Freedom Call
Gimle, Roskilde - 2024
Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen
Wow, I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since the last time we reviewed Freedom Call, the world’s first, foremost, and to my knowledge only happy metal band.
As you can hear from that description, this is a band made up almost solely of cheese, and while that can be a good thing, cheese can also go bad over time. I wasn’t at all sure what we’d encounter this night, as the Germans were out supporting Rhapsody Of Fire and their own new full-length album, Silver Romance.
Silver’s a fitting choice, I suppose, as the band could celebrate their 25th anniversary just last year.
“Good evening, Roskilde! How are you doing? Those applause sounded amazing, can we have them again?”
- Chris Bay (vocals/guitar)
After Xeneris were done and beers had been refilled at the nearest bar, the lights went down and a countdown started. Like, yes, a literal countdown.
At the end, the band appeared on the small stage (especially so because R.O.F.’s equipment took up quite a bit of space), and they were clad in silver. None of the make-up, but the shining clothes and the glimmering shoes and instruments certainly made an impression all on their own!
Freedom Call opened the show with A Perfect Day, and though fully unintentional, I could help but think of Clawfinger when hearing Bay singing “I’m the biggest, the best, better than the rest” - these lyrics were the only thing connecting the two songs together, as the sound, not surprisingly, was vastly different. An enjoyable opener nonetheless, and the band was strongly proving any doubters wrong, as Bay and Lars Rettkowitz were shamelessly flirting with the audience, while Francesco Ferraro and Ramy Ali were engaged in a headbanging competition of the Gods. Ali won hands down, and it was truly impressive to see how much he headbanged and gave tricks with his drumsticks without ever missing a beat!
It was impressive to see the energy and vitality this band exuded. From the very start to the not at all bitter end, all of them gave it their all in a way I had not expected, and I was happily taken aback! The flirting continued, as did the headbanging, but what I liked the most was that Freedom Call were treating this in the same way I would expect them treating a headlining gig at Wacken - they were truly acting like the venue and crowd was much, much larger than it was! Sure, Gimle is a fine venue, no doubt about it, but even though there were several power metal fans present, it wasn’t exactly sold out either; this, however, did not seem to affect the band at all, and all the positive energy was exactly what we needed.
“We were here in Denmark recently! (yeah!) Well, we just drove through to get to Sweden. (boo!)
- Bay (vocals/guitar)
Bay also did an outstanding job with getting the audience involved and active in the show. This was most clearly successful in the great sing along for the fan anthem Metal Is For Everyone. This one worked out well, yes, but even though the room was clearly enthusiastic for the German band, it wasn’t always that the actual crowd singing was quite up to snuff.
Before Warriors for instance, Bay asked if there were any warriors present, and while there was something of an affirmative reply, Bay felt that it could be better, and also figured that he’d achieve it by asking more dramatically, which he then proceeded in doing in the most wonderful over the top way.
If any gripes to be raised against this show, it would, on a personal note, I would have liked a bit more presence in the set from the older albums, and on a general note, the use of backtracks was quite overwhelming to a degree where it was working against the lovely live feeling the band had going. This latter point was an issue for all the bands this evening, but especially with Freedom Call, it didn’t feel necessary. They were already giving so much of themselves, it would in itself be plenty to fill up the concert.
Overall though, this was a huge success, a concert to be loved from one end to the other! Let’s hope it’s not another 10 years before we see them again, and that they’re given a bit more time to play next time.
Setlist:
A Perfect Day
Hammer Of The Gods
Tears Of Babylon
Silver Romance
Union Of The Strong
Out Of Space
Power & Glory
Warriors
Metal Is For Everyone
Land Of Light
As you can hear from that description, this is a band made up almost solely of cheese, and while that can be a good thing, cheese can also go bad over time. I wasn’t at all sure what we’d encounter this night, as the Germans were out supporting Rhapsody Of Fire and their own new full-length album, Silver Romance.
Silver’s a fitting choice, I suppose, as the band could celebrate their 25th anniversary just last year.
“Good evening, Roskilde! How are you doing? Those applause sounded amazing, can we have them again?”
- Chris Bay (vocals/guitar)
After Xeneris were done and beers had been refilled at the nearest bar, the lights went down and a countdown started. Like, yes, a literal countdown.
At the end, the band appeared on the small stage (especially so because R.O.F.’s equipment took up quite a bit of space), and they were clad in silver. None of the make-up, but the shining clothes and the glimmering shoes and instruments certainly made an impression all on their own!
Freedom Call opened the show with A Perfect Day, and though fully unintentional, I could help but think of Clawfinger when hearing Bay singing “I’m the biggest, the best, better than the rest” - these lyrics were the only thing connecting the two songs together, as the sound, not surprisingly, was vastly different. An enjoyable opener nonetheless, and the band was strongly proving any doubters wrong, as Bay and Lars Rettkowitz were shamelessly flirting with the audience, while Francesco Ferraro and Ramy Ali were engaged in a headbanging competition of the Gods. Ali won hands down, and it was truly impressive to see how much he headbanged and gave tricks with his drumsticks without ever missing a beat!
It was impressive to see the energy and vitality this band exuded. From the very start to the not at all bitter end, all of them gave it their all in a way I had not expected, and I was happily taken aback! The flirting continued, as did the headbanging, but what I liked the most was that Freedom Call were treating this in the same way I would expect them treating a headlining gig at Wacken - they were truly acting like the venue and crowd was much, much larger than it was! Sure, Gimle is a fine venue, no doubt about it, but even though there were several power metal fans present, it wasn’t exactly sold out either; this, however, did not seem to affect the band at all, and all the positive energy was exactly what we needed.
“We were here in Denmark recently! (yeah!) Well, we just drove through to get to Sweden. (boo!)
- Bay (vocals/guitar)
Bay also did an outstanding job with getting the audience involved and active in the show. This was most clearly successful in the great sing along for the fan anthem Metal Is For Everyone. This one worked out well, yes, but even though the room was clearly enthusiastic for the German band, it wasn’t always that the actual crowd singing was quite up to snuff.
Before Warriors for instance, Bay asked if there were any warriors present, and while there was something of an affirmative reply, Bay felt that it could be better, and also figured that he’d achieve it by asking more dramatically, which he then proceeded in doing in the most wonderful over the top way.
If any gripes to be raised against this show, it would, on a personal note, I would have liked a bit more presence in the set from the older albums, and on a general note, the use of backtracks was quite overwhelming to a degree where it was working against the lovely live feeling the band had going. This latter point was an issue for all the bands this evening, but especially with Freedom Call, it didn’t feel necessary. They were already giving so much of themselves, it would in itself be plenty to fill up the concert.
Overall though, this was a huge success, a concert to be loved from one end to the other! Let’s hope it’s not another 10 years before we see them again, and that they’re given a bit more time to play next time.
Setlist:
A Perfect Day
Hammer Of The Gods
Tears Of Babylon
Silver Romance
Union Of The Strong
Out Of Space
Power & Glory
Warriors
Metal Is For Everyone
Land Of Light
Freedom Call
