| HAMMERFALL + VIRGIN STEELE + FREEDOM CALL |
February 16, 2001 |
MADRID |
HammerFall, Virgin Steele & Freedom Call,
a very promising package that played in Madrid last weekend. I was very excited about going
to this concert since I have been a fan of them for a long time.
At 17:00 pm I arrived at the venue... not too many fans gathered around the place where
the concert would take place yet. HammerFall's last appearance in Madrid was in 1999
and the venue was very bad, it didn't have the structure to have a Metal concert.
This time the place was better. The gig was scheduled to begin at 19:15 but there was
a delay of 30 minutes until the gates were opened.
At 20:15 the lights went down, the backdrop was shaded with deep blue color and the show
began with the recorded intro "The King Of The Crystal Empire". The guys from
FREEDOM CALL came out to take their places,
launching inmediately into their hymn "We Are One" from their debut album.
Without a breath they blew the audience away with "Freedom Call", "Shine On" and "Rise Up".
For me the top song on their perfomance was "The Quest". It has to be one of my favorite songs
on their new album and seeing it performed live is breath taking. Simply great and
unbelievable. The set finished up with the brilliant "Hymn To The Brave".
They played an equal amount of the better songs on both albums "Stairway To Fairyland"
and "Crystal Empire". These guys did really great from beginning to end.
Dan Zimmermann did a great job on drums and Chris Bay's voice was very good and beautiful.
The sound wasn't very good and they didn't get very much stage time (30-35 minutes),
but they clearly won the hearts of the audience. The crowd was really into the
show the whole time and I think they already have a big following here in Spain...
and I am convinced it is just the beginning of what is to come.
A break was needed to set up the stage and at 21:00 was time for the next band to perform.
VIRGIN STEELE's show started with the recorded
intro "Coils of the Serpent", which lasted about 2 minutes. Then the band came out.
"I sing of power, magick and faith, a sonnet of pure victory"... yeah, the first song
they played was "Invictus". The band ended this song and immediately began their next one,
"The Wine Of Violence". Midway through the show they had an incredible acoustic segment of
"Emalaith" from the album "Marriage of Heaven and Hell II" and everybody who was listening
was impressed with it. David DeFeis sang with so much feeling and emotion that he almost
brought me to tears more than once 
I also enjoyed hearing "Great Sword Of Flame"...
David sang the whole intro to this song with a burning sword in his hand... great!!
The concentration lay on their recent albums ("Return Of The King", "A Token Of My Hatred"...),
of course with some of the classics in between. On the bass guitar they have a young guy,
Josh Block, who is really really good. They also have a new drummer with them on the tour,
Frank Zummo, who replaced Frank Gilchriest. David DeFeis was in absolute top form - he's
still singing like a god. He gave the concert his all. The almighty Edward Pursino did
an excellent job on guitar and he also made many funny faces during the show.
The sound was rich and inviting and most of all, the band was flawless!! By the Gods,
I just can't wait to see them as headliners soon!!!!
After a break of 20 minutes it was time for the swedish gods. The stage setting consisted
of a great medieval theme and flames everywhere. First of all, a warrior appeared on stage
(when the intro began) with a hammer in his hands and then the drawbridge fells and the
mighty HAMMERFALL came on stage in a cloud of smoke. They started off with "Templars Of Steel",
followed by "The Metal Age". From the very moment Joacim, Oscar, Magnus, Stefan &
Anders started playing to the very end, my jaw was on the floor... wow, their
perfomance was truly awesome. My personal highlights from the show was the always
rockin' "Stronger Than All" (and the crowd went crazy), "At the End of the Rainbow"
and the powerful "Steel Meets Steel" sounded really good but the entire set was very
entertaining. Sure that the drum solo from Anders Johansson was there with burning
drumsticks and cymbals... cool!!! It kept the audience in awe and admiration. After
that they played the fantastic instrumental track "Raise The Hammer". Then it was
time for "Glory To The Brave" and "The Way Of The Warrior".
They left the stage as the crowd begged for their return. "Renegade" was the starting
point for the encores. During the song "Legacy of Kings" Joacim took a Dezibel Meter...
Not to mention the screaming was deafening... Yeah, well done, Madrid ;) They finished
off their set with "Hammerfall" from their debut album and they dedicated this song to
all their fans. Then the drawbridge lifted again and their show ended. They are some
of the tightest musicians you will ever see and throughout the set, each member got
his chance to shine. Of course they had lots of pyros and bombs and Mr. Dronjak spitted fire.
The fans enjoyed their perfomance and they were really into it singing along with their
arms in the air. The sure thing is that HammerFall will keep the flame burning for the
Heavy Metal revolution!! After the show I stood for nearly a half hour outside of
Virgin Steele's tour bus waiting for the guys to sign me some booklets and talk to them...
and finally they appeared... cool 
They are some incredibly nice guys. David was
very happy and Edward had a big funny smile on his face 
I also met the guys from
Freedom Call and they were really impressed of the enthuastic welcome received.
In closing I would just like to say that after the gig I overheard a few fellows and
they called it one of the best shows they had ever seen... I had to agree... Each
and every second of this concert was mind-blowing and cool as hell, for lack of
a better phrase. They came, they saw, they conquered us all!!!!! -Review & photos by Marina-
| VIRGIN STEELE SET-LIST |
Intro, Invictus,
The Wine Of Violence, In Triumph Or Tragedy, Return Of The King, Great Sword Of Flame,
A Token Of My Hatred, Emalaith, The Burning Of Rome.
| HAMMERFALL SET-LIST |
Intro, Templars Of Steel,
The Metal Age, Stronger Than All, A Legend Reborn, Steel Meets Steel, At The End Of The Rainbow,
Living In Victory, Let The Hammer Fall, Drum Solo, Raise The Hammer, Glory To The Brave,
The Way Of The Warrior, Renegade, Legacy Of Kings, Hammerfall.
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