Live Review: Alestorm, Lagerstein, Troldhaugen

People went all out on Tuesday night as the line to Amps was littered with fans dressed head to toe in pirate gear for what would be a huge night of sailing the seas, conquering quests and drinking lots and lots of rum. Wollongong bred openers Troldhaugen were absolutely phenomenal. With both guitarists dressed in surf life saving gear, the performance was as much a musical mastery as it was a theatrical one. The vocalist sang, spat and growled into the mic, sometimes all in one song, while dancing around the stage to some of the catchiest guitar hooks this reviewer has heard in a long time. Troldhaugen were brilliant, and playing to a packed out room at 8pm — they would have certainly recruited a large amount of new fans.

The crowd continued to bulk out as Brisbane's Lagerstein took to the stage and launched an all out assault. The seven-piece party-goers had guitars, violins, keyboards, synths and more and had the crowd waving their hands along to songs about drinking beer and being merry — it was the perfect warm up for what would be a huge performance by the headliners.

Alestorm hadn't been to Australia since releasing their latest album Sunset On The Golden Age last year, so it was fitting that they opened the set with album opener Walk The Plank, which saw most of the crowd chorusing along from the opening line. The band riled the crowd up constantly when they weren't playing, and the punters lapped it up. Older hit That Famous Ol' Spiced saw everyone throwing themselves around, but Keelhauled — arguably the band's most famous track — took the energy even higher as soon as that violin hook came into play. There's something extremely liberating about seeing hundreds of people chorusing along to lyrics like "Make that bastard walk the plank/With a bottle of rum and a yo-ho-ho!" Captain Morgan's Revenge is always a set highlight — a heroic tale of a traitorous crew coupled with pounding drums, an accordion and surging guitar riffs. The band may have been over here a bunch over the last five years or so, but the novelty of pirate metal doesn't look like it's going to die out anytime soon. And that is certainly a good thing.