Hammerfall/Stratovarius @ 013 november 6th 2005





Finland And Sweden United

Did I read that right? Stratovarius & HammerFall were really gonna tour together? That would be too good to be true! Seeing two of my most favorite bands live on one stage, the same evening. Two for the price of one, so I couldn’t be happier! As soon as I heard the good news I rushed to the postoffice to get me a ticket for the show.

One ‘problem’: which bandshirt to wear? To me one isn’t more important than the other so… it wouldn’t be a Stratovarius shirt nor one of HammerFall. There’s a lot of shirts to choose from: Edguy, Brainstorm, Kamelot, Maiden, or… nah, let’s keep it neutral :)

That morning I got on the 10.33 train. Because they were working on the railroad tracks it took me half an hour longer than normal to arrive in Tilburg. But well, I’d kept in mind that those delays could take place, so no harm done. Even to this earlybird 14.00 is still early enough :) Let’s see if I still was able to find the venue 013. Shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve been there numerous times and it’s one of the few venues I can find with my eyes closed. I’ve had much worse. Roaming through a completely unfamiliar town, a printed roadmap in my hands, trying to find the venue, almost ending up in a crisis. Anyhow, hail to 013 for being so easy to find, even for people like me who are lacking any sense for direction :)

The weather was nice, as far as I can remember. It isn’t important for this review either, so I don’t bother too much. All I know is that it wasn’t freezing cold and no rain either. ‘Cause believe me, I would’ve remembered it when the temperatures were below zero or when it was pouring. Not that it would’ve changed my mood though, ‘cause once you’re inside you know it was for a good cause :)



Somewhere during the afternoon Stefan and Lauri were passing by. The door was closed – otherwise I wouldn’t be waiting outside ofcourse… just kidding, I’m a decent person – so they had to find another entrance. Lateron the question popped up ‘why didn’t I give them the HammerFall & Stratovarius review booklets?’ It just didn’t come to mind that quickly I guess. But I got another chance, ‘cause Anders came by as well. So I gave him the HammerFall envelope. Lateron my good friend Silvana, her daughter Daniëlle, and Ingrid arrived. Time to get rid of my ‘sleeping over’ bag, so I didn’t have to bring it along with me into the venue. The less to carry the better. I put the necessary stuff – some food and the Stratovarius envelope – in a plastic bag, the ticket for the show and some money in my pocket, and the other stuff did end up in the car. Well, I also had my camera with me, to take along into the venue.

Because we had to wait outside a little while longer I thought that was a good time to put the film into the camera. But silly me couldn’t do that because that film was still in the bag, which was… in the car :) Okay, that meant no pics this time. Not such a big deal though, ‘cause the show itself is much more important! :)

Certain venues have four different doors to enter, which can get pretty frustrating. Especially when you see the latecomers enter the venue before the earlybirds. Such a good thing that 013 only have one door, which lets the people in one by one. That keeps it fair for everyone. When the door opened I rushed upstairs and downstairs again towards the stage. There’s a much quicker way – without any stairs – but somehow that door is always locked. Don’t know the purpose for always letting us take the stairs, but well, it’s a good way to keep in shape though :) Well, first one to enter the venue equalled first one to reach the stage. I was ready for the party! As it took a while before the show would start I went to the merchandize for tourlongsleeves of both Stratovarius and HammerFall.

Let’s see and hear what the supportact Shakra will sound like. I’d never heard of them before, so I was ready for the introduction. Even when I have the chance to hear some soundbites ahead of the show I’ll never do that, because I like the surprise effect of hearing the music for the first time in a live environment. There were times that the music of the supportact was not quite my taste, but there were also times I felt pretty lucky to get acquainted. Shakra fits the second category!



Geeeshh, I think there’s a huge hole in my memory. Can’t remember which headliner came on stage after Shakra. Think it was HammerFall, but it just as well could’ve been Stratovarius. Think, think… aaarrgggg, this isn’t working. Well, let’s pretend the first headliner was HammerFall. And hey, maybe it was :)

