Sunday afternoon a bit different as we went out to go and
see the London leg of the Paganfest!! I’m not usually too much into this
sub-genre but there were a couple of bands I wanted to re-watch and after not
having a great impression of Alestorm’s music, I wanted to see their show!!
So we got to Brixton (me, Ines and the rest of the warrior
sisters), had a beer in the box park and then headed to the Academy, which I
have to say, I missed going there as the place usually is quite good (more on
that ahead)!! Queue was huge, so when we got inside, Elvenking was already
playing!! They were, besides Alestorm the only band I hadn’t seen before, so I
was curious to see what they were all about. With a new album coming out in
April (they played at least one song from it: “Luna”) the Italian sextet showed
plenty of energy in stage with the singer running quite a lot but never losing
his breath. They brought a mix of Power and Folk Metal, with some crazy solos,
heavy riffing and a damn good violinist!! They ended the show with “Elvenlegions”,
which I’m assuming it’s their gathering song, and they were fun to watch and
opened the day quite good!!
Next, would be one of the bands I really wanted to see: Heidevolk!! I had seen them in Sheffield on the HRH Vikings and they left me
with a good impression!! And again, they were really good to watch!! This time
I knew a couple of more songs from them, so identified some like “A Wolf in my
Heart”, “Winter Woede”, plus the enormous, and fun, to try to sing, “Vulgaris
Magistralis”!!! They released their seventh album in 2023, so there was no
surprise that half of the songs in the set were from “Wederkeer”!! They are a
very well oiled machine, with every riff hitting the spot, and a bunch of
different vocals, as besides the two main vocalists (great harmonies coming
from them), Rowan, the bassist, also shows up to growl in quite a few songs!! The
fact they sing most songs in Dutch for me is even a plus as I think the
harshness of that language fits very well their music!! Top-notch and for me it
would be the show of the night!!!
We had time for a couple of more beers and now time for me
to complain about the venue!! It was so cold inside the place, that at some
point I thought we were watching an outdoor show in freezing cold London!! Don’t
know what happened but man I think for the first time in an indoor concert, I
didn’t take my jacket off!!
Used to the cold must be Tyr, the next band in stage, as
they are from the Faroe Islands, and after seeing them opening for Sabaton in
2014 in Portugal, I was looking forward to see them again!! Some people said
they looked a bit tired but I must say it was quite enjoyable to see them and
sing songs like “By the Sword in my Hand” (opening things in a high note), “Hail
to the Hammer” (many Manowar fans were doing the sign of the hammer eheh) and
closing with “Hold the Heathen Hammer High (again some Manowar influence with a
lot of songs about axes, hammers (their newest guitarist surname is Hammer so
better than that, impossible!!) and swords eheh)!! They also played a couple of
songs from their newest album “Battle Ballads”, which contrary to the title is
quite fast/mid-tempo!! They have a lot of melody in their music (something very
noticeable this evening, with exception of the last band) with some very
gripping riffs, a very dynamic rhythm section and vocals very well balanced
between grit and melody. Very good show!!!
Ensiferum was next, and the only time I’ve seen them was in
2010 in a Portuguese festival where they played in the same day as My Dying
Bride (got love the internet to remind you of these things ahah)!! So 15 years
later, they showed up, played a hell of a concert and left with the feeling of
a job well done. Another band with a very recent album, so no surprise to
listen to a couple of songs from it and they weren’t that bad!! Opener “Fatherland”
can become a song which will stay in their set lists in the future!! They
surprised me when the guy playing keyboards all of the sudden delivers some Rob
Halford type of vocals which I wasn’t expecting that much!! I’m still as of
today deciding if I liked them or not ahah!! It sounds weird in their music but
well, they just trying something different, maybe it’s just a phase ahah!! Things
got interesting when they delivered some of their old material like “Victory
Song”, “Iron” or “Lai Lai Hei” (a song with a bit of Finnish Iskelma) which
made some heat return to the Academy. Good show although for me a couple of
notches below the previous bands!!
Ok so let’s go to the
last band!! I wasn’t a fan before their show and didn’t become one now, but
honestly, this wasn’t the worst concert that I’ve ever seen!! But come on man,
they had three huge, inflated ducks on stage, and then no songs about ducks?? Not
even Drunk Duck, Zombie Duck or Pirate Duck? Was too much to ask for a song
about ducks when they had those three yellow monsters on stage? Pretty lame if
you ask me!! Am I not being serious?? Well don’t blame me, Alestorm started
it!! There are songs about drinking, pirates, zombies, more drinking, geography
(it seems there were songs about “Mexico” and “Uzbekistan” (a country that
deserved a song long ago), some guys trying to steel a beer (at the price you
pay for them at the O2, I promise you, there’ll be a big fight for it) and some
sexual gratification with an anchor (don’t ask me why)!! The songs are funny,
people were having fun and singing, so I’m not going to rain on their parade!!
Kudos for Patty Gurdy, with the Hurdy Gurdy (I promise I’m not making it up),
which was very fun to watch and she has a hell of a voice, let her sing more
for drunks sake!!!
Night came to an end, it was interesting, it was also a
Sunday, so it was time to take the tube and get back home because as Alestorm
said, their fans have no jobs, but unfortunately I’m no fan, so I needed to
work Monday morning!!!
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