Bands: Dragonforce, Alestorm, The Defiled, Cavorts
Location: O2 ABC, Glasgow
Date: 28/09/2012
In order to be fair to the first two bands who were playing this gig, I have to not say my honest opinions – I’m sure they have their respective fanbases (proven by the legion of moshing 14-year-olds), but they really weren’t my thing.
Moving on. It must be said that I had been looking forward to this gig for a very long time; the last time I had seen Dragonforce was in 2009 when they had toured with Sabaton, a fantastic gig by all accounts. (Incidentally, Sabaton are also doing a UK tour with Eluveitie in November; if you’ve not seen them live, I highly recommend it.) Since then, they had gone through a lineup change, recorded and released a new album, and highly impressed me, as you can see from my review here. Naturally, I was interested to see how their new singer Marc held up live; the man has a fantastic voice, but I had to see for myself.
But before Dragonforce would take the stage, another one of my favourite live acts were playing; I interviewed Alestorm last time they had played here, which was an incredible gig, so of course I was really rather stoked to be not only seeing them again, but interviewing them again (That previous interview can be seen here). Some arrangements were made with Alestorm before the gig that we would do the interview later on that night, as they were staying with a friend of mine and it would be convenient for everyone. This did, however result in a very slightly drunken interview at 3 in the morning, which shall be on the site very soon, I promise.
But I digress. Alestorm played an excellent set; Keelhauled, Wenches and Mead, Nancy the Tavern Wench; a fairly standard set by all accounts, but no less entertaining, especially when, like you should be at an Alestorm gig, you are ever-so-slightly drunk. Leviathan was a particular highlight for me, mainly due to the fact that the crowd enjoyed it quite a fair amount. It must be said though; the amount of crowdsurfers and pre-pubescent “moshers” was somewhat off-putting. Can’t be helped, I suppose, but when I’m trying to windmill I would appreciate it very much if you weren’t landing on my neck thank you very much (Blah blah blah old man complaining blah). Excellent set guys, well done!
However, Dragonforce… well, I’m a self-professed Dragonforce lover; something that gains me a great deal of ridicule. I enjoyed myself hugely at this gig – I was somewhat taken aback that singer Marc Hudson could hit the notes he did. Managing old songs (Fury of the Storm, Valley of the Damned etc.) and new (Cry Thunder, Seasons) alike, he actually managed to distract my view away from the frantic and blister-inducing guitar work of Herman Li and Sam Totman, ever the centre of attention. Managing for the most part to steer away from technical difficulties, the set seemed flawless; even the crowd became far better. The unity felt by all to Cry Thunder was a fantastic feeling. I even caught one of Sam’s picks; so frankly, the night didn’t feel like it could get any better.
This was, of course, before Alestorm, Dragonforce, I and a multitude of others ended up at Glasgow’s Cathouse venue, singing Rhapsody, Sonata Arctica, Lost horizon and Meatloaf into the small hours of the morning.
5/5
– Alasdair “Scotch Egg” Dunn
Valkyrian Music 