August 26th, 2017. Volbeat stepped out in front of something close to 50,000 fans at the Tela Parken in Copenhagen, the first Danish act to headline at the venue. On December 14, 2018, you can get hold of the CD, DVD or Blu-Ray and find out how they got on. Or I could just tell you. Spoiler: they absolutely nailed it.
This live video captures the event perfectly. Multiple cameras, great image quality, top notch sound, and warts and all music (including Michael Poulson corpsing during “A Warrior’s Call”). I’ve sat and watched the entire 2 hour 15 minute feature and I was, frankly, blown away. The only disappointment is that I feel I missed out by not being at the actual gig.
I’ve seen Volbeat live a few times, and although I’ve enjoyed them I never quite thought they could sell out a venue holding well over 40,000. Of course, being their home nation they’re going to get some extra heads in there and they certainly upped their game for the local fans. A moderately simple stage show (lights, big screens, smoke and not too much pyro) ensures that everything’s mainly focussed on the brash, ballsy rockabilly riffage for which they are justly famed.
With such a long time on stage, there’s little time wasted and I can’t think of a song (there are 26 on here) I’d have liked them to play that’s skipped. On top of that, some of the versions you’ll see/hear on Let’s Boogie! Live from Telia Parken are unique – and possibly the best versions you’ll ever hear. “Goodbye Forever”, dedicated to Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington, is absolutely incredible with the addition of a choir towards the end making a special song even more emotional.
Then there are the special guests. Mia Maja, Rod Sinclair, Mille Petrozza, Johan Olsen, Barney Greenway, Lars Ulrich, Mikkel Kessler and Danko Jones. Quite a line-up covering vocals, drums, banjo and… well, chucking boxing gloves into the audience. All of them go towards making this show just that bit more special.
Rounding the show off, if you’re not grinning by the time around 30 kids are crammed onto the stage to rock out to “Still Counting” then you’re dead inside.
There are good live albums and there are great ones. This falls very comfortably into the latter. It’s not just a cracking “best of” selection, it does a fantastic job of capturing a very special night indeed for Volbeat and 50,000 of their fans.
Let’s Boogie! Live from Telia Parken is out on December 14th and available to pre-order now.
Volbeat: official | facebook | twitter | youtube | instagram
