PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
When Gloryhammer announced their first ever gig, I decided that I had to be there – their debut album has to be one of the best power metal albums of the year, so a chance to see their debut gig wasn’t to be missed, even if it involved a long trip to the venue in Holland.
The venue for the gig was Little Devil, a small rock bar in Tilburg with a venue attached that holds just 175 people, so it was going to be an intimate gig. Arriving at the venue it was obviously the right place – the crowd of people in black T-shirts was a giveaway that there was a metal gig here.
The night kicked off with Magnetron, a thrash metal band from the nearby town of Breda. They sounded pretty good – nice and heavy and the screaming vocals worked well – good thrash metal really, but perhaps thrash wasn’t the right choice for an opening band supporting a band that plays cheesy power metal. Certainly I’d happily watch Magnetron again in future.
Long before Gloryhammer finished setting up, the tiny venue was packed to bursting point, and the soaring temperatures were starting to make the place feel like a sauna. The crowd were clearly in the mood to party – they were singing along to the music played over the PA, having battles with inflatable hammers and knocking back the beers. Before long the band were looking almost ready and were on stage in their armour and with singer Thomas Winkler wielding a giant wooden hammer, and the crowd started chanting “Gloryhammer, Gloryhammer” repeatedly – it must have calmed any nerves for the band, and then the lights went down – it was time for the show.
Things started with the intro tape – ‘Anstruther’s Dark Prophecy’ from the album, before the band came in with ‘The Unicorn invasion of Dundee’. At this point the crowd went nuts – only the first song and the first crowd-surfer was up and going, a moshpit started, heads were banging and fans were grinning from ear to ear – this was fantastic stuff. Really that’s how things stayed for the entire gig, despite the sweltering heat there were constantly people on top of the crowd (at one point the cameraman filming the gig crowd-surfed around the venue as he carried on filming). The band played the entire album from start to finish with Thomas Winkler introducing the songs, getting the fans to boo Chris Bowes in his costume as the evil wizard Zargothrax, and doing a great job fronting the band.
Obviously with a gig this good the crowd weren’t going to let the band leave without an encore, so for an encore they played ‘Wizards’ a song that’s a bonus track on the special edition of the album and is about Wizards in space and with time travel thrown in.
This was Gloryhammer’s first ever gig and they sounded fantastic – something made even more impressive by the fact that they hadn’t had time to rehearse beforehand as most the band members had only arrived in Holland the day before, and didn’t even have time to do a sound-check before the gig. The outfits looked great – various armours ranging from chain mail to leather armour, and Chris in his Wizard outfit, and importantly, the outfits fitted the songs rather than having no connection.
The crowd were simply epic – people were singing along through the entire gig with a large percentage of the fans there knowing all the lyrics to the entire album – impressive stuff. On top of that you had the crowd-surfers having a great time, battles with inflatable hammers, fans dressed up in armour, as wizards, as Batman and robin (not quite sure why) or wearing a unicorn head, huge cheers and applause for every song, and generally having a lot of fun, and all this in sweltering hot temperatures – it was probably the best atmosphere I’ve seen at a gig this year.
The only negative was the lighting – or rather the lack of it. There was some lighting behind the band, but nothing noticeable fromt he front, which meant they spent the entire gig in shadow or darkness.
This may have been Gloryhammer’s debut gig, but they’ll find it hard to beat this one – definitely a contender for my gig of the year.
Fan’s who couldn’t make it to the gig may be worried by the lack of tour dates (so far none have been announced), but after talking to the band, I can assure you there are dates planned, but you’ll have to wait for the band to announce where and when they will be. I know one thing for sure – after this gig I’ll be making sure I go to some of the dates when they happen.
Setlist:
Anstruther’s Dark Prophecy
The Unicorn invasion of Dundee
Angus McFife
Quest for the hammer of glory
Magic dragon
Silent tears of frozen princess
Amulet of justice
Hail to crail
Beneath Cowdenbeath
The epic rage of furious thunder
Encore:
Wizards
