ALESTORM
w/ Gloryhammer // Glyph
9/20/25 – The Rave – Milwaukee, WI
©Crystal Buchberger
Saturday night, The Rave transformed into a battlefield. Or maybe a pirate ship. Or perhaps some chaotic hybrid of the two. Alestorm, Gloryhammer, and Glyph all docked in Milwaukee with cannons blazing and ready to pillage. One thing’s for sure, when Alestorm sails into town, you’d best prepare for an evening of rum-fueled revelry, inflatable ducks, and power metal shenanigans that’ll leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about live music.
The night kicked off with Glyph, a rising force in the fantasy-metal scene whose stage presence was darker than a kraken’s underbelly. With crushing riffs and mythic themes, Glyph set the tone with a thunderous performance that felt like the musical equivalent of a wizard casting Fireball at level 20.
Check out the Glyph concert photo gallery below:
“Milwaukee fear not, if there are any dragons in your city, we will slay them all,” Darin Wall proclaimed while transitioning into their legendary song, “A Storm of Crimson Fire.” Their sound was tight, moody, and powerful – like if Mastodon played D&D in a candlelit tavern.
Next up was the almighty Gloryhammer, whose arrival transformed the venue into a space-fantasy epic. Dressed in armor and glowing with righteous absurdity, they blasted through a set of symphonic bangers that had the crowd singing about unicorns, hammers, and the galactic dominion of Dundee.
Check out the Gloryhammer concert photo gallery below:
“This is one of the loudest crowds we’ve had this tour,” Sozos Michael exclaimed between songs. When they played “Universe on Fire,” the audience responded like they were being knighted by a flaming sword – horns in the air, voices raised, and smiles as wide as a goblin’s grin.
But make no mistake, Alestorm was the captain of this chaos cruise. From the moment they kicked things off with the blistering “Keelhauled,” the crowd was fully under their command. They delivered a tidal wave of energy that had the crowd moshing like sea monsters in a whirlpool. Frontman Christopher Bowes commanded the stage like a true pirate captain with a parrot’s worth of sarcasm in every shout. If metal concerts were rated in doubloons, this one would be worth its weight in gold.
Their set was a nonstop barrage of nautical nonsense and infectious metal hooks. “Mexico” turned The Rave into the world’s rowdiest beach party, while “The Sunk’n Norwegian” summoned a storm of crowd surfers who rode the waves like sea dogs on a mission. And of course, the giant inflatable duck made a triumphant appearance, placed dead center stage as a totem of everything gloriously stupid and sublime about Alestorm. They didn’t just rock the boat – they sank it gloriously.
Check out the Alestorm concert photo gallery below:
Alestorm, with help from their fantasy-fueled allies Gloryhammer and the atmospheric might of Glyph, delivered a night that felt like a quest across metal’s most glorious realms. Whether you were there to raise a tankard, slay space goblins, or just get weird with strangers, this triple-threat lineup made sure no soul left unplundered.
So hoist the sails, brace for the hangover, and remember: in the world of pirate metal, Alestorm are the true captains of chaos.
