A storm brewing in Nashville from the mighty Marauders Alestorm and their trusty friends blew through the town this past week on their last stop of the Dead Marauder tour, which had a fun-filled atmosphere with pirates and Scotsman in full attire. Some even brought their little ones perched upon their shoulders…. kids and even a parrot or two.
GLYPH quickly started the night with their modern power metal igniting the stage when they arrived. This crew of intergalactic mercenaries who escaped a dying planet in their spaceship, the VSS Dragonlord, is created by past members of Skelator, Greyhawk, Gatekeeper, and Ravenous, Glyph, where they made their debut in 2022 at Mad with Power 6, which is the largest Melodic Metal Festival in North America. The energetic style and enjoyment of the band showed through every hard-hitting chord that was struck. It was a short set, leaving the masses craving more.
Now that the tour is over, you can get your fix by buying Glyph’s newest album, “Honor. Power. Glory,” which is out now. Glyph describes this album as it tells the tale of how their home planet was besieged by dragons long ago, how they destroyed everything, and how those who survived rebuilt and learned to fight back!”
Members:
- Jeff Black, Chief Engineer – Keys
- Darin Wall, Head of Security – Bass
- Rob Steinway, Recon. Officer – Guitars
- A. Voltaire, Captain – Vocals
Setlist:
Honor, Power, Glory
A Storm of Crimson Fire
March of the Northern Clan
When the World Was Young
Defy the Night
Volaråd
GLYPH
ELVENKING bestowed upon us their presence next with their own style of power metal riffs and visual displays. From Sacile, Italy, Elvenking’s folklore origin started back in 1997. They have released 13 albums, including their newest, “Readers of the Runes-Rapture,” part 2 of their trilogy, which is available now. The onstage presence held a darker tone for the band from the dynamic shifts and crushing power chords.
Seeing Glyph and Alestorm members on stage trying to break up the darkness was funny. Members pretended to be the #1 Elvinking fan, and people with huge teddy bears were on stage. We can never forget the pizza party that was delivered by air from the stage. Later in the set, the lead singer was hunted (with Nerf stuff) because of his headgear. These fun-filled antics set the scene for what was to come for the rest of the show.
Members:
- Davide “Damnagoras” Moras – vocals
- Federico “Aydan” Baston – guitars
- Mattia “Headmatt” Carli – guitars
- Alessandro “Jakob” Jacobi – bass
- Simone “Symohn” Morettin – drums
- Fabio “Lethien” Polo – violin
Setlist
Rapture
The Hanging Tree
Draugen’s Maelstrom
Pagan Revolution
Silverseal
Moonbeam Stone Circle
To Oak Woods Bestowed @Tape
Pagan Purity
Bride of Night
The One We Shall Follow
The Wanderer
The Divided Heart
Elvenlegions
ELVENKING
Now was the moment everyone had been waiting for—the Rise of the Duck!!! As he was summoned on stage, you could hear for miles the cries of “DUCK, DUCK, DUCK” until the final moment, when his feathers were fully inflated, and the crowd went wild! Okay, so maybe it was not the exact thing we were waiting for, but it was a fun transition waiting for the Pirate Metal Band ALESTORM.
The moment Alestorm boarded the stage, the shenanigans started with all the other bands. There were more Nerf fights, members fighting for their lives against the angry pinata sharks that later grew into half-human chasing members around the stage. Not even an ounce of refreshments were spilled the entire time. He even nicely hand-fed a birthday cake to the keyboardist for his special day so he did not have to stop playing. I was waiting for him to be covered in it because of how the show was going. He was so nice that he even shared it with the guitar player. Towards the end, Alestorm had Barbara Blackthrone from the band Empress help them with a few songs and join their fun stage antics.
Alestorm is a pirate-themed Scottish Heavy Metal band that started in 2004 as Battleheart but changed its name in 2007 when it signed with Napalm Records. Currently, Alestorm has seven records out, with their newest being from 2022, “Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum.” Alestorm has traveled all over the world for tours, including the amazing Download Festival.
Members
- Christopher Bowes – lead vocals, keytar
- Gareth Murdock – bass, backing vocals
- Peter Alcorn – drums
- Elliot Vernon – keyboards, unclean vocals, backing vocals
- Máté Bodor – guitars, backing vocals
Setlist
Keelhauled
No Grave but the Sea
The Sunk’n Norwegian
Alestorm
Under Blackened Banners
Hangover
Uzbekistan
Wenches & Mead For Dogs
Magellan’s Expedition
Mexico
Voyage of the Dead Marauder @With[14462bd2-b852-454f-a193-2ddb471dffe7]
Big Ship Little Ship
Nancy the Tavern Wench
Rumpelkombo
P.A.R.T.Y.
1741 (The Battle of Cartagena)
Shit Boat (No Fans)
Drink
Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship
Fucked With an Anchor
ALESTORM
This night had such a cool atmosphere that I often hear is felt at European festivals. It is always refreshing to see how much enjoyment the bands have and how they feed off the crowd’s entertainment. If you’re like me and love Pirates, Scotsmen, and fun-drinking songs, you will never want to miss the next Alestorm show. Even if you don’t drink but know how to enjoy some fun, you will not want to miss this opportunity.
