Written by:	Abattoir
Published:	December 07, 2023
Event:	Alestorm: European Fall Tour 2023
Location:	Boogaloo, Zagreb, Croatia

In general, the year 2023 hasn’t been rich with concert attending for me due to different reasons, especially this autumn, even though there were quite a few tempting gigs occurring nearby. After letting a few of them go by, I decided to attend, a bit surprising I guess, none other than the mighty pirate drinkers Alestorm. The Scots performed through Europe for more than a month, with support for this particular show coming from Italians Elvenking; the latter were appearing just on a few shows during the tour. Of course, both are well-known bands, albeit with discographies that I have never paid much attention to except out of curiosity on certain occasions, such as new album releases. However, I’m well aware that Alestorm can put on a one hell of a show, and that was also the main reason for checking out this gig.

As expected, the performance of Alestorm attracted lots of people, basically filling up the 1000-capacity venue almost to the last corner. But before the highly-anticipated headliners took over the stage, the progressive/power metal ensemble Elvenking made their appearance first. In a 60-minute long performance, they delivered a couple of new songs off their latest full-length effort, Reader of The Runes - Rapture. A solid warm-up to say the least, Elvenking were able to engage the crowd early on during their performance, maintaining the pace and energy through till the end. Even though I wasn’t enjoying myself that much, they laid a strong foundation for the continuation of this evening, as well as a good starting point for their successors.




After a half-hour intermission, technical settings and usual tuning of the instruments, the shortened version of ‘Top Gun’s’ classic song "Danger Zone" started playing as an intro, indicating the arrival of the headlining act. It all began with an energetic track, "Keelhauled", triggering an explosion of excitement among the crowd. Well, to be honest, rare were songs from the Alestorm’s repertoire that did not achieve such a response. Chanting, screaming and constant singalongs from the audience: it’s basically the band’s “signature”, going off the rails together with the whole audience. Normally I’m quite a calm observer during the shows, but this was still really cool to see/hear. The setlist was diverse and complete, including tracks from all the albums of their discography. It is safe to say that majority of the attendees enjoyed this evening without inhibitions; a fair share of beer consumption probably helped as well.