfall.