The HammerFall show was shorter than normal, but that didn’t make it less fun! As eyecandy there was a beautiful scenery of an icy landscape. Although I prefer warm weather it would be great to go upnorth someday and witness this beautiful Winter landscape for real. And besides, if I have to choose between pouring rain or temperatures below zero… I most definitely prefer the second option the best. Next to the new songs Secrets, Blood Bound and Fury Of The Wild a good balance of ‘older’ songs were on the playlist. If I can rely on my previous show reviews Hammerfall and Heeding The Call hadn’t been played since 2001, which meant they were skipped in 2003. But then again, I could be wrong. ‘Cause if I don’t have a playlist my reviews concerning the songs played aren’t completely watertight :) Anyhow, ‘resurrected’ songs do make me extra happy! And if I remember it correctly I had never heard Riders Of The Storm live before. Further there were Let The Hammer Fall, At The End Of The Rainbow, Templars Of Steel, Renegade, Hearts On Fire. A funny and entertaining part was Anders’ drum solo. At some point the melody resembled the well-known Dutch song Altijd Is Kortjakje Ziek, which we all learned as a child. And so the whole venue knew the lyrics and sang along :)



The Stratovarius show also wasn’t a full-length one, but – I now I’m gonna repeat myself, but by using slightly different words to not make this review sound too repetitive – just as enjoyable! As visual there was homevideo footage on a videoscreen. The new songs Maniac Dance, Fight and United were completed with a good selection out of the ‘backcatalog’. Speed Of Light, Forever, Father Time, The Kiss Of Judas, Black Diamond, Destiny – unlike 2003, this time it was the full-song version, which felt good too! – Hunting High And Low, Eagleheart. Also some ‘brought back to life’ songs, entitled Against The Wind and Twilight Sympony, which I hadn’t heard live since 2000. Felt great to hear those songs again! No playlist available to fall back on – although I do have one of the Wâldrock 2003 festival show – but if my memory serves me right those songs were not played in 2003. Then again, this also can’t be etched into stone :) I’d seen Lauri play live before with Kotipelto, but this being a Stratovarius show I must confess that at first it felt a bit strange to not see Jari on stage. Somehow you’re getting attached to the line-up like it was during the first time you saw that particular band live. But I can also say that Lauri – really liked the bass solo a lot too – has proven he fits in the band perfectly! For the thirsty ones several waterbottles were thrown into the crowd. Thanks, that’s highly appreciated… and that bottle is a nice memento too ofcourse. Okay, one more thing to do. I had the Stratovarius envelope still in my bag. This time Timo Tolkki reached out and so I gave him the envelope.



The end had come in sight. Downside is that the shows of both Stratovarius and HammerFall were much too short. But that’s part of this being a double headliner tour. Upside is seeing both bands back to back on stage the same evening! So that levels it again :)



And then I found out that it hadn’t completely ended yet. Thanks to my good friend Silvana, the kind securities of 013 and last but not least Stratovarius for giving me the chance to finally meet the band after five years! It was very high on my wishlist, and now my dream became reality. No-one can take this away from me! Had some nice pics taken with the band. Lateron Anders came by for a while too, thanks! So ofcourse some pics were taken with him too. The other HammerFallers were already in the tourbus unfortunately. But you can't have everything I guess.



Timo Tolkki is the one who said something to me which made me even happier than I already was. Although at first I thought I must’ve misunderstood. ‘Cause how was it possible? He said that he’d seen me before, referring to the show in 2000 when I was waiting outside the venue in the early afternoon and he was walking by talking to someone on his cellphone. That was indeed the case, in Plato Helmond on December 9th 2000. As it was almost five years ago, and as he’s seen so many faces during the tours, it’s so amazing he remembered it too :)



It’s such a shame though that I’m not that much of a talker. I felt I should’ve told you guys, of both Stratovarius and HammerFall, what your songs truly mean to me. Making me happy, bringing shivers down my spine, and so much more. Damn, I had the chance… why didn’t I take it? Beats me. But luckily I can still write it all down here :)

Being outside again it had started to rain a little. Shakra’s tourbus was parked next to the venue. The guys were already in their tourbus so we thought ‘let's just make some pics of the bus’. As we were making some pics it turned out the guys were still awake and partying. 'Cause some heads appeared behind the windows and they started waving at us. A splitsecond later the door of the bus went open and some happy faces appeared around the corner. Half of the band came outside and we had a nice chat and ofcourse several pics were made too. Very nice guys for sure.

Silvana was so kind to provide me with a place to sleep. The next morning I woke up with a sore neck like I didn’t have before. At least not that severe. Couldn’t move my head properly for about three days. Guess having fun will most of the times come with having to cope with some unpleasant things afterwards. But that’s the price I was willing to pay :)

…Patience…Virtue…Identity…Soul… Paula

Review: Paula Waringa

Photos: Milou de Zwart and Silvana Breur