Sabaton Open Air – Day 2: Saturday 20/8 2016 pt.2
So. The wait begun. It was six very very excited and happy Monstermaniacs that eagerly awaited Lordi. It’s always so weird for me to see their backdrop, to see their crew and everything appear in Sweden. I’ve gotten so used to see them overseas that the mere thought of them being at home is just so strange. I can’t quite grasp it. And this was the first time Jonathan would ever see them, and it was great to get to enjoy it together with Martine as well… It was just.. perfect.
LORDI
And even more perfect did it become when “Estimated Time of Arrival” started.
I swear to God, the guards looked very suspiciously at us when they saw me and Michelle lip synching the entire thing, but you know… heard it so many times now. They got on the stage, and set off with “Nailed By the Hammer of Frankenstein”.
They quickly followed up with “Bringing Back The Balls to Rock” and then “Get Heavy”, which was a supernice surprise! Ever since I heard it again at Tuska I’ve been asking like literally every Lordi fan where the hell that song was, because it’s absolutely killer! “This is Heavy Metal” – With the heavy metal dude – and “The Riff” where the next songs on the list, I am not a hundred percent sure about the exact order as I didn’t write down all the songs, but.
And then. Somewhere around this part of the setlist, one of the major surprises for me came: “Scare Force One”. As you all know – this is my absolute favorite song on that album, like it’s not even fun how much I love that song, and to hear it again… It’s like, Lordi did everything right with this era for me. They brought back “Deadache” for the regular tour, and they played “My Heaven is Your Hell” on Sweden Rock and now “Scare Force” was back. It was so amazing. And most amazingly of all was acting out the song together with my original GroupieBFF Martine. Seriously.
Then of course, the highlight of the night “It Snows in Hell”, and according to Jonathan, the guards had looked so confused at us. That they weren’t sure what they were supposed to do. And for the first time forever, Mr Lordi even turned his own head upside down to us. Speaking of that. The band interacted so much with us. It was almost like the six of us where the only fans that existed for them. It was.. a nice feeling, but also odd. I’ve never seen them so on their game before as today. It was nice to see.
“Devil is a Loser” was next, followed by “Hard Rock Halleujah”… and then.. exit and Mr Lordi came back, asking us if we wanted more. And that’s when we did it. What we’d waited for to do. He asked us if we wanted more and we said…
“FACE DOWN, ASS UP, FACE DOWN ASS UP!”
Mr Lordi looked so confused at us, going “What…?” and we started yelling “HUG YOU HARDCORE, HUG YOU HARDCORE!!!”
And he just shook his head, “no no no” and we yelled back, “OH COME ON!!! COME ON!!! PLEASE!!!” and he just said “No, that is not going to happen” and we gave up. It was worth a shot, and we have also now finally managed to completely freeze Mr L on stage. Fantastic.
The encores were the usual ones – “Who’s Your Daddy” and “Would you Love a Monsterman?” And then they left the stage. Jonathan actually got Mr Lordis towel!
It was an amazing set. I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing this set felt. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Lordi so on top of their game as I did today. Thank you so much for a mindblowing show guys!
Right after this show, we wrapped Jonathan in the Swedish flag and sent him off to his meet & greet while we headed off towards Sabaton.
SABATON
The runtimes on the running schedule were a little confusing, as it never mentioned if it was any breaks between the bands, but clearly it was. We got ourselves some good spots in the back, and I must admit, because of the break, I started to question myself if perhaps we should have gone to the meet&greet as well, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it.
Then, “In The Army Now” started, and I started to get excited, feel my adrenaline pump… intro started… “Hello FALUN! We are SABATON, (…) and this is GHOST DIVISION!” and off we go… but it wasn’t until after this, when Jocke says “ARE YOU READY FOR SOME CAROLUS REX” where I knew that no. I was exactly where I was supposed to be. “Carolus Rex” is honestly one of my jams. “Carolus” and “The Art of War”. Those are simply my jams.
“Ballad of Bannockburn” was third song, and as Jonathan hadn’t gotten back from the meet&greet yet, I decided to record it for him since it’s his favorite, but just then he came back, so all good! And then.. jumpfest deluxe: “Swedish Pagans”. Seriously, I had a little circle around me, because no one wanted to stand close to me. Probably because I’m jumping back and forth, side to side and my hair has quite a radius when headbanging.
Then, “The Diary of an Unknown Soldier” started and I just stopped breathing. Like I already told you, when these orchestral kind of arrangements starts… I just stop for some reason. This was of course followed up by “The Lost Battalion”, and god I just love that song. “Soldier of Three Armies” was next on the list, it’s like every band is just doing it for me tonight!
After this, the show stopped up for a moment to take a moment to appriciate and thank Thobbe for his time in the band. It was, after all, his final show. To do this, they had put together a little video of him. It was… emotional to say the least to see this. It was just.. it’s so weird to think about that this was the end.
Right after this – “Cliffs of Gallipoli” was brought back. And seriously… First and foremost, I simply love this song and this album, but it also became monumental because all of this festival, because of some things happening right before departing, I’ve had the line “broken promises they won’t be coming home”. All festival. And to then have Sabaton play the song live just became… very emotional.
“Counterstrike” was next on the list, followed my other jam “The Art of War” before something big happened. About guitarist. And a little blonde fellow was invited on stage.
Tommy Johansson.
Better known as, Sabaton’s new guitarist.
It was amazing to get to see the new guitarist being introduced to the band, seeing him brought in, and get to see his very first show with the band. So, I can know say I’ve heard “Resist and Bite” with four guitars, and the rest of them with three guitars.
“To Hell and Back” was next song, followed by live premiere of “Sparta”. I’m not a big fan of this song on the album, but it DOES make a VERY good live show I must admit. Holy hell.
“En Livstid i Krig” was brought out before we had a bit of a breakdown on stage, Hannes accusing Tommy of being a bit cocky for “having been in the band for like 15 minutes” so they dared him to sing a song. And that’s when we knew. “Gott Mit Uns”.
And this was just soooo good. I’ve missed this song since “Noch Ein Bier”, so it was great to see it again. And Tommy is one hell of a guy!
After this, they left the stage and my personal favorite moment of the show started. You know what I’m talking about.
Lights out.
Helicopter siren.
Redlights.
Orchestral arrangements.
“Nightwitches”.
Seriously. I can’t describe to you how amazing this is. It’s like I said many times before – these guys, they know how to paint with music. Like Pocahontas paints with the color of the wind, Sabaton paints with music.
Next song on the list was “Shiroyama”, seriously, I love this one. “Primo Victoria” and “Metal Crüe” with the fireworks from hell rounded up the show, and the boys thanked for themselves and left the stage.
While I do miss some songs – “The Last Stand”, “Winged Hussars” to mention a few, I enjoyed this show so much. And I love this band so much. Everytime I go to a Sabaton show I remember why I love these five men so much, and why I have devoted my life to them. Sabaton, again, I love you.
Right after this, Jonathan and I headed back to the car for some late night drinks talking about Sabaton and Lordi and whatnot and then going to bed.
What a day it was!
// Sara
Sara Hammerzmith 
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