LIVE REVIEW: Sabaton @ SSE Arena Wembley, London
SABATON returned to the UK on their biggest tour to date; The Great Tour, selling out a capacity crowd at Wembley Arena. The Swedish giants made just the one venture as part of the European leg of the show, following on from a headline slot at Bloodstock Open Air in 2019, and marking just over three years since their previous UK headline tour. It was the first time in the band’s 21-year history that they headlined an arena show in the UK, and with such a huge event they ensured the support was just as spectacular.
First to get the crowd warmed up were AMARANTHE; entering the stage with raw energy as the intro for their latest record Helix echoed in the background, leading quickly into their first song of the night Maximize as the crowd erupted. The band face one of the more unique challenges compared to most bands, with three vocalists all splitting the lyrics between them, but all three were on point as they carried the momentum through to Digital World. The band had a good mix of some of their older tracks as well as newer material, though the energy levels were up and down throughout the set. One track that really ignited the crowd though was the title track from their latest record Helix, and while the arena was not yet at maximum capacity the crowd were at full voice echoing the chorus back. Wrapping things up were arguably two of the band’s biggest hits, The Nexus and Drop Dead Cynical, and there was certainly a buzz around Wembley in the first interval.
Rating: 7/10
Up next before the main event were APOCALYPTICA, who certainly had a strong act to follow building up before SABATON. The cello group began their set with the first track from their new album Cell-0 with Ashes of the Modern World, and for those in the crowd who had never witnessed APOCALYPTICA live before were in for a real treat. The tension built up so gradually before the band unveiled their mastery of the cello and really got the crowd going. There were a few surprises for sure throughout the set – first of all AMARANTHE‘s Elize Ryd accompanying the group on vocals, including a fantastic cover of the RAMMSTEIN hit Seemann. It wasn’t just those covers that got the crowd excited though, as Eicca Toppinen gave a brief history lesson of the band’s origins of covering METALLICA, swiftly followed by an excellent rendition of Seek and Destroy. More classic rock melodies followed briefly with the likes of AC/DC‘s Thunderstruck being added to the mix, but the real cherry on the icing was the band’s last song of the night – another iconic METALLICA hit, Nothing Else Matters, which got everyone on their feet and singing along to the cellos, and really warmed the crowd up in the best way.
Rating: 9/10
It wasn’t too long after APOCALYPTICA that the headliners would enter the fray. The lights went out as In Flanders Fields circulated the arena, before the introduction music intensified in pace and volume. Eventually the vocals of Joakim Broden welcomed the crowd to the show, introducing SABATON‘s classic opener Ghost Division, before the curtain dropped and the pyrotechnics kicked in; a literal explosive start to the set.
For those who had not seen SABATON before, and indeed those who had been to shows in the past, the stage layout was truly remarkable; barbed wire and sandbags adding an authentic World War I feel to the atmosphere, accompanied by their trademark tank with drummer Hannes Van Dahl at the helm. To cap it all off, the backdrop of The Great War added an added piece of finesse to the band’s stage presence. Just from those opening moments alone everyone in Wembley knew that this would be a special night.
Speaking of The Great War, it was exactly that song that followed on from Ghost Division to continue the momentum, and with virtually no stopping in between the stage lights blacked out for a few seconds before relighting, the stage covered in green smoke to give the effect of a gas attack, followed by the history intro for Attack of the Dead Men which gave the audience a brief insight into the song – and for added realism a quick costume change as the lights went out saw Joakim re-emerge from the shadows with his own gas mask.
For the opening few tracks there was certainly a huge emphasis on the new album, which made up a lot of the setlist for the first half hour, and a lot of fans were keen to hear their new favourite songs performed live for the very first time, and there was an added treat as Joakim introduced the latest instrument to the SABATON armoury – an organ in the shape of The Red Baron, conveniently enough following up with a fantastic performance of said track.
Though there was a lot of new material in the set, long term fans were certainly not disappointed, with one very popular song really getting the crowd roaring, Night Witches. That track led on to one of the best segments of the night, where SABATON welcomed back APOCALYPTICA onto the stage to perform Angels Calling, another new take that many fans had not heard in a live performance before. Rather than bring the band back for just one song, APOCALYPTICA collaborated with SABATON on stage for a number of songs afterwards, which including some more classic material such as The Price of a Mile, The Lion From the North and Carolus Rex.
As both bands disappeared at the end of Carolus Rex, the crowd erupted once more for an encore, and sure enough they weren’t let down. Up on the screen a montage of D-Day footage was shown with segments of Winston Churchill’s famous ‘we will fight them on the beaches’ speech, followed by yet more pyrotechnics, before an all to familiar lyric was sung by Joakim – ‘through the gates of hell’, and Primo Victoria began. Everyone in the arena was on their feet throughout and it felt as though the roof really had been raised, and even more so when the popular single Bismarck followed suit.
It wouldn’t be a SABATON show without the inclusion of Swedish Pagans, despite Joakim’s best efforts to get through one tour without singing it, but once again was outnumbered by both his fellow bandmates and the full capacity crowd. Wrapping the night up though was another fan favourite, To Hell and Back, and really was a fantastic ending to an incredible performance. Big heavy riffs, tanks, pyro, and a full Wembley Arena, what more could you ask for?
Rating: 10/10
Check out our stunning photo gallery of the night’s action at Wembley from Hannah Cole here:
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