19.Angus McFife, Gloryhammer
Ok, so I'm not being very original here doing another Gloryhammer song straight after the last two, but this is my list and I do love Gloryhammer very much :-)
This was the first song of their's I heard and it hooked me right away. I listned to it via Youtube, so of course the video obviously appealed to the LARPer in me too. I think I was pointed in their direction by Amazon, for once, their 'people who bought X also bought Y' suggestion was spot on.
I think what I really about them is that they're so clearly having fun with what they're doing and that makes a lot of difference to the experience you get with them whether recorded or live.
I went to see them live last Tuesday night in London, first time I'd seen them perform as I only got into them after they'd finished touring with their first album, and they were great. The were the second of 2 support acts and while I'd expected they'd probably only get half an hour, they actually got 3/4s, which was brilliant as obviously that meant more songs. I'd managed to position myself about 4 from the front at the right hand side of the stage while the first band were on. But had noticed no-one was standing at the very end of the barrier at the front. When the first band finished there was some of the usual moving around as people go to the bar to get more drinks & so I tentatively made a move towards that space, very politely checking that the couple in front and to the side of me didn't want to move into it first :-) You don't want to piss off the people behind you at metal gigs! They were fine with it and so I got onto the barrier. At Islington the barrier isn't much longer than the stage, so it wasn't like I was facing a blank wall, I actually had a great view of everything, including Christopher Bowes, Gloryhammer keyboardist and Alestorm lead singer setting up his keyboard :-)
This also meant I got a great view of him playing, dressed as the evil wizard Zargothrax :-) I also had an excellent view of the rest of the band including the epicly awesome lead singer Angus McFife himself (even if he wasn't in his full Rise of the Chaos Wizards armor - not sure he'd have fitted on the stage in that).
Since they had longer than I'd expected I got to hear all the songs I'd hoped they'd play and more. As anticipated the live experience was suitably epic and rousing, especially being so close to the band. There were also no annoying people moshing near me, so no distractions, just people really getting into them. I think that some of the Stratovarius fans who'd positioned themselves near the front were a little bit 'wtf?1?' when Gloryhammer started up, but very soon they all seemed to be getting very into them too :-)
Once Gloryhammer had finished I moved about half way back, I didn't think it fair to take up a place at the front when the headliner wasn't the band I'd really gone to see. While I was standing with my beer near the bar I overheard some of the Stratovarius fans commenting on how many people had left after Gloryhammer had finished. I'd expected that like me, a number of people would be there just to see Gloryhammer, but I had no intention of not staying to hear Stratovarius, I wanted to make the most of my ticket and from what I'd heard of them they were suitably good sounding 80s style power metal, so certainly very easy on my ear.
After the show I spotted Christopher Bowes hanging round in the lobby area chatting to fans, so went up to congratualate him on the show and have a quick chat. I got to extremely high five him (a high five done as far above his head as he could reach :-D) because I'd heard and liked his compliation 'Magnetic Telephone', a mash-up of Alestorm's 'Magnetic North' and Lady Gaga & Beyonce's 'Telephone'. I also commented how I'd liked their video for Magnetic North, but how it'd ruined me ever seeing 'Telephone' again as all I can think of when I see it now is him on the toilet... He was pleased I'd actually got the link between the 2 videos, apparently lots of people didn't and had just thought wtf with the video. Admittedly even if you do get the link, you might still think that... :-D Anyway, I like the fact he's keen to meet and chat to fans and many people (including probably him) will be relieved that I refrained from kissing him this time :-D (It was only on the cheek last time!)
Anyway I have gone on long enough, for your enjoyment and for the Glory of the might kingdom of Dundee, I bring you Angus McFife
This was the first song of their's I heard and it hooked me right away. I listned to it via Youtube, so of course the video obviously appealed to the LARPer in me too. I think I was pointed in their direction by Amazon, for once, their 'people who bought X also bought Y' suggestion was spot on.
I think what I really about them is that they're so clearly having fun with what they're doing and that makes a lot of difference to the experience you get with them whether recorded or live.
I went to see them live last Tuesday night in London, first time I'd seen them perform as I only got into them after they'd finished touring with their first album, and they were great. The were the second of 2 support acts and while I'd expected they'd probably only get half an hour, they actually got 3/4s, which was brilliant as obviously that meant more songs. I'd managed to position myself about 4 from the front at the right hand side of the stage while the first band were on. But had noticed no-one was standing at the very end of the barrier at the front. When the first band finished there was some of the usual moving around as people go to the bar to get more drinks & so I tentatively made a move towards that space, very politely checking that the couple in front and to the side of me didn't want to move into it first :-) You don't want to piss off the people behind you at metal gigs! They were fine with it and so I got onto the barrier. At Islington the barrier isn't much longer than the stage, so it wasn't like I was facing a blank wall, I actually had a great view of everything, including Christopher Bowes, Gloryhammer keyboardist and Alestorm lead singer setting up his keyboard :-)
This also meant I got a great view of him playing, dressed as the evil wizard Zargothrax :-) I also had an excellent view of the rest of the band including the epicly awesome lead singer Angus McFife himself (even if he wasn't in his full Rise of the Chaos Wizards armor - not sure he'd have fitted on the stage in that).
Since they had longer than I'd expected I got to hear all the songs I'd hoped they'd play and more. As anticipated the live experience was suitably epic and rousing, especially being so close to the band. There were also no annoying people moshing near me, so no distractions, just people really getting into them. I think that some of the Stratovarius fans who'd positioned themselves near the front were a little bit 'wtf?1?' when Gloryhammer started up, but very soon they all seemed to be getting very into them too :-)
Once Gloryhammer had finished I moved about half way back, I didn't think it fair to take up a place at the front when the headliner wasn't the band I'd really gone to see. While I was standing with my beer near the bar I overheard some of the Stratovarius fans commenting on how many people had left after Gloryhammer had finished. I'd expected that like me, a number of people would be there just to see Gloryhammer, but I had no intention of not staying to hear Stratovarius, I wanted to make the most of my ticket and from what I'd heard of them they were suitably good sounding 80s style power metal, so certainly very easy on my ear.
After the show I spotted Christopher Bowes hanging round in the lobby area chatting to fans, so went up to congratualate him on the show and have a quick chat. I got to extremely high five him (a high five done as far above his head as he could reach :-D) because I'd heard and liked his compliation 'Magnetic Telephone', a mash-up of Alestorm's 'Magnetic North' and Lady Gaga & Beyonce's 'Telephone'. I also commented how I'd liked their video for Magnetic North, but how it'd ruined me ever seeing 'Telephone' again as all I can think of when I see it now is him on the toilet... He was pleased I'd actually got the link between the 2 videos, apparently lots of people didn't and had just thought wtf with the video. Admittedly even if you do get the link, you might still think that... :-D Anyway, I like the fact he's keen to meet and chat to fans and many people (including probably him) will be relieved that I refrained from kissing him this time :-D (It was only on the cheek last time!)
Anyway I have gone on long enough, for your enjoyment and for the Glory of the might kingdom of Dundee, I bring you Angus McFife