Ship ahoy landlubber! Hoist the sails and set course for Den Bosch, because tonight the pirate band Alestorm will play in the Mainstage! In addition to an abundance of giant inflatable rubber ducks, they’re also bringing along some great bands. Namely, partners in crime pirate band Rumahoy, the dwarves of Wind Rose, and power metal classic Gloryhammer. With 4600 people, this will be the biggest club show they have ever played so far.
Today, it’s Rumahoy‘s turn to kick off the evening. The fact that the band is on tour with Alestorm is not entirely coincidental. The band’s vocalist, better known as Captain Yarrface, can be heard on multiple Alestorm songs. Having them on tour is therefore quite convenient. As soon as the band members, wearing balaclavas, take the stage, the lights go out. The band starts playing and Captain Yarrface calmly walks onto the stage. Once he begins to sing, it remains eerily dark on stage. When one of the technicians tries to illuminate one of the guitarists with a flashlight from the side of the stage, it becomes clear that this is not entirely the intention. It doesn’t take long for the entire audience to pull out their phones to lend a hand and shine a light. Despite the fact that this may not have been the intention, it does help to create good interaction with the audience.
If you like quality music that is technically well put together, you’ve really come to the wrong place tonight. And Rumahoy knows how to prove that right away. Halfway through the set, an old antique pistol (read: small, cheap plastic pistol) is brought out for the song Treasure Gun, during which Captain Yarrface pretends to shoot people with his fake gun. It may be cheap entertainment, but that doesn’t mean their songs can’t be catchy. Recently, the band released a song called Not Looking For Love with a music video in which Christopher, the singer of Alestorm, is dressed as a very attractive woman dancing. As one of my colleagues previously wrote in an album review of Time II: Party: “creativity=10, singalong factor=80, beer drinking factor=100, musicality=65”.
The second band tonight is Wind Rose! This group of dwarves from Italy released their fifth studio album called Warfront last June. Most of the songs played tonight are therefore from this album. After the intro track Of War and Sorrow is finished, the set kicks off with the song Army of Stone. Throughout the set, songs such as Drunken Dwarves, Fellow of the Hammer, and Together We Rise are played. Although I have only seen this band live once and never listen to their music otherwise, I still know all the songs. This proves that the music is catchy and memorable. The set is closed with Diggy Diggy Hole, a cover they released in 2019, which was originally written by gaming YouTubers Yogscast Lewis & Simon. In 2020, they re-released this song as a Dance Remix since concerts and festivals were not allowed to take place at the time, but clubs were open, and this was a way for the song to still be played. At the end of Diggy Diggy Hole, this Dance version is also briefly played, causing the metaphorical roof to literally come off.
The third band to perform today is Gloryhammer. Gloryhammer is one of the bands that Christopher has founded alongside Alestorm. Officially, he still plays in the band, but for live performances, there is a substitute for Christopher who plays the keyboard. During this tour, Gloryhammer co-headlines the shows in Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic, but tonight the band is “only” an opening act. Before the show begins, a random cardboard cutout of Tom Jones appears on stage and various Queen songs play through the speakers. The atmosphere is great, and the security staff is visibly enjoying themselves as they encourage the audience to wave along to the music.
When the intro song Into the Terrorvortex of Kor-Virliath from their latest album Legends from Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex starts playing, the band members appear one by one on stage. The set is opened with The Siege of Dunkeld. Today is my first time seeing Gloryhammer live with their new singer. Although it takes some getting used to seeing Gloryhammer without Thomas, Sozos does a great job. In the middle of the song Gloryhammer, a goblin appears on stage with the Hammer of Glory. After flipping off the audience a few times, he engages in a fight with singer Sozos. Once Sozos has taken the Hammer of Glory from the goblin, he knocks him down and the goblin quickly runs offstage. With the hammer held high, Sozos accepts the applause from the audience. The theatrical elements fit with the music, but at the same time come off as a bit childish.
Halfway through the performance, the show is momentarily stopped for a dramatic interlude in which bassist James Cartwright charmingly drinks a beer to the music of Also sprach Zarathustra. James does not just come on stage for a beer, however. He also has an important announcement. This is the last time that Gloryhammer will perform in Den Bosch. When the audience starts to boo, he corrects himself. It is not, in fact, the last time they will perform in Den Bosch, but the last time they will perform in the Netherlands at all! As the audience continues to boo loudly, he corrects himself one last time. It is, in fact, the last time that Gloryhammer will perform in the Netherlands until they release a new album this summer! While the audience repeatedly shouts the phrase “Hoots,” the rest of the band members return to the stage. Later in the set, songs like Hootsforce, Universe on Fire, and The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee are played. Although I don’t have much of a connection to Gloryhammer, I can’t deny that this is secretly pretty awesome. Especially live! Is it heavy metal music? Definitely not. But it’s definitely a party! Judging by the enthusiastic jumping and singing of the audience, I’m not the only one who thinks so.
Around half past nine, the headliner of tonight is announced by a voice-over, and it is none other than the one and only Alestorm! The men storm onto the stage full of energy and during the intro, a fast 8-bit version of the Alestorm classic Keelhauled blasts through the speakers. After the intro, it is also the first song played tonight. As guitarist Mate Bodor starts playing the well-known melody on his guitar, a massive moshpit immediately erupts in the crowd. The atmosphere is electric right from the very first second. As I mentioned earlier, those who are here tonight for deep song lyrics would have been better off choosing another concert. This is further proved with the next song, Pirate Metal Drinking Crew. A combination of a catchy tune, simple lyrics, a healthy dose of swear words and animal noises make for an easy win with the crowd.
