Hammerfall stood for the grand finale at Vega, which had also played host to Bullet and Sabaton before them. Those two bands had made an excellent job in warming the audience up, so now it was up to Hammerfall to deliver the show we all knew was coming; what we had been waiting for.

It had been a couple of years since the last time Hammerfall visited Denmark, so the large audience was fired up 100% for the concert, and Hammerfall did not disappoint.
With their old bassist Fredrik Larsson returned after some training time with Moulin Rouge (according to Joacim Cans that is), and Pontus Norgren (ex-The Poodles, ex-Great King Rat) replacing Stefan Elmgren behind the sixstring Hammerfall was ready to rock Denmark, and with a new album out called No Sacrifice, No Victory, they did just that.

As always, the stage setup was innovative and grand. Never before have I seen a real live rainfall on stage, and coupled with the projected laser show it gave a great visual treat to go with tonight’s music.
The band themselves had new outfits on in red and black leather to go with the theme, and Cans came on looking somewhat like a pirate captain with his old-fashioned jacket. This was stripped of as the night went on however, and under this he sported his usual style working-shirt.

The set started off with the new track Punish And Enslave and spanned a total of twenty songs from their entire back catalogue; with No Sacrifice, No Victory and 2002’s Crimson Thunder being the most visited. The biggest surprise, on my part, was that they didn’t end the set with their main song Hammerfall; in fact they didn’t play it at all! I never thought I would see a Hammerfall concert without it…

Still, as I mentioned in the start, the audience loved every minute of the concert, and sang along in all the right places.
The band on their part showed a lot of humour as well, partly in Cans fun presentation of the band which I’ve made a remark on further up, but also in other aspects. For instance, Oscar Dronjak taped a small screen to his guitar which proclaimed (in German, although I don’t know why) that he was, or had, a happy cock… You may take this as you will.

Anyway, Hammerfall showed us all how a show with a capitol S is supposed to be. Their energy was not to be mistaken, and they had the room in the palms of their hands. A very good experience and evening all in all.

Setlist:

Punish And Enslave
Crimson Thunder
Legion
Blood Bound
Renegade
Hallowed Be My Name
The Abyss
Last Man Standing
Heeding The Call
Glory To The Brave
Something For The Ages
Any Means Necessary
Natural High
The Way Of The Warrior
Between Two Worlds
Riders Of The Storm
Lore Of The Arcane
Trailblazers
Let The Hammer Fall
Hearts On Fire