Sara Hammerzmith

After she left, I headed up toward the hill again to watch the sunset and wait for Amaranthe to start. Linn and My surprisingly joined me after a while, before it was time for me to head down to the tent again.

Amaranthe

The tent was PACKED. Like, I know Amaranthe has had a lot of success, but this was crazy. I wasn’t really expecting to have the Delain kind of treatment, but perhaps Amaranthe should be on the mainstage the next time? I think so.

Right on time the intro started echoing in the speakers and they opened with “Maximize”. And of course, from the instant, my eyes are glued to Nils. I promise, I’m not a crazed fangirl, it’s just that, it’s so odd to see him perform on stage. You know he’s my favorite singer ever, so knowing I’ll be seeing him on a regular basis now is a weird thought.

“Boomerang” followed suite, and the band seemed to have a pretty good night! The energy from the crowd was… okay. I guess. I mean, I’ve seen better. Perhaps I should stop comparing nordic crowds to French or German, as they are always much more my cup of tea, but still. Better than at Delain, I guess that is something?

“Hunger” followed suit, and I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned it, but this went from being a song I really did not like with them, to one of my favorites. It’s something special about all of a sudden realizing that yeah, it’s not so good on the album, but then you realize what kind of a headbanging song it is, and you instantly fall in love.

“1.000.000 Lightyears” and “Fury” was the next songs on the list, and “Fury” you know… you can’t get enough from that song. Really. “On The Rocks” followed, my personal favorite off “Maximalism”, “The Nexus” was ripped off before it was time for some sing along or karaoke, or whatever you wanna call it with Elize for “Amaranthine”.

“Call Out My Name”, “Digital World” and “That Song” was fired off as the set left for it’s finale and they wrapped up the entire thing with “Drop Dead Cynical”.

It wasn’t exactly the best show I’ve ever seen with them, but it is also far from the worst. Perhaps I have simply seen them too much. I don’t know. I wasn’t a huge fan of “Maximalism” either so maybe it’s just this entire era. Huh.

Right after the show, I headed off to the bathrooms and then over to Sabatons stage. For arriving like ten minutes before it was about to start,  I got some really good spots. Good visually, and I had a lot of space. My hair is a bit like a windmill, so, I kind of need it.

Sabaton

But, lets talk about something for a quick second here. The beauty of the stage I was seeing in front of me. I knew this was a special show – the Carolus Rex kind of special show, Swedish Empire and all of that, but I didn’t think so much about it until I got to the stage and saw it. The three crowns banner that clad Audie, the Swedish banners place here and there, and not to talk about the throne Carolus was about to sit upon later in the show. That’s when it REALLY hit me – this is going to special. And beyond epic.

And it started already at the intro. Instead of the usual “The March To War”, “Dominium Maris Baltici” served as the intro instead. It was a little… odd, because the intro was as quiet here as it is on the album, making it a little awkward. Probably some setting or so, but I guess I shouldn’t be complaining, considering that once Hannes and the rest of the boys were on stage – “Lejonet Från Norden” was the first song to be performed. All this time, I waited for this! For not having “Ghost Division” as the opener!

It was followed by Jocke talking a little bit, the only apparently he was allowed to talk during this special set, as they continued onwards with “Gott Mit Uns”. The energy from the crowd was pretty good. COULD be better, but hey, better than Graspop so I’m shutting up. “En Livstid i Krig” followed suit, and at this time at the show, it still felt like any other Sabaton show. It was first when the next song, “1648” started as it dawned upon me that no, this is not like any other Sabaton show.

“Karolinens Bön” was next, and as I had suspected a bit due to seeing the special show from Rockstad: Falun in a live stream, the caroleans marched onto the stage and took position during this song. Could this show get any better?

Sure it could, because in “Carolus Rex” Carolus himself comes on stage, we witness his coronation and he sits upon his throne. Like, very literally to the song, but oh my god. This is the Sabaton show of my dreams! “Ett Slag Färgat Rött” followed suit, and then “Poltava”.

After “Poltava”, the caroleans exited the stage and Carolus walked down toward the front in order to, well, look out over his land I guess. And that’s when it happened. A pyro shot off as a bullet that has been fired from a gun, and Carolus fell to the ground. “Konungens Likfärd” was the song the band played next, obviously, and the Caroleans came on stage and carried the fallen king out, “back to Sweden” so to put it.

Just as last time, “Ruina Imperii” was in fact not performed live, it simply served as an outro, and as back in Falun, the Caroleans fired off their weapons after the show, and then left the stage for good, for now.

I honestly thought the show was going to be over now, so mind my surprise when the WWII intro started on the screen, with the apropriate pyro and “Primo Victoria” started echoing. At least the crowd woke up a little bit by now, haha!

“Sparta” was next on the list, sadly not with all the theatrics, but if it’s festivals it is festivals I guess – “Swedish Pagans”, of course, because apparently you can never have a show with out this one – “Shiroyama”, “Winged Hussars” and “To Hell and Back” wrapped up the set before it was over.

Jocke asked the Caroleans back out on stage and introduced everyone, including “The Norwegian that shot him” haha. I love this band.

With that said, the show was over and everyone left the stage. And I was just standing there like, what the hell did I just witness. What did I just have the privilige to witness? I have no idea. I headed up toward the stage, and I was very very lucky to get a setlist from a very very kind crew member. I like setlists, but this setlist means so much to me because it was THIS show, you know?

After this, I headed out of the area, to fix the cashless card and pick up Linn, and then we went home right after.

Seriously, this day was so worth it. For Sabaton alone, but I also thank Delain and Amaranthe, Angelina, Linn and My for making it even better! Thank you all!

// Sara

This entry was posted on June 25, 2017 at 7:15 am and is filed under Concerts, Music, Uncategorized with tags amaranthe, carolus rex, sabaton, tons of rock. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.