Those who thought it couldn’t get any sillier than that are mistaken. With the song Cannonball from the most recent album Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum that was released last year, the level drops even further. But everyone is visibly having a good time and singing along to lyrics like “Stick a cannonball up your cunt […] Put your dick in a blender.”. After the song, singer Christopher Bowes welcomes a guest on stage. The one and only Beef Guy, who suspiciously looks a lot like Captain Yarrface from the opening act. While the band plays a fast version of Drunken Sailor and the audience cheers him on, Beef Guy drinks a whole bottle of wine in one go. Those who have seen Alestorm before know what time it is. It’s time for Alestorm‘s cover of the song Hangover, originally by Taio Cruz. It’s not that Alestorm needs covers to fill their setlist. Believe it or not, they still have enough songs that I would like to see on the setlist such as Woodenleg I and Walk the Plank. But Hangover is a fun party song that always gets the audience going.
Alestorm doesn’t only play uptempo party songs. They also have slower songs like Nancy the Tavern Wench. As soon as the song starts, almost the entire crowd sits down on the beer-sticky floor and spontaneously starts rowing. It’s not the first time I’ve seen the audience rowing during this song, but the number of people doing it today is a first for me. After the song, they quickly play the three-second-long track, Rumpelkombo.
Although the entire evening has been a big party, it’s time for a real P.A.R.T.Y. now because it’s Pirate Party Time! All the lights get a bright, colorful hue and the whole crowd starts clapping to the beat of the music. Despite the fact that the song is less than a year old, it has already become a true Alestorm classic. Captain Yarrface also has a guest role in this song, and we see him drinking from a shoe halfway through the song, just as we hear in the lyrics.
Those who only know Alestorm from the catchy songs about alcohol and stealing pirate ships will be surprised tonight that the band once released a black metal song called Death Throes of the Terrorsquid. Since it has been eight years since this song was played live, it is the big surprise on tonight’s setlist! But Alestorm wouldn’t be Alestorm if they wouldn’t make it at least a bit silly. During the song, someone comes on stage dressed as an octopus who pretends to attack the band members.
With the all-time Alestorm classic Drink, the encore is initiated. As beer flies through the air and the lyrics are loudly sung along, a new batch of crowdsurfers makes its way over the audience. Another surprise on today’s setlist is Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship. Although the song, from Curse of the Crystal Coconut, is certainly not unknown to fans, it is not a song I expected to see on the setlist today. This song also features a section sung by a female voice. For this live version, Alestorm has come up with a beautiful solution, namely Captain Yarrface in a dress with a wig on, using a hairbrush as a microphone while clearly lip-syncing.
Unfortunately, we have now come to the end of this evening. But before they leave, Christopher has one important final message. While Bobo cheerfully plays some chords on his guitar, Christopher wants to express on a serious and emotional note how he feels towards everyone who has traveled to Den Bosch today to attend this show. Everyone in the room already knows what time it is, and as Christopher begins to count, all middle fingers go up on the beat of four, both from the band and the audience. With a radiant smile, everyone present in the room is insulted. And the audience returns that same energy to the band at least three times as hard. From a distance, it may look strange. But at a performance like this, Fucked With an Anchor is the icing on the cake that makes the evening complete.
While the setlists, drumsticks, and picks are being handed out, we hear the theme song of the children’s series DuckTales in the background. Singer Christopher quickly crawls down from the stage, climbs on top of the front barrier, and throws himself forward onto the eagerly awaiting crowd. Crowdsurfing with a plastic inflatable sword, he makes his way through the venue towards the bar, where he orders a beer in fluent Dutch while hanging in the air. Back at the stage, he takes his time to take pictures with anyone who wants one. You can say what you want, but most bands that play in these types of venues disappear backstage just seconds after their performance. The fact that Christopher is still taking pictures with fans long after the show, in my opinion, shows that they do care a lot about their fans.
In my opinion, this was a very successful evening. Alestorm has once again proven themselves to be the ultimate party band. I know that I won’t be able to convince the sourpusses who don’t like Alestorm no matter what. But if you have a sense of atmosphere and conviviality, and you feel like having an evening full of beer and silliness, then I definitely recommend an evening with Alestorm! During this tour, Alestorm had a nice, diverse line-up of bands that all fit well together. For now, this show in The Netherlands was the largest headline show that Alestorm has ever given with 4,600 people. I’m curious to see if this record can be broken during a future European tour.
Setlist:
- Intro
- Keelhauled
- Pirate Metal Drinking Crew
- Under Blackened Banners
- The Sunk’n Norwegian
- Alestorm
- Cannonball
- What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor?
- Hangover (Taio Cruz cover)
- Magellan’s Expedition
- Mexico
- Tortuga
- Nancy the Tavern Wench
- Rumpelkombo
- Shipwrecked
- P.A.R.T.Y.
- Death Throes of the Terrorsquid
- Shit Boat (No Fans)
- Drink
- Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship
- Fucked With an Anchor
- Duck Tales (intro)
Date and location:
January 29, 2023, Mainstage, Den Bosch, The Netherlands
Photo’s:
Niek van de Vondervoort – niekvandevondervoort.com
Links: