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On stage: Hammerfall



- W.O.A. - Aug. 1999 - Wacken (D) -
- Hammerfall, Masterplan & Dream Evil - Feb. 2003 - Oberhausen (D) -
- Hammerfall, Stratovarius & Shakra - Nov. 2005 - Cologne (D) -
- RockHard Festival - May 2007 - Gelsenkirchen (D) -
- Bang-Your-Head - June 2007 - Balingen (D) -
- Masters Of Rock - July 2007 - Vizovice (CZ) -
- Hammerfall - Apr. 2010 - Houston, TX (USA) -
- Hammerfall, Vicious Rumors, Amaranthe
   & Death Destruction
- Nov. 2011 - Oberhausen (D) -


www.hammerfall.net









- Hammerfall, Vicious Rumors, Amaranthe & Death Destruction -
- November 4th 2011 - Oberhausen (D), Turbinenhalle -





Death Destruction - live in Oberhausen

Death Destruction - live in Oberhausen

Amaranthe - live in Oberhausen

Amaranthe - live in Oberhausen

Amaranthe - live in Oberhausen

Vicious Rumors - live in Oberhausen

Vicious Rumors - live in Oberhausen

HammerFall - live in Oberhausen

HammerFall - live in Oberhausen

HammerFall - live in Oberhausen

With Infected HammerFall delivered an album which surprised some sceptics and choosing support bands which offer some variety they were drawing some metal heads who probably haven't seen them before.


The opening band is Death Destruction, a band which hardly fits on the bill, but as HammerFall bassist Frederik Larsson is part of the Gothenborg outfit it's no surprise. On drums former Evergrey drummer Jonas Ekdahl and on guitars another ex-Evergrey, Henrik Danhage. And so many might expect some kind of dark heavy metal or power metal, but that isn't what you get! Death Destruction combine different sound and present a sound which is based on sludge and death metal but spiced up with some hard rock-influenced guitar leads. The self-titled full-length debut is just out for a week - at least in Germany - and so they would offer just songs from the album, the foursome had only 25 minutes stage time. No surprise they played Fuck Yeah, coz it's also the name of their EP and they did a video for it. Jimmie Strimmel's aggressive vocals add brutality to the groove-based tunes. The guys enjoyed being on stage and their power is infectious. Great performance. And I think soon we will see / hear more of Death Destruction.


After a short change over Amaranthe entered the stage, first the singers Andy Sölveström and Jake E. Berg entered the stage and accompanied the instrumentalists for Leave Everything Behind. But soon Eliza Ryd joined them. The Gothenborg band combines powerful, symphonic metal with electro sounds, but having 3 singers in the band offers the chance to vary a lot and also makes the live show more entertaining. Song writer Olaf Mörck is the driving force, but let the singers take the spotlight. Songs like Automatic and 1.000.000 Lightyears easily hooked up the audience, at least the ones who were open-minded. Others, who didn't get their mix took the chance to have a drink while waiting for the next band.


Vicious Rumors are around for 3 decades now, but since the death of Carl Albert (R.I.P.) band leader Geoff Thorpe has to face many line-up changes and with a changing line-up it's tough to make it. They kicked off with Don't Wait For Me, followed by their classic Digital Dictator. As usual Vicious Rumors delivered a powerful performance, but it seemed that many young fans had no clue who they were watching. And quite a few have problems with Brian Allen's performance... Vocally he's doing a good job, but his stage acting is dividing the fans. As they have a new album out called Razorback Killers they had a few new songs on their set list, but also a few classics - like the closer Soldiers Of The Night.


Time for the headliner, time for HammerFall, but first a longer change over and a line check. The backline was covered with LED screens and ramps gave the guys lot of space to move - but the LED lights gave us photographers a tough time and even during the other bands the conditions were... well not the best. During the opener Patient Zero the stage was flooded in red. Luckily that changed after the first tune. The set list was a kind of best-of set, but also had a few surprises for the fans. Bassist Fredrik Larsson had no problem to have double duty on this tour. As usual the band used every inch of the stage and HammerFall frontman Joakim Cans talked to the fans between the songs and cheered up the crowd to sing along. And it was an easy task, coz the songs are made to sing along and the crowd was willing to follow the master's voice. The fivesome played about 100 minutes and so it was value for money.


Personally I prefer to have less bands on the bill, but well... Some missed Death Destruction, coz they entered the stage early and show start was announced for 8 PM and Death Destruction entered the stage at 7:30 PM. I think it isn't fair to the opening band and also the fans. I hope that venues get into announcing the real show time!



