Alestorm (support acts: Roses Of Thieves, Lutharo)
Sunday, 7 December 2025
Ljubljana / Cvetličarna / Slovenia
There’s only one of them. Alestorm. The band has earned Slovenian citizenship. Less than a year and a half after their show at Maribor’s ŠTUK, they were back in Slovenia for not one but two consecutive dates on their new tour. Both Maribor and Ljubljana got hit, one after the other. Maribor had been sold out well in advance. Ljubljana wasn’t quite there — but very, very close.
Alestorm draws a very particular crowd. Worshippers of alcoholic beverages and all the trappings that come with pirate customs and traditions. And once again they came charging in from every direction. Loads of Croatians (in the encore especially — packed onto the Cvetličarna balcony with that eloquent greeting that radiates humanity’s highest level of civilisation: “Svirajte pičke!”), because Alestorm’s Thunderfisting Europe 2025 tour skips our southern neighbour entirely.
It’s twenty past seven. Roses Of Thieves, the Hungarian folk metal crew, step onto the stage to a loud welcome from the crowd. Cvetličarna is already nicely packed by this point, and the quintet radiates a solid dose of confidence on this new tour — earned through hard work and dedication on a journey they’re pursuing with full intensity. Even if the whole thing feels a little naive, a little familiar, nothing that particularly stands out, the band wins you over through sheer tenacity. Vocalist Ivett Dudas brings fresh energy to the stage, and the accordion adds an extra layer of charm. The band fired up the crowd with their well-known cover of the ’80s hit Boys (Summertime Love) by Sabrina Salerno. Samples blended with metal riffs are in no short supply, giving the band a stronger rhythmic edge. A fun fusion act that could still make heads turn down the line.
Lutharo are a modern Canadian metal outfit bringing considerably more bite to the stage compared to their predecessors. The band has recently been through a tornado of lineup changes. Fusing classic power metal elements with moments of melodic death metal, they only have two albums under their belt, and their short career has seen plenty of membership turnover. Right now, only bassist Chris Pacey and guitarist Victor Bucur remain from the original roster. Before this first visit to Slovenia, the band had released two albums: Hiraeth in 2021 and last year’s Chasing Euphoria. Kyla Dixon, who took over as frontwoman just before the tour, commands the stage with confidence, fearlessness, and aggression! Her well-executed blend of growls and clean vocals turns downright feral at times. Lutharo proved in Ljubljana that they are far from done, and that a new chapter is opening up for the band — one they’re stepping into with purpose.
Alestorm, though — they remain absolutely incredible. A genuine phenomenon in their own right. When I first caught them in the early morning hours at the Bang Your Head!!! festival in Germany back in the summer of 2009, I shrugged and thought: “You can’t take this seriously.” And here they are now. One small push and they’ll start booking arena venues. Their intensive tour dates sell out consistently. Their fanbase is growing by leaps and bounds. Their latest and eighth studio album The Thunderfist Chronicles has already landed brilliantly with this wild crowd, and during the show you never got the sense that the energy dipped for even a second between the iron-clad repertoire staples and the new tracks. It was all one perfect shot. Top tier. Without hesitation. And in large part, the credit for all of that goes to this insane crowd. People turned up dressed in everything imaginable — just as long as nobody looked ‘normal’. Being ‘normal’ here makes you the odd one out.
The band keeps escalating their show — no surprise there. The highlights stacked up in the second half. Not long after Bowes announced to the crowd that the next song was about drinking urine! The band launched into Frozen Piss 2, and a female vocalist dressed in a giant parrot costume appeared on stage, sticking around for Under Blackened Banners as well. Then came the obligatory shark appearance during Hangover, and the predictable mass rowing during Nancy the Tavern Wench. The rest was pure, full-throttle madness. Not only could you not escape the atmosphere thick with exhaled alcoholic fumes, but mosh pits erupted on all sides, while security had their hands full with crowd surfers too. Watching all of this from the sidelines, through the lens of a ‘helpless’ older observer, you can’t help but marvel at where young people find that kind of energy. What a rush. Of course, you start wondering who’s more unhinged — you, for showing up in the first place, or the crowd that seemed to be endlessly rehearsing their own devastating ‘salto mortale’.
In a situation like that, the band doesn’t really need to push that hard — even though the quintet plays with sharp focus, tight precision, and full force. No joke. Christopher was a notch less raunchy this time around compared to what we witnessed at the Ljubljana and Zagreb shows two years ago, but the energy and the full-tilt party completely covered for that ‘shortfall’.
Bottom line: an hour and a half of flawless mayhem! The pirate metal brigade whistling endlessly through heads that had been diligently packed with a generous supply of alcoholic derivatives. You won’t find a better recipe for a complete switch-off than an Alestorm show with all the rituals that come with it. This latest encounter confirmed that once again. The countdown to the next visit from this stalwart Scottish quintet has already begun. And trust us — they’ll be back soon.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Roses Of Thieves – setlist:
1. Fend off the Dark
2. Be The Captain
3. Synonym for Blasphemy
4. White Wolf
5. Keep the Night Inside
6. Boys (Summertime Love)
7. Once Upon A Time
8. Taste of Freedom
9. Not Your Fate
10. Hymn of Hell
Lutharo – setlist:
1. Ruthless Bloodline
2. Creating A King
3. Reaper’s Call
4. Wings Of Agony
5. Time To Rise
6. Born To Ride
7. Lost In A Soul
Alestorm – setlist:
1. Keelhauled
2. Killed to Death by Piracy
3. The Sunk’n Norwegian
4. Uzbekistan
5. Mexico
6. Frozen Piss 2
7. Under Blackened Banners
8. Banana
9. Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship
10. Bar ünd Imbiss
11. Hangover (orig. Taio Cruz)
12. Magnetic North
13. Nancy the Tavern Wench
14. Alestorm
15. The Storm
16. P.A.R.T.Y.
17. Shit Boat (No Fans)
—encore—
18. Drink Play
19. Wooden Leg!
20. Fucked With an Anchor
