Sabaton - The Tour to End All Tours (+ Babymetal + Lordi)
- Charlotte
- May 3, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 5, 2023
Leeds. First Direct Arena. April 14th, 2023.
Disclaimer: The pictures I've used are from articles by Dylan Maggs and Stewart Lucas, both of which I've linked at the end of the article. Check them out for more pictures and well-written reviews!
When I bought my tickets a few months ago to see Sabaton on their 2023 tour, I knew it was going to be good. I did not, however, expect it to be a contender for the best live show I have ever seen. Drawing fans from all across the Northwest, this first stint of the Tour to End All Tours was a colossal hit, with great energy and atmosphere throughout the entire night.
As we pulled up to the arena in Leeds about an hour before doors, the weather was as grim and wet as it had been when we left Chorley earlier that day, but already, dozens of metalheads were lining up outside, huddling together while some preacher with a megaphone tried to evangelize them. We opted not to join the crowd and instead chose to spend the next hour in the nearest Wetherspoon, which is conveniently attached to the arena. It was, of course, completely packed with fellow Sabaton-goers; I don't think there was a single person in there who was not there for the gig. Miraculously, we got a table by the window and our food arrived swiftly. Over the next forty minutes or so, we ate our burgers and enjoyed people-watching as more and more metalheads swarmed around the arena, amusingly easy to pick out in their signature attire; patch-covered jackets, leather boots, spikes and studs, the white and grey camo pants that Sabaton usually wear on stage...
Once we were adequately intoxicated and ready to go, we left the pub and made our way into the arena. By this point, the first band was already playing, and after a slightly annoying delay in getting our drinks (they wouldn't sell them to me because apparently my Louisiana driver's license is not acceptable proof of ID, so we went to a different stall and Owen got the drinks), we headed into the main bit of the arena to find our seats.
The first band was Lordi, as the banner behind them informed us, and they looked like gargoyles armed with guitars. The frontman was wearing these silver boots so ridiculously chunky that they'd put Gene Simmons to shame. Other band members wore huge alien masks/headdresses as they pranced around on stage. Mr. Lordi is apparently the frontman's stage name, and in a break between songs, he said something along the lines of "So you've come to see some quality Swedish metal?" Cheers from the crowd. "Good choice. But before that, are you ready to see some quality Japanese metal?" More cheers. "But first, unfortunately, you've got to listen to a few more songs of so-so Finnish metal." They played well, and their costumes were incredible; unfortunately, there were some technical issues with the sound, so it was either too loud to discern what they were playing, or the drums or guitars would cut out, or we'd get blasted with a burst of high pitched feedback. It's too bad they fucked the sound for Lordi, and I hope the following stops on the tour have gone more smoothly for them. Still, it was a decent start to the show. At one point, Mr. Lordi came out and began singing while huge silver bat wings slowly rose from the back of his costume, and that was pretty cool. It wasn't until their last song that I realized why they looked familiar. As they began to play "Rock Hallelujah" I realized I'd seen them on Eurovision; they were the winners in 2006, and I'd seen them perform on Eurovision a couple years ago as returning artists. That was a fun and unexpected throwback.
Next up was Babymetal, a wacky Japanese metal band for which I can only say that I'm glad I was intoxicated when I saw them, because as much as I found myself entertained and intrigued, I don't know what I'd make of them if I'd been sober. Three singers/dancers in sparkly metallic dresses jumped around like little anime girls while the guitarists, bassist and drummer were positioned on either side of the stage, wearing long black robes and looking like No-Face from Spirited Away. Their music was a strange mix of modern metal, k-pop (j-pop?), techno and God knows what else. One moment, one of the girls would be singing like a popstar and dancing sweetly, then the next you were being blasted to your core with double bass drums and heavy guitar riffs, then you'd get some club-like distorted vocals... It was absolutely wild, but I'm glad we got to see them. As Babymetal concluded their set, we went out to get some drinks and much-needed water, and once again, we enjoyed watching the vast array of people who had turned up to see the gig. There were weathered Spoons men in patch jackets, neckbeard weeb Babymetal fans, women in corsets and fishnets, punks in spiky jackets, children and grandparents and everyone in between.
