Alestorm - Bristol Review

I have always had a bit of a strange relationship with the more overtly silly end of power metal. I am sure that some would say that all power metal is silly (which is hard to disagree with in truth), but there is a particular brand of it that really pushes the boat out when it comes to both humour and over-the-top attitudes. Scotland's Alestorm are one such band. While I cannot claim to have been a fan of the band when they were unsigned and called Battleheart, I did pick up 2008's Captain Morgan's Revenge, the band's debut album, not too long after it was released. As such, I have followed the band since near enough the beginning - and at one point they were regulars on my iPod. Both Captain Morgan's Revenge and 2009's Black Sails at Midnight were albums that I listened to a lot - but over time my love for the band has waned. For me, each album following Black Sails at Midnight (which the exception of 2017's No Grave but the Sea) has seen a drop-off in quality in comparison with what came before it - with 2020's Curse of the Crystal Coconut being a read nadir. Alestorm have always had their tongues firmly in their cheeks, but over time their modus operandi has moved from writing clever folk/power metal songs with a piratical theme to essentially becoming a living meme. Each album has got more ridiculous as a result, so much so that I wonder if Christopher Bowes' (vocals/keyboards) heart is really in it anymore. No Grave but the Sea showed that the band could still write strong songs, while having a laugh along the way, but Curse of the Crystal Coconut undid all of that good work - and contained some truly awful songs. That being said, however, each album (including Curse of the Crystal Coconut) has included some good songs - so I have kept up with the band's progress throughout their career, even if I no longer listen to them anywhere near as regularly as I used to. A post-lockdown gig in Bristol seemed like a good opportunity to catch up with the band again properly. Before last night, I had only seen the band live twice previously: once in 2012 supporting DragonForce in Nottingham, and once two years later in Plymouth where they headlined the much-missed Hub. I had the opportunity to watch them at the 2018 iteration of Bloodstock Open Air too, but I opted to see Voyager instead. Given it had been seven years since I had last seen the band live, I was looking forward to a night in Bristol with Alestorm. Helping to sweeten the deal too was the inclusion of Gloryhammer on the bill - who are essentially Alestorm's equivalent in the fantasy-themed power/symphonic metal world and have links to the Scottish band. The night promised to be a lot of fun if nothing else, and a trip to Bristol is always welcome.

With the doors opening at 7pm, three bands to get through, and an 11pm curfew, there was not much time to waste. The gig at the O2 Academy was sold out, and as such the queue to get in was lengthy. Due to me getting to the venue only around 15 minutes before the doors opened, I did not actually get into the venue until about 7:30pm - by which time the opening act Bootyard Bandits were already on stage. The country metal act, for want of a better description, did not have much time to work with, but the part of their set that I saw was quite fun. Fronted by Joel Peters (who I recently saw fronting Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons), and including drummer Paul White (who I have seen with both The Defiled and Aaron Buchanan and the Cult Classics in the past), the band's sound was pretty easily listening. They were not particularly heavy, and the country elements in their sound were not as strong as they perhaps could have been, but many of the songs were still quite memorable. There were quite a few decent choruses that encouraged quite a lot of crowd participation, especially for an opening act, and there were times when the banjo that was sometimes wielded by one of the band's guitarists was well-integrated into the songs (although there were quite a few times too where it did not really seem to add anything). Bootyard Bandits' short set was a fun introduction to the evening's music however, and they certainly got the crowd nicely warmed up for what followed.

Gloryhammer were up next, and had much more time to play with. It was only just over two years ago that the band pulled a healthy crowd in the city, at SWX, so I think that many in attendance were there as much for Gloryhammer as they were for Alestorm. I was certainly one of those, and in truth I prefer Gloryhammer these days. They are similarly silly to Alestorm, but they have not crossed over into full-blown meme territory yet - and still manage to tread the line between parody and deadly serious perfectly. This tour features something of a new-look Gloryhammer, however, as it is their first outing with new frontman Sozos Michael. While he has not yet mastered the band's trademark stage patter, as a vocalist he is a perfect fit - and in truth his super smooth voice might even be better suited to the band's material than Thomas Winkler's was. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the band's set was largely a condensed version of the 2019 tour's setlist - with many of the songs played being real crowd favourites. It kicked off with two anthemic tracks in the form of The Siege of Dunkeld (In Hoots We Trust) and Gloryhammer - both of which got the venue's capacity crowd heavily involved from the off. Gloryhammer's music is epic, but also extremely hooky - so much so that every chorus was sung back loudly at the band. Some of the songs go for a more cinematic sound, such as The Land of Unicorns, and there are even AOR-esque moments such as the soaring chorus of Legendary Enchanted Jetpack - a song that was debuted live on this tour. Being a Gloryhammer show, however, there was also some time given over to the pantomime of the band's overall concept. Each member of the band represents a character in the story; so James Cartwright (bass guitar/vocals) introduced The Hollywood Hootsman after downing a pint; and Paul Templing (guitar/vocals) played the pantomime villain perfectly to usher in the anthemic Masters of the Galaxy - which was sung loudly by the whole crowd. At times it was easy to forget that Gloryhammer was 'just' the support band, and that there was more to come. The band are masters of their craft at this point, and when Michael embraces his character more fully I think the band will reach new heights. I am looking forward to hearing new material with him, but vocally he has already got the band's classics down to a tee. They could do little wrong by this point, with the fist-pumping Angus McFife and the disco-influenced Universe on Fire feeling like victory laps. It was left to The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee to bring the set to a close - and the roar of the crowd certainly showed that the band had done their job. The setlist was:

