We should have a second review of this gig coming up shortly, from a very different perspective. Literally. I watched the gig from the very back of the hall (along with Sean and his dad, more on why later) whereas James and Mel were up against the front barrier. Gavin was in the pit doing photo duties for us as well. (You’re in for a treat when we publish his full sets later today / tomorrow. I’ve had a glimpse at a few and he’s got some great shots.) Hell, almost every person I know in the locality who’s into metal was somewhere in the crowd! The one thing they all had in common was that (spoiler) they enjoyed a fantastic gig.
This review will be a little different from many I’ve posted for a very personal reason. March 4th was my son’s 8th birthday, and this gig was his big present – his first proper gig after some less crowded outdoor experiences at last year’s Wildfire Festival. Sabaton and Alestorm are two of his favourite bands – he’s been singing “Hangover” since I got the last Alestorm album and the now-released Sabaton live DVD has been watched multiple times in our household because he loves it so much.
Still, it’s a lot to ask of a fairly nervous almost 8-year old to squeeze into a near sell-out at a 2000-capacity venue armed with nothing more than a pair of ear defenders and a very protective father. For those who don’t have kids, they’re not always excited and they do have their moods… Austin’s are often a little worse than most and there was always going to be the chance that we had to leave the gig early, especially bearing in mind that his bedtime is usually 8pm which is when Alestorm were due to hit the stage. And those who do have kids will know they can get particularly cranky when they’re tired!
Due to the large queue when we arrived (which moved pretty quickly – kudos to the door staff) we missed the first ten minutes of Bloodbound which is a shame as what we did catch of their performance was very impressive indeed. Filling the stage, or as much of it as was available in front of multiple sheet-enshrouded props for the later acts, they were churning out some brilliant power metal when we walked into the main hall.
Austin was instantly enraptured. “Where’s the drummer?” he yelled in my ear. It’s easy to forget, sometimes, that people a little shorter than you often don’t have the best view of the stage, so I lifted him up onto my shoulder so he could see Pelle battering the skins more clearly. We enjoyed the tail end of “When The Kingdom Fall”, the mighty “Moria” and “In The Name of Metal”. Frontman Patrik impressed me when he took over from “Urban breed” a couple of albums back, but live he’s something else again. An excellent spokesman for the band and a great voice to go with it.
The sound in the venue was pretty good for an opening act, given that they normally get short shrift. They also got a decent set length of forty minutes… but we missed the tail end as the little lad lost his ear protectors as I was putting him down and the volume gave him a bit of a scare. We recovered downstairs, where we bumped into the aforementioned Gavin, and after introducing him to about half a dozen people I knew who walked past I managed to encourage him to try again. A shame about having to pop out as I was genuinely impressed with Bloodbound and the crowd reaction told me they could be playing to a decent headline crowd of their own.
However, family comes first (especially my boy!) so needs must. When we got back into the hall, I asked one of the staff if we could sit in the seating at the back of the hall which is on a raised platform. They couldn’t have been more helpful, making sure we got up safely and handing us a copy of Alestorm’s setlist before the band came on stage. This brightened him up enormously as he scanned down the song titles and spotted “Hangover” towards the end. Add to this the world’s largest inflatable toy duck being placed on stage and he perked up visibly.
Alestorm are a party band first and foremost, subject matter notwithstanding. The set for tonight was a great collection of tracks, predominantly up-tempo and subtly crafted to get a crowd bouncing. Not that this audience was going to need much encouragement judging by the number of inflatable sharks (and one crocodile) being waved around near the front.
“Keelhauled” opened proceedings, which segued straight into “Over The Seas” before mad-as-a-box-of-rabid-chipmunks frontman Chris Bowes paused to chat piratical with the audience. A brief explanation of the duck (“We got drunk and thought it would be a good idea”) and they launched into the epic “Magnetic North” with its death metal vocals partway through adding a touch of heavy to the show.
Cheese and jigging were reintroduced with “Shipwrecked” and “Surf Squid Warfare”, before “Nancy The Tavern Wench” tempted us with her finest beverages. Another of Austin’s favourites was up next – “Walk The Plank” – which had him singing a few of the lyrics though he did keep looking at the paper in his hands to see when “that song” would be played. We had a way to go, though, with the band having a generous 75-minute set to plough through.
