It was hammerfall day today! With great pleasure I came to the 013 in Tilburg for some old school Heavy/Power metal.

The evening started with a performance of Nostradameus. I heard of the name once, but never had chance to listen to it. Anyways, they played some very decent Heavy Metal, and for a very new band they kicked ass. I'm looking forward to listen to the new album, because I certainly won't loose this band out of my eye.

The second band who was named to please the Hammerfall fans was a new band Masterplan, which have only done 1 show before this one ( according to the guitarist) but I find that hard to believe, as they were in one word Fantastic. That has to be with 2 ex members of Helloween in their midst ;) They have one cd out ( their selftitled debut) and they started their set with the first song of it called: Spirit Never Dies. It's a very catchy song with a chorus which you easily sing along. Great thing was the bass of the bassplayer, which was build like a shark, and it's eyes lighted in the dark and the body illuminated!! Further along they played a very heavy metal based song called Crawling From Hell. They even played their ballad from the Album called Heroes. Further along they also played: Sail On, Crystal Night ( ROCKS!!!!) and Soulburn. A quite pleasant set and I must say that this was a great support that almost equalled the later comming Hammerfall show.

Finally, after all the long waiting the lights dimmed and it showed a complete empty set, but not for long, as a knight with an enormous Hammer came on the set and made some funny gestures, when he smashed the hammer to the ground and the Pyro erupted and the lights illuminated, showing a drum kit which was lifted up the stage for a good 15 feet I think. It was quite impressive as Hammerfall came on the set as they erupted in their first song of the new album called: Riders Of The Storm. And after that one they did Stone Cold, from their debut called Glory To The Brave. Further along they played all the classics of their repetoire including, Renegade, Legacy Of Kings, Warriors Of Fate, Let the Hammer Fall, The Way Of The Warrior. From their new album they played the title track Crimson Thunder and they did The Unforgiving Blade. Then they went all backstage, to return later with a encore where they played ( how could it be else) Hearts On Fire, their first single of the new album, and they finally closed their magnificent set with Hammerfall their very first song. The pyro's where outragous and at the end of the song, the guitar and the bass player joined eachother when the Pyro erupted from their guitars, very cool effect!!!.

It was a magnificent show with 2 great support acts and it was certainly worth the money to spend on a day like this!

Matko.