HammerFall set list:

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
Let The Hammer Fall
Legacy Of Kings
The Dragon Lies Bleeding
The Templar Flame
--------------------------
Glory To The Brave
One More Time
Hearts On Fire




Claudia Ehrhardt

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- Hammerfall - April 8th, 2010 - Houston, Texas (USA), Wired Live -





HammerFall - live in Houston


HammerFall - live in Houston


HammerFall - live in Houston


HammerFall - live in Houston


HammerFall - live in Houston


As I write this, I am suffering from Slayer neck and I have no voice. The evening started with a pre-show meet and greet. While some meet and greets are patterned after an assembly line with the band sitting on one side of a table and a line of people hoarded past. This was totally informal, with the guys standing around, signing anything put in front of them, posing for pictures, having conversations, every one of them friendly and personable.
On to the show. First up was local band, Of Ravens And Ruins. They described themselves as 'melodic death metal'. Musically, they were a pretty good prog-power type band, but when I hear guttural vocals, I start waiting for the next band. Next up was Denver's Havok. Singer / guitarist David Sanchez, guitarist Shawn Chavez, bassist Jesse De Los Santos and drummer Pete Webber put on an entertaining set of straight ahead thrash with pretty good vocals. They ended their set with a pair of Slayer songs, Raining Blood and Post Mortum, but you could also see the Anthrax influence in their style. Look for their album Burn on Candlelight Records. I look forward to seeing them when they come back to Houston in June with Primal Fear.
Hammerfall exploded onto the stage to the song Punish & Enslave from their latest album, No Sacrifice, No Victory, and for the next 90 minutes, blasted the crowd with a mix of new and old Hammerfall classics. For me, like 90% of the crowd, this was my first taste of Hammerfall live in person, since this was their first show in Houston (though some argue they were here with Dio in 2002). Hammerfall simply destroyed on this night. It was probably the best show I've seen in 20 years (along with Twisted Sister at Rock the Bayou in 2008). Everything I love about a heavy metal show was in abundance. Even though it was the last date of the tour and a couple guys were battling illness, they played with tremendous energy. Joacim's vocals were flawless. Everyone used the whole stage, not just standing in one place, synchronized guitar moves, Anders Johanson's flashy stickwork, and everyone interacting with the crowd. Joacim Cans is not only one of my favorite singers, he proved to be an exceptional frontman. They even brought up the guys from Havok to join them for their last song, Hearts On Fire. The only slight disappointment was that they dropped a couple songs from the setlist that they had played earlier in the tour, including one of my favorites from the new album, Between Two Worlds. Hammerfall doesn't tour the US that often, so I need to find a way to get to Atlanta where they are headlining ProgPower in September.


Set list:

Punish & Enslave
Crimson Thunder
Renegade
Hallowed Be My Name
Last Man Standing
Blood Bound
Something...(insturmental)
Heeding the Call
Rebel Inside
Dragon Lies Bleeding
Ant Means Necessary
Stronger Than All
Riders of the Storm
-------------------------------------------
Secrets
Let the Hammer Fall
Hearts on Fire




Jody Hickman

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Hammerfall, Stratovarius & Shakra
- Nov. 4th 2005 - Cologne (Germany), Palladium -




