HammerFall @ Arcada Theatre, St Charles (US)

HAMMERFALL / EVERGREY

Date: 25th September, 2026
Venue: Arcada Theatre
Ticket Price: $46.75/€41 - $78.75/€69
Promoter: OShows

Visa complications have become an unfortunate part of international touring in the United States, and they had a noticeable impact on this particular evening at the Arcada Theatre. Sure, we can ask how early ELVENKING submitted the required paperwork, but at the same time I would expect an established band like them to face less scrutiny. The same applies to EVERGREY, although in their case the visa problems did not force them to cancel the tour. Instead, they appeared in St. Charles without Rikard Zander, whose visa had not been approved in time. To make things even more complicated, the Swedish Prog metallers also had to perform with Chris Quirarte as a replacement drummer.

Honestly, under those circumstances, simply getting EVERGREY onstage could probably be considered an achievement. More importantly, none of those problems translated into a compromised performance, so extra credit goes to the band and their crew for making this happen.

A few minutes after 8pm, the EVERGREY logo appeared on the screen at the back of the stage, hovering over a planet with “From Solitude To Multitude” written underneath. As the lights went out, the guitarists walked out first, with Tom S. Englund joining them moments later. “Falling From The Sun”, from the amazing “Theories Of Emptiness”, opened the set and immediately established the atmosphere, with EVERGREY’s characteristic balance between heaviness, melancholy and melody filling the Arcada.

To be fair, melancholy has not been present in quite the same amount on the band’s recent releases as it was on some of the older albums, but that takes nothing away from their latest, “Architects Of A New Weave”. I have to admit that the Arcada audience did not seem particularly knowledgeable about EVERGREY, and I cannot really blame them since, on paper, pairing them with HAMMERFALL does not make complete sense. However, that challenged EVERGREY to sail through somewhat uncharted waters, and the newer songs definitely helped.

With virtually no pause, the Swedish band, bathed in warm amber lighting, followed with “Where August Mourn”, and the crowd started clapping along during the final chorus. Those were the first signs that EVERGREY were beginning to win the audience over. “What’s up my friends, good? Time for some Metal from Gothenburg, Sweden.”

Englund asked how many people were seeing EVERGREY for the first time, and I was not surprised to see so many hands raised. More importantly, the audience responded enthusiastically when he asked whether St. Charles was a singing audience. I can personally vouch for them.

Tom then acknowledged the missing keyboard player, joking that “we just don’t like him.” Of course, he quickly explained the visa situation before introducing the up-tempo “Heaven”. Technically, almost any missing part can be replaced by backing tracks these days, but that is not really the point. It makes a difference watching the musician actually perform the music in front of you and, very often, visibly sharing the same passion and love for it that you have. So yes, I missed seeing Rikard up there too, and despite the jokes, I am pretty sure Tom did as well. His voice remained the centerpiece of the performance, while the Progressive guitar work provided more than enough detail to pique the interest of all those EVERGREY first-timers.

I could clearly see more heads nodding along to “Architects Of The New Weave”, while I even caught some people singing along with the chorus, even if this may have been the first time they had heard it. Considering the relatively short stage time and an audience that was not particularly EVERGREY-educated, choosing the more up-tempo and immediate songs made absolute sense. Still, I would have loved to hear one of the older ones, perhaps “The Great Deceiver”, “Mark Of The Triangle” or “When The Walls Go Down”.

I am definitely not complaining though, because “Eternal Nocturnal” and “Call Out The Dark” arrived next, with Tom’s vocals sounding excellent through the theater’s acoustics. “A Touch Of Blessing” was an obvious highlight, followed by “King Of Errors”, where the singer asked the audience to get those horns up in the air.

Despite all the lineup adjustments, this still felt completely like an EVERGREY show. My only complaint was that I would have happily listened to a couple more songs. “It’s Friday night, right?” Tom asked before mentioning the band’s 2026 album “Architects Of A New Weave”, from which “Leaving The Emptiness” comes. The song also arrived with an interesting bit of trivia. Tom noted that after EVERGREY had released 164 songs across 15 albums, “Leaving The Emptiness” was their first song written in a major key.

“We are glad you liked it,” he added. After wishing everyone a splendid time with HAMMERFALL, he gave the final introduction of the evening: “We are EVERGREY from Gothenburg, Sweden. This is "OXYGEN!"” This was a delightful EVERGREY appetizer, and I am more than ready for the main course. Hopefully that will come soon.

EVERGREY setlist:

01. "Falling From The Sun"
02. "Where August Mourn"
03. "Heaven"
04. "Architects Of The New Weave"
05. "Eternal Nocturnal"
06. "Call Out The Dark"
07. "A Touch Of Blessing"
08. "King Of Errors"
09. "Leaving The Emptiness"
10. "OXYGEN!"

