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HammerFall was not going to waste an off date from their tour with Helloween and was in Montreal to please an eager crowd at the Fairmount Theater. For the occasion they were accompanied by two local bands, Valfreya and Dissymmetry.

Dissymmetry started their set as people were still getting in the venue, but front woman Ace Baldwin seemed very happy with what she was already seeing. Their intense riffs were well received from the fans and their reaction got better and better as their set progressed. James Delbridge was their guest second guitar player for this show, and he did an awesome job. As usual, bassist Frank Vigneault is a beast on stage and is always on the move. Sadly, for them, the band had many sound issues during their set, and every member had its share, one after the other. But that did not stop them and they pushed through it like real professionals and they gave a great show.

Valfreya was up next and fans were cheering them on from their first song. The band is composed of six members and that was just too many for the small space that was available to them on stage. They looked trapped with no way to move around without bumping into another band member. Fans were loving what they were hearing until the band had issued with their computer towards the end of their set. The violinist (Maude Théberge) tried her best to solve the issue, but there was nothing she could do and it too a good fifteen minutes of nothing before the band started playing another song before calling it a night. The end of their set totally scrapped what was going to be a good show for them. Too bad the band did not opt for a plan B with another song or two that did not need a computer instead of trying to fix the issue for such a long time.

It was now time for the mighty HammerFall to get on stage as the crowd was more than happy to great them. Armed with a new album called Hammer Of Dawn, HammerFall starts their set with the single “Brotherhood” and the crowd simply goes wild. As usual, the musicians are very dynamic on stage, mainly the signer Joacim Cans and he interacts with the crowd throughout their set. The band spreads adequately the four new songs in their set and chose to play one song from all their other albums as a celebration to their 30 years of career. Fans went crazy during the older songs like “The Metal Age”, “Blood Bound” and “Renegade”. 

Guitar player Oscar Dronjak changed guitars a few times and the fans really liked his iconic hammer-shaped guitar. Pontus Norgren, the other guitar player is also very talented and his solos look so easy to play that any guitar player can hardly keep their eyes off him. The roof blew off when the band played in succession “Last Man Standing”, their “Hero's Return / On The Edge Of Honour / Riders Of The Storm / Crimson Thunder” medley and the epic “Let The Hammer Fall”. They played the melodic “(We Make) Sweden Rock” before exiting the stage for their encore and fans were very loud and brought them back on stage in no time. The night ended with the songs “Hammer High” and “Hearts On Fire”, one of their biggest hits. By this time, the lungs of the fans were on fire as they were all singing loudly with Joacim. 

Looking at the reaction of the musicians, it is easy to say that they really enjoyed their show in Montreal. Even if this show was in a small venue, the band had a great time and would not pass the chance to play a concert in Montreal. That being said, fans always have a blast at their show, no matter where they play!