A co-headliner tour of the Swedish true metal heroes Hammerfall and the re-united multinational Stratovarius was a good reason to go to Cologne. Opening band the Swiss hard rockers of Shakra. So it wasn't a surprise that the Palladium was full of metal fans awaiting an evening full of music.
Shakra opened up with Chains Of Temptation. The youngsters didn't had much stage time and so presented a nice little compilation of old and new. Singer Mark Fox later asked the fans for a photo to remember this night. It's not their first tour, but with this package they played bigger venues and so it was special to them. Soon they finished their show with Rising High. The Swiss presented themselves very well and even people who didn't know them could enjoy their set. Hopefully they can play more often now.
Stratovarius liveChange over. At the end of the change over and just before Stratovarius entered the stage on a special backdrop they showed a 10+ in long film off Stratovarius on tour - a behind the scenes-thing which was supported by classical music. Then this backdrop fall and the Stratovarius' lily flower-logo, but on the screens they still showed some images to support the show. Stratovarius liveTimo Tolkki and his pales opened up with the album opener Maniac Dance. But then it was time to present some older ones - Speed Of Light, Kiss Of Judas and Eagleheart. Bassist Lauri fitted in very well and especially Timo Kotipelto was teaming up with him. No surprise, coz Lauri is playing in Kotipelto's solo band. That made it more obvious that the atmosphere between Tolkki and Kotipelto is still chilly. The band presented a decent show, but the sound wasn't as good as when Shakra played. A problem every band has to face at Palladium, coz here less volume is creating a better sound, but it seems that the sound engineer didn't realized that. anyway. As in the past during Father Time and others they showed some images on the screens. During United they presented some words on the screens to make people remember World War II. In Germany some might got this wrong, coz most Germans are aware of what happened during the war. Actually that would have fitted more to Götterdämmerung, but that wasn't in the set. Hightlights of the set were Hunting High & Low and Black Diamond.HammerFall live Why they decided to play Destiny, I don't know. In my opinion they should have played something else, especially coz they had only 60 min. and no encores.
The break seemed to last forever, but then Hammerfall entered the stage in a landscape of ice and snow and so it was snowing to create the right atmosphere. Secrets was their opener, followed by Riders Of The Storm which started with some pyros. I have to criticize this a bit, coz the photographers in the pit weren't informed and so this was a bit risky. Singer Joacim Cans guided the band and fans through the night including Renegade, Let The Hammer Fall, HammerFall, Glory To The Brave (after the drum solo) and many others. In the middle of the regular set Anders Johansson had time to thrash the place with a powerful drum solo. HammerFall live With songs like Blood Bound and Steel Meets Steel they continued. The guys were always in motion and tried to entertain the fans. It was obvious that HammerFall enjoyed being back on stage and they delivered a great show.HammerFall live For their fans they left much too early and so they shout for more and the five Swedish returned with Templars Of Steel, Hammer Of Justice and Hearts On Fire.
Some will have missed one or the other track, but it was a great mixture. As usual they supported their music with a lot visual effects. Early in the set Joacim wanted to introduce a song, but the fans started singing loudly and so Joacim and his mates were standing on stage overwhelmed. Even for them it was a special night.
They need a powerful, clear sound, but tonight they succeed despite the sound problems. They are the Swedish kings of true metal - and that they showed tonight!



Claudia Ehrhardt

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Hammerfall, Masterplan & Dream Evil
- February, 11th 2003 - Oberhausen (Germany), Turbinenhalle -




The last time the Swedish true metal heroes of Hammerfall were on the road in 2001 and played two shows at Oberhausen's T-Club. This time the show was announced for T-Club as well, but the ticket sales were so good that they switched to Turbinenhalle which is bigger than T-Club. Hammerfall are selling enough tickets on their own so that they decided to take newcomers with them on the road. In Oberhausen Dream Evil and Masterplan were on the bill. On some other shows the band Nostradameus played instead of Dream Evil.
At 20:00 the Swedish shooting stars of Dream Evil entered the stage with Made Of Metal! Their 2nd album just hit the stores and during the 30 minutes set they presented the highlights of their debut (incl. Chasing The Dragon, The Chosen Ones) and some new tracks. A decent set where the singer and his pales heat up the fans.
After a short break the German-Norwegian band Masterplan hit the stage. Everybody was curious, the album was just out and this were the first live appearances of former Helloween guitarist Roland Grapow and ex-Helloween drummer Uli Kusch. The single Enlighten Me - the 2nd song - was the first highlight of Masterplan and singer Jorn Lande. Unfortunately the German-Norwegian group had just 45 minutes. And time was flying while the quintet performed songs like Soulburn, Bleeding Eyes and Crawling From Hell. Before they left the stage Jorn Lande started to introduce the band, even if most of fans known them. A great show. Hope to see them again soon.
At 22:00 it was time for Hammerfall. The warrior entered the stage and hit the anvil with a huge sledgehammer. With every hit a loud bang and pyros came over the audience. The band of singer Joacim Cans entered the stage and hell broke loose! The five-piece started a bonfire of their metal hymns incl. Stone Cold where the drum raiser - Anders was high above the rest of the bunch - came down and torchlights lit up. Again the Swedish presented a big production and delivered quite a show incl. songs like Legacy Of Kings and all their classics. It was obvious that guitarists Oskar Dronjak and Stefan Elmgren, bassist Magnus Rosen and his pales were hot to rock the house. Not much to tell about the show. coz when you saw them once, you know what to expect from Hammerfall live.
A great night of metal and I would bet that nobody regret to spend the evening at Turbinenhalle! Personally I was most impressed by Masterplan and so I hope that they will soon hit the stages again. A fantastic package and a show everybody who attended won't forget!



Claudia Ehrhardt

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