Stickied this thread.
Two reviews:
Last weekend I saw Alestorm with Gloryhammer at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto. The hall was built in 1919 as one of the first movie theatres in the region and it shows. The building has both age and majesty, though time hasn't always been kind to it. Still, it had a good sized stage and a decent set of acoustics. There was a surprise opening act in local folk-metal artists Protokult. They weren't bad, and they brought in a few guest singers - a local music teacher who had superb pipes, and a pretty good death metal growler who looks extremely familiar but who I couldn't place.
Gloryhammer played the same set we'd seen at Heavy Montreal, but it's a great set that hits all of the band's best songs - not hard for a cheese metal band with only two albums - and the crowd was into it. There was certainly a legit portion of the crowd only there for Gloryhammer and they went nuts. I'd say the performance was technically better than the one in Montreal, but the crowd was better in the other city, far more into it.
Alestorm played their standard 17 song set, which has lots of stuff from the new album (including songs I'm not at all endeared with such as Pegleg Potion) and most of your expected classics (Keelhauled, Over the Seas, Captain Morgan's Revenge). Mexico and Magnetic North played particularly well live, I felt. Lots of people rowing on the floor during Nancy the Tavern Wench. Multiple pieces of women's undergarments were thrown at the stage, which I felt interesting - there was a decent percentage of women in the crowd, close to 40% if I had to ballpark it. Crowd was crazy hot, and I ended up in the press a couple times, getting borne around in a daze. Had a great time.
Last night I saw Unleash the Archers with Striker and two local bands at a small pub called Maverick's. Hadn't been in awhile and I forgot how small it was - comparable to the Cart & Horses for those who've been. My friends and I were about 3rd in line and we got right up front and I did not fucking move.
Local band 1 - Sovereign Council from Kingston, Ontario - was a fairly proggish metal band with duel singers (one female, one male) and they told interesting stories. The interaction between the two singers was legit enthralling, they had great chemistry together. It enhanced the songs they were telling. I spoke with the lead male singer after, he gave me a copy of the setlist for the night, seemed like a cool dude. If you like female-fronted prog with male vocals (clean and growls, but pretty good growls), check them out. They played 6 songs.
Local band 2 - power metal band called Lycanthro from Ottawa, Ontario. These guys knew exactly what they were. The lead singer & guitarist clearly has fantasies of being Megadave, but he was engaging on stage, really playing to the crowd, and since it was a local band, the crowd went pretty nuts for him. Fun fact - his 60ish some year old dad was right there in a battle vest filming the whole thing. Probably not as technically skilled as Sovereign Council but they had fun - and when the band has fun, the crowd has fun. They played 5 tracks.
Striker - Edmonton classic metal. These guys put on an awesome show, they made the small stage feel huge. They were really in sync, and the bassist (who was right in front of me) clearly wishes he was Steve Harris based on his machine gun antics. Their music was pretty good, I guess I'd call it pre-glam metal. Heavier than glam but with a lot of the same intonations and riff styles. They had a blast as well, chatted with their lead singer after and he said it was one of the best crowds they'd had all tour. 13 song set as a co-headliner.
Finally, Unleash the Archers. These guys are legit, and their 2017 album Apex was my favourite of last year - check it out if you haven't. I was directly in front of the lead singer, lots of eye contact, fist bumps from her and the band. They played a 9 song set, the crowd was on fire. Helps that their new bassist was from Ottawa (their old one quit just before the tour and they scrambled, but he seems to fit in well). Didn't even play their most famous song, which I respected the hell out of. My buddy Pat caught a pick.
Literally the only thing bad about the concert were these two guys who kept pushing up to try to get things from the band. They'd cup one hand like a bowl and point at it, right in the band's face, and scream at them "Feed the chickens!" I got tired of it halfway through the Unleash the Archers set and caught the look of one of the guys, shook my head and then made a motion like I was snapping a twig (or arm) in half. So they stopped, which made me happier. The most annoying thing I've ever seen at a show.
I can say this was the best $15 I've ever spent. For a concert of that quality I would have expected to pay double or triple. If they come to a town near you, check 'em out.
It would be my first show of his; I keep getting into bands too late in their careers
) and Robert's guitar playing was impressive. One of the highlights of the show was this song (the recording is from 4 Nights Of 40 Years Live):