APRIL 8th, 2024
TOUR OF THE DEAD MARAUDER
Review By: Metal Mom Rita
Photos By: Char Tupper
Gallery: http://www.metaltitans.com/concertpics/tour-of-the-dead-marauder/

Well an exciting night for me, as I have not seen any of these bands before, knew one of the band members, but hadn't seen this project.  Tonight's show was at the Commodore Ballroom, been many moons since I have seen a show there, so a treat to be back.

Opening up tonight is Glyph, an intergalactic power band from the wastelands of Volaria. They annouced to the public in 2023 that they formed this band together. They had come from different bands ( formed by musicians from the bands Gatekeeper, Greyhawk, Ravenous, E.H., and HJELVIK).  Their sound was old fashioned power metal, and who doesn't like that. They played a great set, had everyone's attention for sure. I am also sure that they will be getting some more followers after this tour. This is their debut tour.

ELVENKING , heavy metal from Italy steps up to the plate next. I read that they have been around now for 25 years, and they finally made it to North America. What is unbelievable is I haven't heard of this band until the tour was announced. I also didn't pre-listen to any of their music because I always feel that live, is the true sound, and boy did I get a show. Every member put a 150% into their stage performance, it was phenomenal to see. From the first moment that Damnagoras entered the stage with a set of antlers, they had my attention, and they had it for their whole set. First let me tell you who is who in this band as they all did such an amazing job. "Damnagoras"  (vocals), "Aydan" (guitars) , "Headmatt"  (guitars)  "Jakob"  (bass) "Symohn" (drums), and tonight was the first night of the tour that Lethien (violinist) making the line-up  complete tonight. They sure have a unique balance of heavy metal, pagan, folk and melodic, pretty powerful, and they have shown that they know what they are doing, creating the perfect mix to give the fans some exceptional music.  I couldn't tell you the names of the songs they played, but every one of them had those danceable moves. They created a contest for all the cities they played in to see who could be the loudest. Well up until yesterday Calgary was the winner, but us in Vancouver would have none of that, so we became the new champions . It is so nice to attend a show, and find a band that you haven't seen before and that can excell in what they do. Also something else I noticed, and never before was the floor moving from all that moshing and jumping, happened for these guys as well as Alestorm, what a crowd tonight. Let me say, DON'T miss them if they come to your town.

Headliners tonight is heavy metal pirates . . ALESTORM, I haven't seen them before, but interesting to see a large blow up duck being inflated before their set. Pirates, and a duck, hmmm, interesting combination.  You could tell that most of the people there were for Alestorm, they had the pirate hats (even one from a Pirate Pak at White Spot Restaurants), t-shirt, swords, you name it, if it had something to do with a pirate, they had it. The crowd was wild for these guys, crowd surfers flowing like waves !  I am pretty sure the rum was gone by the end of the night, lots was had and I am sure enjoyed to get the true "pirate" experience. They have a lot of followers, and you could see they were enjoying themselves.

Remaining dates:
10.04.24 US – Boise, ID / Knitting Factory
12.04.24 US – Sacramento, CA / Ace of Spades
13.04.24 US – Santa Ana, CA / The Observatory
15.04.24 US – Tucson, AZ / Rialto Theatre
16.04.24 US – Albuquerque, NM / Sunshine Theater
18.04.24 US – Oklahoma City, OK / Diamond
19.04.24 US – St. Louis, MO / Red Flag
20.04.24 US – Indianapolis, IN / Old National
21.04.24 US – Nashville, TN / Marathon