SABATON - Live DVD

SABATON - Live DVD Dress Rehearsal In Manchester




By Mark Gromen



Manchester is a fun town, lots of young people attending the
numerous universities and even more bars. Just the place for me and
SABATON. The HMV Ritz hosted the Swedes, Swiss folk octet ELUVEITIE and
opening act WISDOM, a young Teutonic leaning power metal outfit, in
requisite laced up leather pants, who never got to that necessary full
throttle tempo (gallop). Think a mid-paced HAMMERFALL or Germany's
MAJESTY. "Scream for me Manchester," the IRON MAIDEN cover ('Wasted
Years') was played with more conviction than their own material. The
signature tune saw the fans clap along and sing the "whoa, whoa" parts,
while the twin lead begun 'Judas' finale saw them stand four across the
front of the stage and featured a brief bit of gruff vocals, the only
such number.






The eight, multi-instrumentalists known as Eluveitie are led by
long, spindling dreadlocked singer Christian "Chrigel" Glanzmann, who
also plays guitar, mandolin, penny whistle, harp and a sheep skull
topped bagpipe! The band barely fit onstage. There's a pair of females
who also help out with vocals, violinist Meri Tadi? and hurdy gurdy
player (have you ever seen anyone strap the medieval instrument over
their shoulder?) Anna Murphy. Sonically, they're somewhere between Kate
Bush and Anette Olzon (ex-NIGHTWISH). Glanzmann asked "Ready for pure
fucking metal," which led to dual flutes, pipes and violin... although
aggressive (gruff vocals) and otherwise metal beats. It's a short ride
from IN EXTREMO and CORVUS CORAX to Eluveitie. Since the headliner
wouldn't allow white lights, they strapped a series of small whites to
the outline of the two scrims, which improved overall visibility. When
he wasn't selecting instrumentation from a carousel posted at the front
of the stage, Glanzmann was throwing the horns. In Britain, these
melodies might cut a little too closely to Celtic tunes, although 'The
Uprising' was simply intense metal.



Sabaton brought a pair of steel ramps, either side of the elevated
drum riser, and a blinding light show. There were eight mounted banks of
headlights, five by five... so that's 200 headlights above and beyond
the regular cans hanging overhead. By now, everyone knows they utilize
EUROPE's 'The Final Countdown' as a call to arms, but it also signals
the tongue-in-cheek aspect evident onstage and off. Literally charging
into 'Ghost Division', Mohawk sporting singer Joakim Brodén's smile
reflected in his mirrored sunglasses and steel breastplate flak jacket.
Mini-cams were shooting onstage footage, undoubtedly to augment the
footage they'll garner in London (Nov 9th) during the filming of a new
DVD. After a bouncy 'Gott Mit Uns', where the new blood added the German
lyrics, Brodén joked he was "A Swedish guy who looks like he could be
in the Village People." 'White Death' was a crowd pleaser, as the
audience moved up and down, you could feel the floor undulate, and not
for the last time either. With twice as many in the Ritz, as when the
evening began, the body odor was kicking up too! The English delivered
title track from Carolus Rex was introduced by "UK and Sweden have both
been ruled by kings, few as fucked up as Carolus Rex."






Chants of "Sabaton" broke out after almost every song, but Brodén
expertly navigated those moments, with comic relief. "We got emails that
said you want to hear one song in Swedish ('Karolinens Bön')." Even
though 99.9% had no idea what was being said (the singer even alluding
to the fact), fists thrusted overhead. "It's an invasion," he continued.
"We're smarter than the Germans. We don't attack. You want us. It
starts with ABBA, then IKEA. Those giant warehouses are where the tanks
are!" Brodén wore his shades throughout. '40:1' was bombastic and
frenetic, maybe even more offstage. An oversized Polish flag waving in
the front of the crowd. During 'Cliffs Of Gallipoli' the singer left the
stage, the two guitarists and mainstay bassist Pär Sundström center
stage. Next, the fans were given the choice of which Coat Of Arms track
they wanted to hear: 'Midway', the titular cut or 'Uprising'. Aural
bedlam ensues, Brodén unable to comprehend the mixed shouts: "Sounds
like Swedish. You're saying 'jump into bed!" A brief language lesson
follows, as does 'Uprising' (thematically and musically the best
selection of the trio offered), plenty of strobes accompanying the
mid-tempo number, as a pair of Polish flags are unfurled.






'Lion From The North' and 'The Hammer Has Fallen' are met warmly,
but when Brodén sits center stage, at hastily erected keyboards (he
started out playing synths), he teases with a few bars of VAN HALEN's
'Jump', then a little classical composition, before the purple lit
'Attero Dominatus' kicks in. Brodén twirls the cordless mic throughout.
The voiceover to 'Art Of War' leaves no doubt what's on deck, followed
by 'Primo Victoria'. The briefly leave the stage for the encore, but
there's a hard curfew at 10pm, so they don't milk it. Brodén thanking
the crowd, saying, "It's all about you guys," then leading everyone
through an a cappella rendition of the chorus for "YMCA", before the
rest of the band returns for 'Metal Crue', where he finally tossed the
sunglasses into the crowd. Told you it was a blinding light show! Can't
wait to see the results on the DVD.



More photos from Manchester can be seen here.