Delain and Hammerfall
May 9, 2017
Whisky A Go-Go – Hollywood, CA
European metal acts Delain and Hammerfall teamed up for a headlining tour across the USA. This tour was extra special because it was Hammerfall‘s first USA tour in seven years. Fans were so ecstatic about the show that a line formed outside the world-famous Whisky A Go-Go hours before doors opened. Attendance was so great that it ended up being a sold out show to where it felt oversold and fans were packed in like sardines. Regardless, it was set to be a great night on the Sunset Strip.
Hammerfall is a power metal band from Sweden and have been active since the mid 90’s. They released their tenth studio album Built to Last in 2016. Lots of Hammerfall fans were super excited to see the band as plenty of fans could be seen wearing the band’s merch and were also loudly chanting the band’s name. The lights went out and the venue cheered as the members of the band made their way down the stairs and started the show with Hector’s Hymn. Hammerfall displayed their musical talents as power metal is meant to be. With clean heavy metal vocals and shredding guitars. The second song played was the classic Riders of the Storm from their classic Crimson Thunder album and had a more traditional heavy metal feel which made fans go crazy with a small mosh pit going as well as shoving. Hammerfall is also known for their catchy songs which fans 
loved singing along to. Fans loved singing along to songs such as: Renegade, Let the Hammer Fall, The Dragon Lies Bleeding, and Hammer High. Frontman Joacim Cans asked the audience how many of them were seeing Hammerfall for the first time. He was surprised at how many people raised their hands and promised that it wouldn’t take them another seven years for them to return. To end the show, Hammerfall played their most famous song, Hearts on Fire. The fans went crazy and sang along to the chorus, “Hearts on Fire, Hearts on Fire! Burning, burning with desire!”. It made for a great and energetic show finisher. Hammerfall left the stage and the fans were just getting warmed up.
Delain is a symphonic metal band from the Netherlands. They are relatively new to the metal and on August 2016, they released their fifth album titled, Moonbathers. Plenty of Delain fans were also in attendance and were happy to see a headlining set for the first time instead of the band’s usual 30-minute sets from previous USA tours. Delain came out and started the show with the first track from the new album, Hands of Gold. Singer Charlotte Wessels has to have one of the most beautiful voices when it comes to female metal vocalists. She sang the songs with such perfection and love for what she does. Being that they had a new album out, the band had to play some new songs. The Glory and the Scum and Suckerpunch were two obvious choices for the setlist and were also two of the album’s singles. Wessels did an amazing job at interacting with the fans as she would regularly hold fans’ hands, high five them, pose for them, and smile directly at them. Delain has a great stage presence that would have fans clapping their hands and jumping to the music. They showered their fans with beautiful symphonic metal with songs such as: Army of Dolls, Get the Devil Out of Me, and Fire With Fire. Being that the show took place in Hollywood, you never know who’s gonna be there as a special guest. As a Hollywood show special, Delain brought out Burton C. Bell from metal band Fear Factory and performed the duet for Where Is the Blood as it’s originally done on their We Are the Others album. It’s a special treat for the Hollywood audience to witness this song. Delain finished the show with Not Enough which has to be one of the band’s most beautiful songs as Wessels has an almost opera-like solo towards the end of the song. Delain left the stage, but the fans weren’t ready to go just yet. The fans for the band to come back out and so they did. Delain came back for an encore and started with Mother Machine followed by Don’t Let Go. The final song of the night was We Are the Others and is a very special song for the fans about wanting to be accepted for who they are and not being forced into “the norm”. Delain wrapped up their show and left the stage leaving their fans very satisfied with their performance and hoping that both bands come back for another co-headlining tour.
Review by: Misael Ruiz
Delain
Hammerfall
