Delain/Hammerfall North American Tour, New York City and Baltimore, USA, April 24 and 26, 2017

The recent North American Delain/Hammerfall coheadlining tour was a big deal for fans of both bands. For North American Delain fans, it was not only their first chance to see the band perform a full headline set, it was also their first chance to see all six members perform together… two things that the band’s European fans have been able to experience for quite some time. For North American Hammerfall fans, this was their first chance to see the band in quite a while as their last North American tour was seven long years ago! For fans of both bands, like myself, this was truly a “Can’t Miss” event. The tour was scheduled to last for a full month and was to cover twenty-six cities across the USA and Canada. I decided once would not be enough and made plans to hit both the New York City and Baltimore shows.

Omnislash

The New York City show was at Stage 48 on Manhattan’s west side. It was a large two story venue with a soaring ceiling, a huge stage and a lot of twirling spotlights that made for a cool viewing effects, but made photography a challenge. The Baltimore show was at the Baltimore Soundstage, a smaller venue with a much smaller stage but good acoustics. A local regional band opened the shows on both nights. The New York Show was opened by Gothic Knights, a local power metal band that has been on the scene for almost three decades. I only caught the tail end of their set, so I’m unable to give you a review… but from the sound of the crowd, I think most people in the audience enjoyed them. The Baltimore show was opened by Omnislash, a local power/thrash metal band. I’ve seen Omnislash open for several international bands in the past and they always put on a heavy, yet fun set. This time around was no exception and it was a great way to start the night!

Hammerfall

The heavy metal titans of Hammerfall took the stage first on both nights that I saw the show, and I believe that schedule continued for the rest of the tour. I thought this was a bit of an odd choice for coheadlining bands to have made, as many people that are fans of one band may not stay for the second if their band is first… especially since these bands play different styles of metal. Alternating who plays first gives both bands an opportunity to perform for people that may not have followed them in the past, perhaps allowing them to gain new fans in the process. As a fan of both Delain and Hammerfall, I didn’t particularly care which band when first, as I was going to stay for both regardless… but a lot of Hammerfall fans did leave before Delain took the stage. I’m sure that the reverse would have been true if Delain had performed first on some of the nights.

Hammerfall

I only recently became a fan of Hammerfall, after I saw them absolutely kill it onstage on 2016’s 70000 Tons of Metal cruise. I left that cruise a real fan and was thrilled that I was going to get the chance to see them again. Hammerfall just released their 10th studio album, appropriately titled “Built to Last” and I was looking forward to hearing some of the new songs live. The band played an approximately 75-minute set (14 songs) of their unique brand of classic heavy metal including three songs from the new album (“Dethrone and Defy”, “Hammer High” and the title track). The set list varied slightly from night to night. The crowd was in rare form both nights as the North American fans were hungry for a show after the band’s long absence from our shores. There was a tremendous amount of interaction between the band and the crowd which always makes for a fun show! There was a lot of interaction between the band members as well, including lots of synchronized headbanging and fretboard movements. One of the highlights of the set for me on both nights was the song “Let the Hammer Fall”, during which the crowd participation was tremendous with crowd roaring the word “Fall” on every chorus. Hammerfall really gave it their all on both nights and I, as well as their other fans, certainly hope it won’t be another seven years before we see them again.

Hammerfall Set List
1. Hector’s Hymn
2. Riders of the Storm
3. Blood Bound
4. Any Means Necessary
5. Renegade
6. Dethrone and Defy
7. Last Man Standing
8. Let the Hammer Fall
9. Built to Last
10. Medley to the Brave (Stone Cold, Hammerfall & The Metal Age)
11. The Dragon Lies Bleeding
12. Hammer High
13. Bushido (New York), The Way of the Warrior (Baltimore)
14. Hearts on Fire

Delain

After a brief break for a stage change, it was time for symphonic metallers Delain to take the stage. For those of you that regularly read my tour reviews, you may be getting tired of me telling you just how good this band sounds live… but I’m not going to break with tradition here. I feel like this band just keeps getting better and better and they put on a fantastic show both nights! Delain are a very animated band in the live setting and spend a lot of time interacting with the crowd and each other. It always adds to the fun of a show if the band looks like they are actually having as much fun as the audience! Unlike a lot of North American fans, I have seen Delain perform headlining sets in the past, as I get over to Europe to cover shows from time to time. Their sets on this North American tour were 15 songs long on both nights… a bit shorter that their sets on their headlining European tours, but this was a coheadlining show, so it was expected the sets might be a little shorter. The set list was the same both nights I saw the tour. Delain began the evening with “Hands of Gold: from their newest album “Moonbathers”. Four additional songs were played from the new album including “The Glory and the Scum”, “The Hurricane”, “Fire with Fire”, and “Pendulum”. All of their other albums were represented throughout the shows as well. The shows ended with their signature anthem, “We are the Others”.

Delain

Delain Set List
1. Hands of Gold
2. Go Away
3. The Glory and the Scum
4. Get the Devil Out of Me
5. Army of Dolls
6. The Hurricane
7. April Rain
8. Fire with Fire
9. Here Come the Vultures
10. Pendulum
11. Sleepwalkers Dream
12. Not Enough
13. Mother Machine
14. Don’t Let Go
15. We Are the Others

Delain

It was a great night of music with two headlining bands with distinctly different, yet complementary styles of metal. They played and impressive number of shows and, although it is impossible to hit every city, Delain and Hammerfall managed to cover a pretty comprehensive area of the USA and Canada. This tour is now over, so if you missed it… you’ll have to wait for next time… whenever that will be. There have been no definitive announcements for when either band will return to North America, but Hammerfall has promised they won’t take seven years to return… and there is a reasonably reliable rumor that Delain will be back next year!

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