The Templar World Crusade Part One

On October 15th, the band began their first world tour. The band had jumped the gun two weeks earlier, supporting Deep Purple in Copenhagen and Stockholm, but the 'real' premiere took place at die Markthalle in Hamburg, together with Primal Fear, Labyrinth and Pegazus. Not so surprisingly, the band were joined by Kain Hansen and Dirk Schlächter for an encore of "I Want Out", the first of only two times HammerFall has played the song live. This first leg of the tour went through Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Holland and Belgium. After the last show, at the Longhorn in Stuttgart, it was off to the United States of America, for a five week, twenty-eight-show tour with labelmates Death. Judging from the amount of e-mails the band recieved from North America afterwards, and the sales figures in said territory, this tour was a huge success. It served its purpose; to expose the US citizens to what heavy metal is all about and how it is supposed to be performed.



The Templar World Crusade Part Two

After a short break for Christmas, it was Japan's turn, as HammerFall made four very well recieved shows in the Land of the Rising Sun in January. Going there was a rearkable experience for the band members, as the Japanese organisation was impeccable and the fans were very educated to the band's music. The cultural differences were huge but interesting, to say the least! The day after returning to Swedish shore, the band was scheduled to perform at a party held by Shure Brothers in Göteborg. Shortly before The Templar World Cusade began, HammerFall had agreed to an endorsement deal with the world famous company, who supplies its artists with microphones, among other things. The purpose of the party was to initiate the only two Swedish bands endorsed by Shure: HammerFall and Arvingarna, a very popular dance band.

No rest for the wicked they say, and so, with only three days passing since HammerFall returned from the Japanese shows, it was off on tour again. Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia, as well as the parts of Europe that was never visited in October/November, was up next. Countries such as Spain and France would definately not be forgotten on this Crusade for Heavy Metal, which was joined by Edguy and, for four selected swedish shows, the legendary U.D.O.! Unfourtunately, disaster struck at the end of the Swedish leg: Joacim caught a serious throat infection and was sidelined, unable to speak - let alone sing! To make matters worse, Magnus immediately caught the infection, and before the trip was over, most people on the bus had caught at least a minor version of the illness! During the second sold out show at Die Hafenbahn in Offenbach - thanks a lot, people, you rule! - half the crew were bedridden with the disease, hence no pyrotechnics. As is custom in this venue from hell, the temperature was at least 50° C, and Stefan, the latest casualty, valiantly defied common sense and performed that night. Sure, he had to go and throw up in the middle of the set, but no price is too big to pay in the name of heavy metal! The affected shows had to be postponed or, where that was impossible, cancelled. As it turned out, all but one gig was rescheduled at a later date. See you next time, Malmö, sorry for any inconvenience!

Inexplicably and highly regretfully, Greece was left out this time. The band still has no idea why it didn't materialise, but it might have something to do with local promotors not wanting to bring them over. If you want to see HammerFall in Greece on the next tour - rest assured that the band desperately want to return - tell your local promotor so at the next metal show you attend.



The South American Adventure; The Templar World Crusade Part Three

As March neared its end, Magnus, Joacim, Oscar and tour manager AC allowed themselves four short days of vacation on the beautiful brazilian west coast, before the rendevouz with the rest of the crew in Sao Paolo. Two regular shows and one acoustic were scheduled, and all that had been said about South American audiences proved to be true! The fans were absolutely crazy and the atmosphere was fantastic! This continued in the other two countries visied on this continent, Chile - where HammerFall headlined a festival in front of over two thousand fans, after Deicide had cancelled - and Argentina - where the stage was a good three metres high and created the feeling the band was playing for a bunch of hungry lions - and HammerFall went home after yet another successful crusade.

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