Into the Terrorvortex of Kor-Virliath

The Siege of Dunkeld (In Hoots We Trust)

Gloryhammer
The Land of Unicorns

Legendary Enchanted Jetpack

The Hollywood Hootsman

Hootsforce

Masters of the Galaxy

Angus McFife

Universe on Fire

The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee

For me, Gloryhammer were the band of the night. However, and despite my general apathy for their recent direction, Alestorm still put on a great show. The band might be a living meme these days, but live they are professional - and the current line-up might well be their tightest yet as a live unit. Their 90 minute set got underway with the jaunty Keelhauled, an old classic, and proceeded to pull songs from all six of their studio albums in a fairly even manner. As the tour is somewhat for Curse of the Crystal Coconut, five songs were featured from it. Treasure Chest Party Quest was the first of the new numbers played - and it is one of the album's stronger cuts in my opinion. It is silly as anything, but the chorus is really catchy - and the stop-start riffing from Máté Bodor (guitar/vocals) works well. Elliot Vernon (vocals/keyboards) delivered the song's harsh vocals with ease too, and just generally looked like the most laid back man of all-time up there on stage behind his tilted keyboard. Alestorm became a much better live band when he joined, so much so that Bowes rarely touches his keytar these days - although he did still pull out a few impressive lead runs. Despite quite a few newer songs featured, for me it was the older songs that really shone. The keyboard-heavy The Sunk'n Norwegian was a highlight, with the whole crowd singing the chorus, while the fast-paced Shipwrecked was a great representation of what the band used to be about. Songs like Tortuga however, with its strange rap/dubstep elements, showcased everything that annoys me about modern Alestorm. It saw the first appearance of the night from Luke Philp too, who took to the stage as Captain Yarrface to do the rapped vocals. It was not long before the set was back on dry land though, as the epic 1741 (The Battle of Cartagena) pulled out all of the stops. The track is one of the band's longest, and it is a great example of folky power metal - with lots of pompous keyboards and shredded guitar solos. The song's chorus is one of the band's best too, and shows that they can be memorable without needing to always resort to jokes. In retrospect then, perhaps the band covering Taio Cruz's Hangover a few years ago should have been a red flag. Its inclusion in the set saw Philp wheeled out for more rapping, and the next chunk of the set, with the exception of the heavy Magnetic North was largely in the realms of overly silly with their cover of the old Eurovision song Wolves of the Sea and the poor Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship - the latter being from the new album. A rousing Captain Morgan's Revenge took me right back to 2008 however, and it was great to hear the song live again - as it was one of my favourite songs when the first album dropped. The main set was then finished with Shit Boat (No Fans), arguably the band's worst song yet, but it was sung loudly by everyone in attendance anyway. A three-song encore saw the band on firmer ground however. The old-school anthem Drink was a lot of fun, before Pirate Metal Drinking Crew from the new album came over well live despite its inane lyrics. Fucked With an Anchor (with Michael and Gloryhammer's keyboardist Michael Barber dressed up as Bowes - which was quite funny) then brought the evening to a rousing close - the profane song attracting possibly the loudest cheers and singing of the night. The setlist was:

Keelhauled

Treasure Chest Party Quest

Mexico

The Sunk'n Norwegian

Shipwrecked

Alestorm

Tortuga [w/ Luke Philp]

Nancy the Tavern Wench

Rumpelkombo

1741 (The Battle of Cartagena)

What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor? [Traditional sea shanty]

Hangover [Taio Cruz cover w/ Luke Philp and Joel Peters]

Magnetic North

Wolves of the Sea [Pirates of the Sea cover]

Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship

Captain Morgan's Revenge

Shit Boat (No Fans)

-

Drink

Pirate Metal Drinking Crew

Fucked With an Anchor [w/ Sozos Michael and Michael Barber]

Despite a setlist which included a bit too much of the Alestorm that does little for me, I had a great time with the Scottish band. The atmosphere was great throughout, and everyone in the O2 Academy was having a very good time. Alestorm's meme status is clearly not much of an issue for others, and I was probably in a minority wishing that songs like Tortuga, Hangover, and Zombies At My Pirate Ship could have been replaced with others from Alestorm's catalogue. The night was still a lot of fun however, with both Alestorm and Gloryhammer putting on strong showings to a packed house.