Alestorm recently hit the seven seas, landing at Indianapolis during their most recent North American quest of heavy metal. On the ship with them this time were Glyph and Elvenking during a rare stop in the Circle City.
Usually, the Scottish pirate metallers hit Chicago when their tours come to the States but, when this show was announced at Old National Centre, it sold out almost immediately and the room was packed tightly when showtime came.
After Glyph wrapped up their set, Elvenking took over and, with singer Davide “Damnagoras” Moras coming to the stage with giant antlers on along with the addition of violins courtesy of Fabio “Lethien” Polo, it was a theatrical set from the start.
The band was hypnotically enticing and had the crowd in the palm of their hands from the second their set kicked off and the Indianapolis fans were ready to throw down with the Italian power metal band, making it even more fun.
After a quick stage change, it was time for Alestorm to grace the stage. With a giant inflatable rubber duck in the middle of the stage- it’s still amazing they got it to fit in the intimate venue- there was no shortage of entertainment.
Singer Chris Bowes was decked out in a trucker hat, a green plaid kilt, sandals and neon green toenail polish, while guitarist Máté Bodor had on green hot pants. They kicked it off with “Keelhauled” before ripping into “No Grave but the Sea” and “The Sunk’n Norwegian” and it was clear at that moment that the crowd was there to be part of the show- not just at the show.
It was crowd participation at every corner and they made sure to let the band know they were there to party just as much as the band was on 4/20. Every song was a sing-a-long and every song had some form of crowd action- whether it was jumping, mass-boat-rowing or just clapping.
Guest singer “Barbara Blackthorne of the band Empress filled in for Patty Gurdy for “Voyage of the Dead Marauder” and “Zombies At My Pirate Ship” and the fans welcomed her with open arms as she danced around the stage, making her part of the Alestorm family.
The night ended with “Fucked With an Anchor” as the capacity crowd sang as loud as they possibly could, drowning out the band to the point you could barely hear them- a common theme during the night, making for an awesome moment.
In the end, it was exactly what you think of when you envision an Alestorm concert. The fans were unbelievable and the band was visibly more than excited to see the love from a city that they haven’t spent a lot of time touring in.
The involvement, volume, and intensity of the Indianapolis crowd made for an experience that won’t just live on forever with a lot of fans in the building but it also showed the fans taking this concert as an opportunity to show the band that Indianapolis can bring it just as much as any other city.
A lot of fans were seeing the band for the first time but had been waiting decades to see them and the band’s antics, off-the-wall comedic moments and entertaining song introductions lived up to every hope and expectation they could have wanted or asked for, making for a night that no Alestorm fan in the room will ever forget.
-Reggie Edwards
