Alestorm with Trollfest and Gypsyhawk.

I saw Trollfest on Paganfest back in April and they were one of the highlights for me so I'm ecstatic to see them again. It'll be cool seeing Alestorm as well, they're a fun band.

No philly, reading, or allentown show! What a shocker!!!

Drive out to Pittsburgh! I'll be going.

Not a big fan of the supporting bands, but Alestorm is always an awesome time, so not gonna miss this show! Gonna catch them in Baltimore. It's the day before my brother's birthday, so..guess what he's getting for his birthday

What, you don't like Trollfest?! Have you heard them before? There aren't many bands that I would describe as more 'fun' than them.

I listened to them a bit and I saw them at Paganfest in the spring. I will say they're more tolerable, perhaps even enjoyable (i think I did start a drunken jig at the back of the room during one of their songs) live. I think it's the blaring saxophone and the spastic nature of their music that gets me. Not a big fan of brass in general. And all their songs seemed to have this frenetic craziness, like a drunken "Flight of the Bumblebee," which got tiresome. I like fast and wild music, but I guess I like it with a bit more melody.

Also, you know what they say about first impressions. I probably decided in the first ten seconds that I don't like them, and it will probably take a lot to change that

But, feel free to try. If you feel I got the wrong impression of Trollfest, feel free to recommend some songs to change my mind

I guess I can try!

Karve - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iok9GNC6UeI
More of a mid-fast paced one. I really like this one because it's uses the phrygian dominant scale (a very popular middle-eastern scale) which makes it sound very middle eastern, especially with the non-traditional metal instruments (in fact, most of that album sounds pretty middle eastern).

Illsint - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmqQaYBhtUA
This one is pretty much balls to the wall upbeat all-over-the-place folk metal. Really fast, awesome main melody.

Brumblebassen - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0pxumlvskE
The title track off their newest album, this song is more rounded than the previous two. It's mid-fast paced as well.

I'll try to remember to get back to these when my internet can handle streaming audio/video. It's crawling at a snail's pace today >.< It's literally worse than dial-up. And I do mean literally.

Who's gone to this show? I'm going in two days, and it'll really have a hard time following Finntroll only 3 days later!

Awesome tour!

Started with Gypsyhawk. Not a fan of these guys at all, really. I'm not big into traditional metal. I stood at the back while nodding along to their songs. Good performance, honest musicians. Not much else to say.

TrollfesT was up next, a band I've seen before. I was really pumped for them this time, seeing as how I've listened to 2 of their songs 60+ times and 2 other 30+ (all 4 of which were played live). They did their quirky, funny, casual performance that they did last time. Walking around, walking in circles, air humping, the whole shebang. The playing was tight, I couldn't spot a single mistake. The sound was good too, which is surprising since atop the usual drums/bass/2 guitars/vocals, they also have to add in a saxophone and accordion/sitar. They played mostly the same set as last time (kept all the songs I liked) and a few new ones (in lieu of the ones I wasn't as big a fan of). Even their older, outdated studio releases sounded good live. My only complaints would be that I couldn't get against the stage and that some dickweed shot a jet of beer across the pit right into my and a couple others' backs. Though that's not really TrollfesT's fault. Although, they didn't sell their recent compilatiuon "A Decade of Drekkadence" in CD (only vinyl which helps me none) which sucks since it can NOT be found anywhere online. Oh well. Great show!

Alestorm was next. Right away I was disappointed because I thought they would dress up as pirates, which they didn't. Just some mascara and the kilt the frontman was wearing. Right away they jumped into one of their faster songs, and one of the better. Again, the playing was tight all around along with the mixing. I was standing near one of the rear-facing speakers for the guitarists though so every time I leaned forward over the stage, I would hear a LOT more guitars. Also, with only one guitarist (and 2 keyboardists), some of the solos lacked a proper backing rhythm. Still, everything sounded great. They put on a good performance too, though I do think they were quite a bit too much into their beer, bordering on alcoholism. But it didn't affect their music as far as I could tell!

Awesome show all around, glad I made it out even though it was a Tuesday. I managed to nab 2 picks this time: a second TrollfesT pick (had one from last show) and the first Alestorm pick thrown (out of like a dozen).

The setlists are as follows:
Gypsyhawk - http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/gypsyhawk ... 4e698.html
TrollfesT - http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/trollfest ... 4e69f.html
Alestorm - http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/alestorm/ ... 4e69e.html