hammerfall_2011_10

» Hammerfall 2011 10 29

Reviewed by Tobbe
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Special guests: Amaranthe + Vicious Rumors + Deathdestruction
City: Stockholm, Sweden
Venue: Arenan
Date: 29 October 2011
HammerFall set length: 101 minutes
Amaranthe set length: 36 minutes
Vicious Rumors set length: 34 minutes
Deathdestruction set length: 28 minutes

Deathdestruction

Fredrik Larsson of HammerFall is doing double duties tonight as he performs with Deathdestruction as well. They are trying hard, but with almost no response from the crowd, they have a hard time. The performance is pretty good, but the songs are decent at their best and therefore this gig will soon be forgotten. In their defense they don't have that many songs to pick from though.

Performance: 3 chalices of 10
Stage sound: 3 chalices of 10
Best: The will to perform
Worst: The poor sound quality

(sorry, no setlist)

Vicious Rumors

When Riot cancelled their European tour, California's Vicious Rumors stepped in to take their place. With ten records released it must be hard to play for just over thirty minutes, but they do it well and to this gig, the crowd has awoken, making the band give us those extra drops of sweat. Extra credit to the vocalist who gave everything he had to make this a show to remember.

Performance: 6 chalices of 10
Stage sound: 5 chalices of 10
Best: Soldiers Of The Night
Worst: I almost haven't heard this band before.

(sorry, no setlist)

Amaranthe

Just because you dist a guitar and have some semi growling, you don't qualify as metal. This band plays pop songs disguised as metal and should do better at the Eurovision Song Contest. How did they end up touring with metal bands?

Performance: 1 chalices of 10
Stage sound: 6 chalices of 10
Best: Nothing
Worst: Everything

(sorry, no setlist)

HammerFall

When the band arrives in Stockholm, Sweden, they have only performed three times on their European Outbreak 2011 tour. It's been five months since the release of their controversial eighth album Infected and now it's time to show if the songs from this album will work live. HammerFall reached their peak a couple of years ago and fewer people shows up to their gigs in Sweden now. The venue for tonight's gig is Arenan. Probably the worst venue in the vicinity of Stockholm. The stage is too low and the sound quality is always poor or even worse than poor. Renting this place must be cheap, because I can see no other reason why bands would play here.

Tonight's opener is Patient Zero. A song off their latest release and since it's kind of slow and heavy I don't wake up until the speedy bridge starts at the end of the song. New songs are mixed in between the older songs and their hits. One thing that strikes me thirty minutes into the set is the poor stage lighting. It's way too dark up there and the light is mostly directed at their backs from behind the stage.

Lead singer Joacim Cans says that he has gathered statistics from Spotify and other sources on the internet to see which songs are most popular in their audiences' ears and not in their own. Much to my surprise next song is Always Will Be. Here's an advice, Joacim. The fans on Spotify cannot be your real fans and this song should never be played again. Hey, my mother would probably love that song, but she would never see you guys perform live. Ten minutes later Riders Of The Storm is played and from now on this show is nothing but a joy. Songs like Legacy Of Kings and The Dragon Lies Bleeding goes down well with the crowd and these last 45 minutes seems to rush away rapidly.

The band performed well almost all through the set, with only a couple of mishaps. They were all in a good mood, even if Oscar looked a bit tired now and then. The new songs worked well, even if the older songs made the crowd move even more, but if we give these new songs a couple of years, I'm sure that some of them will stay in the set for a long time.

Performance: 7 chalices of 10
Stage sound: 5 chalices of 10
Best: Riders Of The Storm
Worst: Always Will Be

Setlist:

Patient Zero
Heeding The Call
Any Means Necessary
B.Y.H.
Blood Bound
Let's Get It On
Last Man Standing
Renegade
Always Will Be
Dia De Los Muertos
Riders Of The Storm
Steel Meets Steel
Legacy Of Kings
Let The Hammer Fall
The Dragon Lies Bleeding
The Templar Flame
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Glory To The Brave
One More Time
Hearts On Fire