EVERGREY

Considering that EVERGREY used pretty much the same drum kit as HAMMERFALL, the changeover took a little longer than expected. Still, I am sure the Arcada had its own schedule to follow, and once the taped intro began, all of that was instantly forgotten. The entire band arrived together onstage and launched directly into “Avenge The Fallen”, complete with the “Avenge! Avenge! Avenge!” chant opening. Joacim Cans has one of the best voices in Metal, and somehow I think his live delivery makes it even better. Better than best? Hell yeah!

“How about some old-school HAMMERFALL?” Cans asked, and “Heeding The Call” was next. Although part of me was still hoping for “The Dragon Lies Bleeding”, I happily joined the crowd for the ooohs, ooohs. Then came one of my favorites among many, “Any Means Necessary”, keeping the momentum moving with one of the many earworm choruses that would appear throughout the night. It simply feels good singing along to “kill by any means necessary, win by any means necessary” before adding a loud “hey!”

“Good evening, St. Charles, Illinois! We are HAMMERFALL from Sweden, but I believe you already know that, right?” With that, Cans gave us the first real glimpse of his playful mood, and there would be plenty more of that later. The recognizable keyboard introduction announced “Hammer Of Dawn”, with “thunder, lightning, hammer fighting, battle dawning, vengeance coming” immediately putting everyone into singing mode, and the crowd remained there for “Freedom”. There is a catchy, impossible-to-ignore energy at a HAMMERFALL show, and one of the things I enjoy the most is watching people who do not know the band particularly well get completely onboard. By the fifth song of the set, that process was already well underway.

The sound of a motorcycle engine then signaled “Renegade”. During the song, bassist Fredrik Larsson moved to the front alongside Cans while the two guitarists occupied the rear of the stage. It was one of many small pieces of stage choreography that kept the performance visually active even within the comparatively confined Arcada setup. The Swedish band performs like a well-trained team, with everyone knowing exactly where the others are and where they are supposed to be. It makes the stage feel larger, with plenty of movement and interaction to watch. Sure, the singer naturally gets most of the attention, but with HAMMERFALL onstage every member has his own character and role.

“Are you having fun yet?” The answer was fairly obvious, but Cans had something more specific in mind for the next song. He instructed everyone to raise their left hand, make a fist and imagine that fist was their own personal hammer. That could only mean “Hammer High”, a song practically designed for audience participation. Then again, most HAMMERFALL songs seem built for exactly that, but this one gets some extra points. I also love the “Over The Hills”-style opening drum sequence, especially when heard at concert volume. “Last Man Standing”, with its familiar “I am the one” opening line, and “Fury Of The Wild” led into “Chapter V: The Medley”, an instrumental section that gave Cans a temporary break while the guitarists faced one another and the crowd supplied rhythmic clapping.

“You are on fire already, Illinois!” Cans asked how many people were seeing HAMMERFALL for the first time before the opening of “Let The Hammer Fall” drew another immediate reaction. The story about drinking before a concert and somehow ending up missing HAMMERFALL sounds considerably funnier when Cans tells it, and the same applies to his attempts to explain exactly where and what the audience was supposed to sing. Whatever mood someone may be in when arriving at a HAMMERFALL show, chances are they will leave in an excellent one. Joacim then pointed out something rather unusual. This was only the second time in HAMMERFALL’s career that they had performed in a venue with a seated configuration. Looking across an audience that had long since abandoned any idea of remaining seated, he quickly added that thankfully they were not actually playing to a seated audience.

It was a fitting observation.

After introducing the band members, HAMMERFALL closed the main portion of the set with “(We Make) Sweden Rock”, another song whose uncomplicated celebration of Heavy Metal perfectly fitting the evening. At some point, Cans explained that during the nine-hour flight he had written a five-minute story and would happily tell it to us, although doing so would mean the band would have to play one song less. Quite rightly, the audience rejected his literary showcase and chose another HAMMERFALL song instead.

Sorry, Joacim, but there is no story that can replace a HAMMERFALL song. And indeed, the two-song encore of “Hail To The King” and “Hearts On Fire” could never have been sacrificed for whatever masterpiece the singer had penned while crossing the Atlantic. I still have songs I would like to hear live and others I would happily hear again, so are HAMMERFALL coming back? Hopefully soon.

And maybe next time there will even be enough time for Joacim’s story.

HAMMERFALL setlist:

01. "Avenge The Fallen"
02. "Heeding The Call"
03. "Any Means Necessary"
04. "Hammer Of Dawn"
05. "Freedom"
06. "Renegade"
07. "Hammer High"
08. "Last Man Standing"
09. "Fury Of The Wild"
10. "Chapter V: The Medley"
11. "Let The Hammer Fall"
12. "The End Justifies"
13. "(We Make) Sweden Rock"
14. "Hail To The King"
15. "Hearts On Fire"

HAMMERFALL