Piercing vocals, blazing guitar work, and endless excitement defined HammerFall’s show at Irving Plaza in New York this past Sunday, March 7, 2010. Was the New York crowd ready to get hammered with HammerFall? You bet they were and they proved it to vocalist Joacim with a display of horns to which he reminded us, “I don’t want you to raise your hands, this isn’t school, it’s a concert. Use your voices!” That remark caused an eruption of voices that could have shattered glass. Those same voices chanted with a mighty roar for HammerFall as the band took the stage and began their set with “Punish & Enslave” from the album No Sacrifice, No Victory.
When I had asked Oscar during my interview earlier in the evening about the fan reactions to the new songs, he wasn’t kidding when he said it was better than expected. The near capacity crowd was absolutely going wall to wall bonkers with every selection from the album and not to mention singing every word right back in Joacim’s face. There was a full on mosh pit churning out bodies during every song and gratuitous crowd surfing even during the ballads which caught the surprise of the band as well considering as Joacim put it, the crowd the night before might as well have been sleeping compared to New York.
As the show progressed, the crowd got more and more into the music, especially during classic cuts like “The Dragon Lies Bleedin'” to the point where the floor was literally shaking under their movement. Late into the show, it was mentioned that HammerFall will be back in the states for the ProgPower Festival and that based on what they saw tonight, they just might have to make a stop back in New York!
Finally, during the encore, Joacim asked the crowd, “If I said ‘Let the Hammer’ you would respond…?” “FALL.” “I can’t hear you!” “FALL!!” “Say it again and draw it out as long as you can!” “FALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!” as the band tore into, well, you guessed it, “Let The Hammer Fall.” They followed that with none other than the hit, “Hearts On Fire.” Joacim handed vocal duties over to the crowd for the first verse and they nailed it!
The band was all smiles all night long and I can safely say that the crowd surely left with a bad case of well earned whiplash. Both sides of the stage looked to have had a blast I don’t doubt that HammerFall will be visiting New York again in a time span shorter than 5 years this time.

–Deuce \m/