“The Sunk’n Norwegian”, “Wenches and Mead” and the wonderful “Drink” kept the crowd floating. The sound was a little murky at times but overall wasn’t bad at all. Credit to the guys on the decks in front of us for keeping it all in balance. Chris stopped a few times to spout plenty of his usual Viz-level depravity (seriously, what is this guy on… and can they bottle it?), and invited the crowd to join the band in battle before launching into the epic “1741”.
Despite being one of the longest songs they’ve done, it flew past and I could see Austin sit up in his seat (he’d been fidgeting a bit, fighting off the evil grasp of sleep) as he heard the opening notes of “Hangover”. The crowd had their arms up in the air, my son was waving his rock horns (that he had to mould into shape using his other hand to help, bless) and he was belting out the words like a pro. Proud dad moment. Very proud dad moment. His little sister loves the song as well (we had it on loop in the car this afternoon, actually) so hopefully we’ll have her doing the same in a couple of years!
He deflated a little after that as Alestorm’s set ran to a close with “Captain Morgan’s Revenge” and even the shouty “Rum” didn’t rouse him as “Hangover” had. It didn’t stop me belting out a few “YAR”s, though, and as the band left the stage to the strains of “Mr Blobby” (yes, really), we headed downstairs to catch Bloodbound’s Fredrik with whom we had an interview scheduled.
This led up to my highlight of the night. The interview with Fredrik, who was a complete gent, will be online shortly but I want to publicly thank Sabaton, their crew, management and the lovely people at Nuclear Blast for treating Austin to a brief meet’n’greet immediately before they went on stage. It was a total surprise for him, I’d made certain not to mention a thing. My boy can be a little reserved when he meets new people, often coming across as very shy – especially when he’s tired. By this time we were ninety minutes after his usual bedtime, and prior to heading into the dressing room he’d just wanted to get back to his seat to watch the band while looking a little bleary eyed.
But being faced with five mad, painted Swedes (they’d gone all Braveheart for the show) he didn’t hide behind my legs like I expected – the band didn’t give him a chance. Hands were shaken, Hannes gave him a pair of properly used drumsticks and the band presented him with a signed drum head as a birthday present. He even posed for a photo with the band, and again this isn’t an easy thing to get him to do – he’ll usually refuse to be in photographs. Yes, he looks a grouch in the picture but this is a very tired boy who’s in a fairly “WOW” situation and trust me when I say that two days later as I type this up he is still bouncing about the whole thing.
So that was my night and his made. Nothing could top that. Not even the incredible performance from Sabaton which followed once we’d retaken our seats. Again, our thanks to the staff are Barrowlands. I have had my issues and complaints with them in the past (several documented on these pages) but I will always give credit where it’s due and this is an occasion where it has been earned. From what I heard from James, the staff down the front were doing a great job as well.
At 9:45, the lights went down. Audie’s headlights came on and the engine roar of one of Sabaton’s pair of touring tanks (named for the most decorated US veteran of WWII) along with “The Final Countdown” heralded the arrival of the second Swedish band of the night.
What I love most about Sabaton – and you can watch this on the Heroes on Tour DVD (reviewed here) – is that they don’t just turn up and play music. They put on a show. And it’s not just lights, pyro and so on – it’s a performance. Hell, it’s close to pantomime. I don’t think I know of another band who grin their way through a show as much as they do. It’s infectious as well, with the gentle ribbing and outright insults giving the crowd a laugh between songs.
Bedecked in blue paint and camouflage kilts, they kicked things off with “Ghost Division” and “Far From The Fame” – one absolute pummeller and one with a more rousing tone. “Uprising” followed and then Joachim invited us to meet the band “Midway”.
At this point, the theatrics kicked in with Joachim having a bit of an argument with the rest of the band before they played “Swedish Pagans” which had at least one section of the crowd doing a conga round the ballroom. Thing is, before they played it – and they often do this – there was a bit of performance as Thobbe played the opening notes, getting the crowd to join in and Joachim complaining that he didn’t want to play that song. All part of the show or pre-planned? If I told you that the song wasn’t on the playlist, would it make you wonder if this was indeed a bit of a joke on Joachim? Check the photo – you won’t see it listed!
