Dublin – February 28th 2024
On the day of 28th of February 2024, The Academy in Dublin hosted the finest pagan and pirate party of this year when it welcomed Heidevolk, Korpiklaani & Alestorm as part of Alestorm’s UK/Ireland tour. As the show was completely sold-out weeks in advance people from far and near came out to see this spectacle. Here’s our review about this evening.
Heidevolk took the stage first and it felt like they have been visiting around here for years, however as it turned out it was their first ever show in Dublin! The crowd welcomed them with open arms and from the first note the band played it was an awesome sight to behold. Even though most of the songs are sung in Heidevolk’s native language: Dutch, this didn’t stop the crowd from singing along. Luckily there were also some English songs on the set list with “A Wolf in my heart” & “Drinking with the gods (Valhalla)”. This made me sing along in Dutch and the crowd screamed the lyrics in English. “Yngwaz’s Zonen” is the song that really gave me goosebumps. This song is performed with only vocals, bass drums and a dimmed light that flickers every time the bass hits. The band asked if they would be welcomed back, and the entire crowd erupted and screamed yes! I think it’s safe to say that they were really appreciated in their first Dublin show. We can’t forget the banger that is “Vulgaris Magistralis”, and I’ve never heard so many people trying to sing along in a language that is not their own, which made this an amazing experience. I can’t wait to see my next Heidevolk show because this was just amazing!
Setlist Heidevolk
1 Hagalaz
2 Klauwen vooruit
3 A Wolf In My Heart
4 Yngwaz Zonen
5 Britannia
6 Drinking with the Gods (Valhalla)
7 Vulgraris Magistralis
8 Nehalennia
Korpiklaani took the stage next and showed Dublin how much of a party they can make.
Pulling out the classics “Wooden Pints” & “Happy Little Boozer” got everyone excited. Although the vocals were turned down too low in the mixing, everything sounded amazing. The crowd their interactions, the amazing solos, the polka and so much more. It has been a while since I have seen Korpiklaani perform thís well! We went nuts to the sounds of “Beer Beer”, “Saunaan” & “Vodka”. The 15-song set list and the crowd screaming along with the songs in Finnish, which, as with the previous band, is not their native tongue, made this a really fun show. Korpiklaani is back where they belong and that is at the top of the pagan metal. This was the perfect share platter to hype everyone up for the main event.
Setlist Korpiklaani
1 A Man With A Plan
2 Wooden Pints
3 Happy Little Boozer
4 Pilli on pajusta tehty
5 Ievan Polkka
6 Gotta Go Home (Boney M Cover)
7 Aita
8 Tuli Kokko
9 Juokse sina humma
10 Pidot
11 Leväluhta
12 Metsämies
13 Saunaan
14 Beer Beer
15 Vodka
After Korpiklaani, we got ready for the main event of the evening: Alestorm. I’ve seen them perform live a couple of times over the past years and they never cease to amaze me; but this time it was special. The Academy is not the biggest venue in the world, and it made the concert feel very intimate. Alestorm started off with “Keelhauled” and the tone was set for the entire show. The explosiveness of the opening song and the reaction of everyone to it, was such an amazing sight to behold. Nothing but bangers, one after another. Everyone was going crazy, myself included. When the band started playing their song “Wenches & Mead” they changed the lyrics and vocals, after the second verse, into barking dogs and we were just barking along with it. Performing their new single “Voyage of the Dead Marauder” (featuring Patty Gurdy on hurdy gurdy), Alestorm invited Patty Gurdy on stage with them to play it live and it was amazing. Making it more of a P.A.R.T.Y when the last few songs played. Alestorm went off stage but of course not without a smashing encore, and it’s always really good to have a sold-out venue scream the lyrics to “Fucked With an Anchor”.
Set list Alestorm
1 Keelhauled
2 No Grave but the Sea
3 The Sunk’n Norwegian
4 Alestorm
5 Under Blackened Banners
6 Treasure Chest Party Quest
7 Hangover
8 Wenches & Mead + Dog Version
9 Magellan’s Expedition
10 Mexico
11 Voyage of the Dead Marauder
12 Big Ship Little Ship
13 Nancy The Tavern Wench
14 Rumpelkombo
15 P.A.R.T.Y
16 Captain Morgan’s revenge
17 Shit Boat (no Fans)
encore
18 Drink
19 Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship
20 Fucked With an Anchor
From start to finish this whole night was a joy to watch and the bands were all amazing. There’s just no bad thing to say about this and this night will be going into the books as one of my favourite shows I’ve seen so far. Great company, Great atmosphere and amazing hospitality by the Irish crowd makes me want to go more shows like this.
9,5/10 night for me!