We ended up losing our original seats and found some slightly better ones instead, and we settled in to await the appearance of Sabaton. Their entrance was heralded by a voice-over and a sudden explosion, and everything cut out and went dark again (someone had fucked up the cue), but sure enough, they soon walked out a few seconds after and began with "Ghost Division". The two or so hours that followed were one of the best experiences of live music I've ever had. The drummer sat atop a full-size tank flanked by machine gun turrets where the guitarists sometimes stood (as well as a guy in a German WWI uniform with a flamethrower, at one point in the show). Barbed wire lined the edges of the stage, and we could feel the heat from the pyrotechnics all the way from our seats up above.
The sound was incredible, probably the best I've heard in a stadium; thankfully, the sound tech issues that had plagued Lordi's performance had been fixed, and Sabaton were heard in their full glory. They played a great mix of old and new tracks, including many of my personal favorites like "Bismarck", "Carolus Rex", "Winged Hussars", "Dreadnought", and "The Attack of the Dead Men". The backing vocals have always been one of my favorite parts of Sabaton records, and they were all the more powerful live. The guitar solos were perfectly clear and fantastically executed, another feature I was excited to see and hear in person. Actually, there wasn't a single flaw or weak point in their sound; all band members did a truly excellent job of bringing the songs to life, not just through their playing, but through their stage presence and energy.
Watching the show was like watching a musical production of the World Wars (in all the best ways). I had heard that Sabaton shows were exceedingly theatrical, but I underestimated just how much fun the show would be, visually. During "The Red Baron", the keyboardist played on an organ built to resemble the trademark red airplane, complete with a spinning propeller. At one point, Tommy Johansson played a guitar solo atop a flaming piano. For "Christmas Truce", the arena was showered in red and green glittery confetti and snow, nevermind the fact that Christmas is eight months away. During "Father", an actor playing the part of Fritz Haber paced the stage, working on a glowing green machine filled with the "toxic gas". This song was a brilliant segway into "The Attack of the Dead Men". For this one, frontman Joakim Broden and the rest of the band members donned gas masks and brought out more fog to cover the stage in a hazy shroud.
Throughout the show, each band member got the chance to interact with the crowd on a more personal level, and this gave the performance a really lovely and intimate feeling. Seeing them live, you really get the sense that the members of Sabaton are truly grateful for the support of their fans, and they make that gratitude explicit. In between songs, bassist Par Sundstrom recounted Sabaton's first visit to Leeds in 2007, in which they drew a crowd of about fifty people and tickets sold for around £5 each. After expenses, each band member was left with just under £5, enough to spend on beer, he said, and of course, that's what they spent it on. In anticipation of the next song, he asked everyone to use the lights on their phones, and as the stadium lights were darkened, the arena was filled with the glow of thousands of little individual lights instead. In a sweet moment, he said: "I wish that me, in 2007, would have known this. I think it would have been easier to overcome all the things that made the path so hard, but here we are. Thank you so much". The experience was further amplified by the energy of the crowd; even in our seats in the higher-reaches of the arena, everyone was fully invested in the show. We were amused when a large section of the crowd near us started "rowing" during "Swedish Pagans". As the crowd went wild for the encore, Joakim and the rest of the band hushed the audience, and when there was finally a subdued murmur, the Western-style whistling that marks the start of "To Hell and Back" began, and everyone went nuts again. All in all, it was really a fantastic night, and some of the best money I've ever spent on a live music experience. It makes me happy that Sabaton have found success after such a long road to get there; it's certainly well-deserved. Not only are they exceptionally talented musicians, but they've carved out such a specific little niche for themselves (how many people decide to sing exclusively about military history?), and their tenacity has absolutely paid off. In my opinion, they're one of the best contemporary metal bands out there, and I'm so glad I got the chance to see them in their prime.
Two more excellent reviews of Sabaton in Leeds:
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