After the song finished, more words had Joachim”storming” off stage, leaving the rest of the band to play “a song in Swedish, because that way the audience won’t notice if we fuck up the lyrics”. That song was “Gott Mit Uns” which the other members covered very well indeed… but that’s not surprising. One thing I had the opportunity to appreciate by being sat at the back rather than buried in the crowd was the backing vocals. I honestly don’t think I’d noticed before now how much the three string-twangers add to the sound of the songs with their voices. I think I always assumed it was just backing tapes, or production, but no. Add another thing to the list of things I appreciate about Sabaton.
Joachim rejoined the band, bounding on stage as the lyrics kicked in to “Resist and Bite”, then “Carolus Rex” (no vote from the audience on the language this year – we got it in English). By this stage, my boy was spread over two seats and getting very fidgety. He had asked how long was left, but didn’t want to go home. Instead, he snuggled in and air-drummed when the mood took him as our Swedish co-headliners pounded through “Soldier of 3 Armies”, “Attero Dominatus” and “Art of War”.
“To Hell and Back” finished the main set before the band headed off for a quick breather as the crowd (and Austin) chanted “Sa-ba-ton!”. With “Night Witches” kicking off the encore, by the time we got to “Primo Victoria”, Joachim’s croes of “JUMP!” were unnecessary as the adrenaline-soaked audience was already bouncing in rhythm to one of the best known songs.
As the eleventh hour and the gig’s curfew approached, Joachim spotted another young fan off to the side of the stage near the front. I’d seen this young lad walking around with his dad earlier, and he was invited on stage for a quick word. Kevin bravely took to the boards and revealed his age to be an impressive nine, with this also being his first gig. If his dad’s reading this – high five! Typically of the band, he didn’t leave empty handed as he was gifted a bunch of picks and a pair of Joachim’s signature specs. Another young lad down the front was handed some sweatbands and other bumph to keep as a souvenir.
Kevin opted to head back to his dad for the last track, but the crowd gave him a great sendoff, chanting his name as he was gently lowered to the ground. Joachim took the time to point out the collectors around the venue taking cash for Poppy Scotland, one of the charities that helps provide for retired service men and women. I take him at his word when he said he would purchase less crate of beer and donate the money to them instead. Certainly, their buckets seemed to be bursting at the seams when I left. A very worth cause and the perfect choice to go alongside Sabaton’s war-themed output.
With minutes to go, Sabaton launched into habitual closer “Metal Crüe”. If there’s ever a song to go out on, this is it. Cheesy, quirky, fast-tempo’d and rousing, it could start any gig. The fact that Sabaton choose to end a show with a song this good speaks volumes. A tremendous set even though they did miss out “Screaming Eagles” and “Forty To One” (grr).
I’ve seen Sabaton several times, and this ranked as highly as any of the shows I’ve seen before. Not better. Not worse. Simply as they don’t seem to be able to disappoint. I couldn’t pick a best show as they’ve all been absolutely superb. With Alestorm as co-headliners, this was simply one of the best line-ups we’ve had in town in recent years (and we’ve had some belters), and Bloodbound did themselves proud as openers, too.
To those still to see the bands on this tour – you’re in for a treat. For those missing out this time – get a ticket the moment the next tours are announced for any of them. If this doesn’t feature on December’s “best gigs of the year” then something amazing must happen between now and Christmas.
Oh, and the little lad? Stayed awake right to the end and applauded Sabaton off stage. Hell, he even stayed awake in the car on the way home. Then stayed up telling his big sister all about it. I don’t envy the tired child his teacher will have had to put up with the next morning!
All live photos by Gavin Lowrey. Set list and header photos by Iain Purdie.
Great review of a great gig. I took my 14 year old daughter along with me. It was her first metal concert, her normal taste in music being The Vamps or Pentatonix. She thoroughly enjoyed herself though, getting me to buy her a Bloodbound beenie hat after the show, and asking when the next concert will be.
Brilliant to hear! My eldest daughter’s first gig was The Wanted. Her second was BFMV/Halestorm and she’s not looked back since!