Sabaton O2 Apollo Manchester 13/01/2017 The art of war! Set List: Ghost Division Sparta Blood of Bannockburn Swedish Pagans Carolus Rex The Last Stand Far From the Fame Winged Hussars The Final Solution Night Witches Resist and Bite Dominium Maris Baltici The Lion from the North Diary of an Unknown Solider The Lost Battalion Union (Slopes of St. Benedict) Primo Victoria Shiroyama To Hell and Back Twilight Force and Accept had laid down the gauntlet at the Apollo tonight. As the curtain came down on a set from Accept that was balls to the wall classics, talk turned to how Sabaton could top this. The urban stage set of Accept was removed from the stage and the familiar stage set of Sabaton appeared. One thing that became apparent straight away was the huge amount of money that Nuclear Blast must have sunk into Sabaton, video screens, a drum riser that was built into a machine gun turret – a big leap up from the already large stage set from the Heroes tour. Sabaton are no strangers to Manchester, every venue has been rammed and tonight is no exception. Because of this reason, Sabaton have played larger and larger venues culminating in another full house here at the Apollo. As the lights go down, Sabaton’s cover of In the Army Now begins to play through the PA before giving way to Sabaton’s The March to War signalling that Sabaton are about to take to the stage with a high adrenaline version of Ghost Division. The money that Nuclear Blast seem to have trusted in Sabaton for this tour once more prevails during Sparta. Accompanying an onscreen video are 4 Spartans onstage commanded by Joakim Brodén dressed as King Leonidas of Sparta. Brodén never ceases moving as he legs it from each side of the stage with an almost limitless amount of energy as Sabaton easily slid new songs from The Last Stand effortlessly alongside already established Sabaton classics such as Carolus Rex and Swedish Pagans. However, the only gripe tonight seems to be the rather jovial atmosphere during the acoustic performance of The Final Solution. In such a poignant song, it was rather odd to hear clapping with even a little bit of silliness from Sabaton themselves. That aside, Sabaton always look like they are most at home on the stage. Sabaton have an almost unique rapport with the audience, Joakim and co. live for moments like these and no other band even seems to come close to the adoration that Sabaton receive as well as the humbling love that Sabaton return. Sabaton grow from strength to strength with each passing year and rightly so, they are a unique band that deserves to be where they are. They are born entertainers, drafting you into their army, heavily researching to give each song authenticity whilst creating songs with a heavy subject matter without glorifying atrocities or bringing it towards a dirge. Sabaton brought home a fantastic night of Heavy Metal with all its military pomp and glory. Adam Shiroyama (Sabaton, 2016)
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November 2016
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