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The much delayed ‘Tour To End All Tours’ had finally reached Glasgow and the legion of Scottish Sabaton fans were eager to see what Sweden’s finest had in their war chest. Sabaton have gone from strength to strength over the past few years and the venue sizes have increased in line with this. Whilst the Hydro wasn’t quite sold out tonight it wasn’t that far off, and with most of the other UK dates having the ‘house full’ signs out it’s proof, if any were needed, that the numbers in the ranks of Sabaton’s army of fans have swelled significantly.
This is in no small part down to the band’s recent raft of excellent album and EP releases and their growing reputation as one of the most entertaining live acts in metal. Their massive stage set was worth the entrance price alone. Not since the Kiss tour back in 1983 has a tank drum riser been used so effectively!
Before Sabaton went into battle we were treated to two top support acts to get things warmed up. Firstly, we had the mighty Lordi to lay waste to the Hydro with their schlock rock which went down well with the Glasgow crowd. Part Kiss and part Alice Cooper, the Eurovision winners know how to put on a show!
Mr Lordi is the larger-than-life ringmaster who stalks the stage like a mutant Gene Simmons. He joked that on this three-band bill Lordi were the ‘ok band from Finland’, but the set proved they were more than just ok! The set was a good mix of old and new songs, it’s easy to forget that the band have been around for about the last 30 years and have 18 albums in their back catalogue.
Set highlights included ‘Would You Love A Monsterman’, ‘Blood Red Sandman’ and ‘Devil Is A Loser’. However, the band left the best until last closing things out with a great version of their Euro winner, ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’ complete with plenty of audience participation.
Lordi provided an entertaining start to the night with their old school rock theatrics, but things were about to take a different rocking turn with Baby Metal up next…
Baby Metal are a marmite band, people tend to love or hate them with little middle ground. I am one of those that floats in the rare middle ground, I enjoy their music but having not seen their live show, I wasn’t a fully signed up member of the BM fan club. After seeing them tonight I remain in the same position as, yes, the music was excellent due in no small part to the fantastic Kami band, but I wasn’t fully sold on the whole Baby Metal persona.
Kicking off with the mighty ‘Baby Metal Death’ the Kami band blasted away whilst Su-Metal, Moametal and, latest addition, Momometal spun, jumped and danced around the stage in highly choreographed moves. It all reminded me slightly of attending my granddaughters recent dance show, just with a power metal soundtrack, which I found a bit surreal.
‘Megitsune’ was up next with a strong vocal from Su-Metal which was followed by the highly catchy ‘PA PA YA!!!’. The stage had banks of pulsating lights at the back which made it difficult to make out the twirling trio at times, but you couldn’t miss the Kami band who were playing a blinder.
Up next were two tracks off the band’s new concept album ‘The Other One’ starting with the album opener ‘Divine Attack’ which was followed with one of the lead tracks from the album ‘Monochrome’. ‘Gimme Chocolate’ then had the front of the crowd jumping around like kangaroos on speed before the flag waving trio then introduced the epic ‘Road To Resistance’ which brought the set to a climactic end.
As I said earlier, Baby Metal won’t appeal to everyone, and I am not sure I fully pledge allegiance to the Fox God. However, it was an entertaining 40 minutes, made all the better by the fantastic Kami band. They were worth the entry price alone, everything else was part of the very glitzy show.
After Baby Metal we needed something to realign reality, and Sabaton were just the band to provide the metal shot required. With possibly the biggest backdrop I have ever seen (easily 100 ft long) and their tank drum riser in place this promised to be a visual spectacle as well as a full-on display of power metal.
After an intro involving a flurry of explosions across the hall, the band launched into ‘Ghost Division’ which laid waste to the Hydro as effectively as the Panzer division featured in the song.
The twin guitar work of Chris Rorland and Tommy Johannson led the aural assault with lightening riffs and impressive solos throughout the night. We were then taken on a trip on the high seas on the ‘Bismarck’ complete with a visual feast from both the excellent light show and video on the large screen at the rear of the stage.
A trip to the Holy Land was next with the ‘Last Stand’ before Joakim Broden introduced ‘Into The Fire’ which was played at breakneck speed and had the crowd in a frenzy.
Sabaton have many epic songs in their back catalogue and brought out a classic next with ‘Carolus Rex’ which was sung in Swedish complete with the guys dressed in Swedish guard jackets.
At this point in proceedings during the other UK dates the ‘Winged Hussars’ were up next on the setlist, however the band had something special for the Glasgow show. Joakim introduced the song by saying they had great fun in rehearsals with this track before charging into the ‘Battle Of Bannockburn’, to say the crowd reaction moved up a notch is an understatement as 10,000 red blooded Scots raised their fists for freedom, stirring stuff!
We were then transported back to the streets of ‘Sarajevo’ on the 28th June 1914 to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This was the catalyst to the beginning of the Great War and was complete with a gun toting assassin appearing on stage. The ‘Stormtroopers’ then faced a hail of riffs before one of the nights highlights.
On the band’s recently released EP ‘Stories From The Western Front’ they have covered Motorhead’s ‘1916’ and tonight it proved to be an epic live track. The lyrical content on the futility of war, combined with the backing video which finished with a lone poppy on screen was both powerful and moving. A fitting tribute to the thousands of troops who fell trying to gain a few miles of ground.
‘Soldier Of Heaven’ then turned the Hydro into a windswept, snowy Alpine pass, complete with a snowstorm at the front of the stage, before we were transported once more to the high seas on the mighty ‘Dreadnought’. The ‘Red Baron’ then appeared on stage complete with his piano bi-plane to recount his tales of dog fights and daring do.
Another recent release featured next with ‘Father’ covering the development of chemical weapons for use on the battlefield, whilst ‘Attack Of The Dead Men’ proved that they were not always that effective, thankfully.
Bass player Par Sundstrom was then left on stage to reminisce on Sabaton’s first solo Glasgow show to which 92 people turned up and saying how far things had come with the band now playing to a nearly full house at the Hydro. He then invited everyone to light up their mobile phones before introducing ‘Christmas Truce’, complete with Tommy Johannson playing his solo atop of a burning piano, to round off the main set.
No one was ready to leave though, and the band were soon back to storm the beaches of Normandy on the 6th June 1944 with ‘Primo Victoria’. Tommy then stepped forward again to play the familiar opening bars of ‘Swedish Pagan’s’ which went down a storm complete with much crowd participation and a quick drum solo from Hannes Van Dahl.
That just left ‘To Hell And Back’ to round off the evening in explosive fashion with flames, pyro and confetti cannons doing their best to ensure that no one would forget this show in a hurry!
Sabaton tonight showed why they are considered one of the hottest bands of the moment. They have the songs and stage show to grace any arena, or headline any festival in the UK, Europe and beyond. Add in that they are also trying to educate as well as entertain and that they are genuinely nice guys, and you have a unique band. One that has built a huge following and show no signs of halting their relentless march to the top. World domination beckons, one riff at a time!
Review by Dave Wilson
Photos by Darren Griffiths
Sabaton at the Heugh Battery and interview with Tommy Johannson
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