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Hammerfest - Prestatyn, Wales - Saturday 25th April 2009. DAY TWO Lethargy (acoustic), Skindred (acoustic), Exit Ten, Alestorm, Skindred
Day two of Hammerfest and, with the main arena closed for the afternoon, the outdoor acoustic stage seems like the logical place to soak up some sunshine and unplugged metal.
After being blown away by Lethargy the night before, I made a point of catching their midday performance. Dodgy sound quality means that much of Lethargy’s set is lost in translation, although the scant musical accompaniment further highlights just how extraordinary Marc T. Jones’ voice is. When he drags someone up onstage to sing a duet of George Michael’s ‘Faith,’ Jones’ contributions are nothing short of awe-inspiring.
A low-key, intimate set, but the poor sound quality means that Lethargy’s acoustic performance is more a chance to see them again without the underlying ‘these are really good, who are they?’ distraction, than a re-run of last night’s show. However, it’s an enjoyable experience nonetheless. It can’t compete with seeing Skindred up close and personal though, as Wales’ finest squeeze into the roped-off bit of grass that serves as the unplugged stage. Again, poor sound quality absorbs 90% of the guitars, drums, and some of frontman Benji Webb’s vocals. However, this is balanced out by the intimacy of Benji’s crowd interaction. Always a charismatic and likeable frontman, the banter between him and the front row is electric. This mid afternoon set is also a chance to see Skindred in a more playful, casual mood, as Benji changes some of the lyrics, and the crowd chuckle along appreciatively.
The set is soured slightly by the band hot-footing it out of there after only a handful of songs, leaving bemused fans hanging around the stage, disappointed by both the shortness of the set, and Skindred’s hasty-bordering-on-rude departure. An actual goodbye would have gone a long way, but you can hardly blame Skindred for making a hasty retreat: the stage is no more than a van and some police-style incident tape. There is no backstage to speak of, and few security guards and, no matter how ungrateful Skindred’s vanishing act may seem, it’s still preferable to seeing them get mobbed.
Back to the main stage, and Exit Ten are just about to start. They play accomplished prog but the most striking thing about them is livewire frontman Ryan Redman. He spends a good portion of tonight’s set balanced precariously on the edge of the stage, throwing rockstar shapes and ensuring offstage energy stays at an all-time high, before he goes hunting for equipment to climb, scaling speaker stacks and drum kits. Exit Ten are the perfect band to get the blood pumping, ready for another metal-packed night.
Judging by the number of people in pirate outfits wandering around hours before Alestorm's second stage performance, the self-proclaimed ‘True Kings of Pirate Metal’ are on the brink of great things. Indeed, a quick chat with almost any of the hungover metalheads staggering around the Pontins complex on Sunday morning, is enough to convince you that Alestorm were the only band who played this weekend. And with good reason: Alestorm are so mind-blowingly awesome, it makes you wonder why no-one has dreamed up pirate metal before.
On the surface, they’re similar to battle metal pioneers Turisas, with rollicking, Viking-tinged keyboards and boozy, sing along choruses designed for swigging your pint too. Only, Alestorm are much more topical. Leaping shamelessly on the Pirates of The Caribbean bandwagon, they pen songs about wenches, taverns, quests and treasure.
Lyrically, they’re not about to win any awards, but you’d have to be terminally morbid not to have the time of your life signing along to “hey, hey, I want more wenches / hey, hey, wenches and mead / I want more wenches / lots of wenches is what I need.” Other dumb-but-grin-inducing Alestorm gems of wisdom include “when I get back from a mighty quest / I have no need for sleep or rest.” Listened to in the comfort of your room, it’s pretty funny, but sung along to at a weekend long booze-fest, it feels like just about the most fun you’ve ever had.
Alestorm score extra points for not dressing up. You get the feeling that floppy pirate hats and swords would have been overkill, and perhaps made their set a little too cheesy.
Another factor that works unexpectedly in Alestorm’s favour, is how awkward they are. Frontman Christopher Bowes limps through some of the worst stage banter of the weekend. “This song is about wenches and mead,” he says, before a lengthy, uncomfortable pause where you can actually hear him thinking ‘erm….’ before he shrugs: “and it’s called, ‘Wenches And Mead.” The stilted, self-conscious banter makes Alestorm an oddly charismatic prospect. You like them for their crap banter and, when they explode into another showy, riotous sing along that incites mosh pit madness and gets every fist pumping in the air, you like them for their cock-sure metal as well.
Alestorm have everything going for them. They’re fun, original, the crowd clearly loves them, and they have a likeably stilted stage presence. Expect them to become the cult success story of 2009.
But, Welsh reggae metallers Skindred are today’s reigning champions. The crowd clearly adores them, and with good reason. Armed with an arsenal of genre-mangling anthems, Skindred deliver heavy metal that has people dancing, RnB-style, and mosh-pitting in equal measures.
Dreadlocked Benji is a unique frontman, ricocheting between heavily accented Welsh for his between-song banter and singing in an affected Jamaican accent, he really is unlike anyone else in metal right now. Fuelled up and radiating a passion for music, he connects effortlessly and immediately with his audience.
His banter is hilarious and original, in particular an extended introduction to the broody metal of ‘Trouble,’ which sees him relating a charmingly everyman tale of being stood in a kebab house after a heavy drinking session, and getting grief from a “great big Irishman.” He then puts on an Irish accent, before squaring dramatically up to the audience and demanding “and do you want to know what I did?” the crowd cheers and Benji informs them, deadpan “I shat myself,” to much laughter and clapping.
Blending reggae vocals with heavy metal, may sound like a musical nightmare, but Skindred make it work. Add to this a frontman whom the audience clearly adore, and you have one of the most innovative and exciting bands around at the moment. Just before exiting the stage, Benji informs the audience that they’ll be touring again soon. You’d be a fool to miss out.
And, with that, Hammerfest 2009 draws to a close. On the way out of the arena, staff are already plying people with flyers for Hammerfest Two, as well as Hard Rock Hell Three (apparently now renamed ‘The Viking’s Ball.’) On the strength of this year’s Hammerfest, it seems a safe bet that a good portion of the people here tonight will patronise at least one of these events. And, when you can spend all day sampling the best the metal world has to offer, and then retire to clean, comfortable, non-tent-based accommodation at night, who can blame them?
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