I was originally scheduled to cover the Alestorm‘s New York City appearance on December 2, yet it ended up being a 3-day party saga that was surely nothing less than memorable!
One of the last few stops of this year’s Alestorm tour was hitting the Great Apple. Gypsyhawk was in charge of starting out the night. They found some warmth among the New York City fans – far from the cold temperatures of Canada, where they had just come from. They showcased California Rock n’ Roll at it’s finest (having persevered though the struggles of a broken down car) and delivered an energetic performance.
As always, it was expected that Trollfest would have the crowd in constant motion with everything from mosh pits, walls of death, crowd surfing and, of course, lots and lots of dancing. Since their last appearance in the city during the annual Paganfest, the local crowd has grown immensely. Their performance was quite the fun-fest. Not only did the silliness of the band make it so much more exiting, they interacted a lot with the fans; at some point they even played in the middle of the pit, as fans danced around them.
And when you think it doesn’t get any better than Trollfest, Pirate Metal comes along. Alestorm brought the party full circle as they delivered one of the most exiting and energetic set. The crowd surfers rained towards the front, as everyone else was dancing and singing along to the drunken pirate lyrics. Again one cannot emphasize enough the fact that the band takes the time to bond with their following. They brought some girls on stage to dance with them, and just joked around in between songs.
I’ve seen so many shows throughout the year, and I have to say, not only was this the top one for me, but it was the cherry on top to end this memorable year of gigs.
Follow Kassandra as she continues her 3-Day adventure.
MINDSET EVOLUTION:
The crowd started to grow antsy while waiting for Prospect Hill‘s arrival. Clusters of costumed concertgoers inched in closer to the stage once the crew began to set up for the main event. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the band emerged from the shadows and without hesitation; Prospect Hill started their set with “Dirty Mother”, “S.O.E.”, and “A Patriots Theme”. They really brought 
The mixed chatter of fans melted into cheers the lights in the 
When asked about favorite song(s) to perform live, Cordle and Jones gave two different answers. Jones’s is “I Stand,” and Cordle’s is “Take the Bullets Away.” “We just started doing ‘Take the Bullets Away’ on this tour,” Cordle said. “We have never done it before live. It’s my favorite song on the album. When I sing that song, I’m transported in a mind/time machine back to the moment I was writing that song. To the moment the lyrics came into my head. It’s all I can do to keep it together on stage. Like, it’s so emotional for me, personally, and I know for the guys, too. It’s a strong connection for us, so doing it live is such an amazing feeling.”
The interview was briefly interrupted as fans continued to say a quick hi/bye to Cordle and Jones. More of New York’s loud and lively ambiance continued through Cordle’s answer. “We have a few bands that have this kind of idealism. Are you playing for ten people or are you playing for 10,000 people? Just play the same show, they all pay the same amount of money to get there. So that’s what I’ve learned. Is just to appreciate the smaller shows, and you can have just as much fun, sometimes more. It’s just a whole ‘nother dynamic, trying to reach out and connect with the fan that’s forty feet away, past a railing, and then security guards, and then barriers, then seats, people you can’t even see in the back of the arena. You have to relearn how to get to that person who’s in the back, how to make them feel like you know they’re there.”
The mixed excited chatter buzzed throughout the venue as fans waited for the arrival of Five Finger Death Punch. The roar of the crowd rang out as the crew began setting up the stage. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the band emerged from the shadows, not a moment was wasted as they began with one of their many hits, “Under and Over It”, followed by “Burn it Down”. By the beginning of the third song, “The Way of the Fist”, the madness that had been brewing before finally exploded into chaos; the crowd surfers rose from the sea of bouncing, fist-pumping bodies, plastic beer bottles flew into the air in the direction of the stage. There was a moment of peace when front man, 
At the sight of Escape the Fate‘s backdrop, the roar of the fans was almost deafening as they awaited the band’s arrival. The overhead music came to a halt as the lights suddenly dimmed and gave off a blue hue to the stage, a strong hint that it was time for Escape the Fate to rock the stage. “I was fucking sitting on the balcony at my friend’s house, named Kenny with our old singer and we were smoking refried cigarettes and at the time I was thinking of a band name,” Max Green, the band’s bassist, explained to Upstate Metal’s Kate Drexel earlier that evening, when asked about the creation of the band name. “I was like ‘Alright, it’s gotta be something that’s chant-able’, something we can clap to and so I wanted something with a three in it, so it can be abbreviated cool. So it was like…I feel like it would’ve been like doodling names or whatever else with just cool words or whatever and it kind of just fell into place, to be honest. I think we were writing down ‘escape’ or talking about fate or something like that, like ‘Man, those two look cool together’ and it’s cool with the E and the F, you can do something cool with it, just fell into place with Escape the Fate.”
After each member made their appearance, Escape the Fate didn’t hesitate for one moment as they began with the title track from their latest record, Ungrateful, followed quickly by “Issues” and the second single from the album, “You’re Insane.” The crowd was pumped and the moshing that started off slowly, intensified. “When we usually write, our real guitar player, Monte [Money] would just send a demo and I would write vocals but when he would explain how he would write it. That’s why I’m excited to see how he would write this next record, actually sit down and do it as a band because that’s something we’ve always wanted to do but haven’t done, it’s just more of he sits down…I think “Gorgeous Nightmare” was “Bad Romance” or some other Lady Gaga song,” said 
Finally, at the end of the interview, Drexel got to ask her favorite question: what does music mean to you? “Well, I’d say for me, personally, everything. It’s what got me through my day as a kid, it’s what I used to lock my room door after my dad would kick my ass and blast music as soon as he left the house because I couldn’t do it while he was there,” reminisced Craig. “As soon as he was gone, my mom would have to deal with the wrath of Craig and I would just blast music. It’s what I did my whole life. I played violin in the 5th grade then I moved to the saxophone and I started singing and now it’s what pays my bills and still helps me get through the day because I get to express myself. I can sit down and write a song whenever I want to so…music is everything to me.”
