As I got to the Place Bell, I was genuinely surprised by the number of metal warriors gathered to witness Sabaton. The place was absolutely packed. This felt like it was going to be an evening to remember, as everyone looked very excited for the evening.
Symphonic power metal band Epica was invited to open for the mighty Sabaton. The crowd did not need much warming up as many of Epica’s fans had gathered tonight to witness the vocal prowess of singer Simone.
Under a chant of “Epica Epica Epica,” the band took the stage. They opened their set with Abyss of Time to the great enthusiasm of the crowd. Simone thanked the crowd for their warm welcome as they launched into a heavier song, “Victims of Contingency,” that they dedicated to the headbangers.
We were then asked to sing along to the melodic “Cry of the Moon,” the crowd was ecstatic and to finish up the song, we were treated to a masterful drum solo.
The band was feeling quite playful this evening and asked the crowd to yell out “Biere” in unison as they started “Sancta Terra.” As their set was wrapping up, the members of the band descended into the crowd to play their instruments with their adoring fans.
As per tradition, they organized a gigantic wall of death for their last song, “Consign to Oblivion,” where hundreds of fanatical metalheads crashed into each other. Epica was a fantastic opener for Sabaton. They made me feel like I was in a European metal fest for their 60-minute set, and I enjoyed every minute of it.
The force that was Sabaton was set to take the stage. The stage was set with barbed wire, and the drum set was set on top of a gigantic tank. The excitement of the crowd could barely be contained as they were organically organizing another wall of death for the start of the set.
Sabaton opened, as they always do, with “Ghost Division” as fire exploded behind them. The crowd sang along to every word. They followed up with “Stormtroopers” from their newest album, “The War to End All Wars.” The band then took a moment to salute the Montreal crowd and let them know they were glad to be back in after a very long pandemic. The gathered metalhead shouted their praise to Sabaton.
They jumped into their airplane epic “Red Baron” as the crowd sang along to the chorus. The members of Sabaton were clearly having a good time on stage, and the musicians on stage stuck their guitar picks on singer Joakim’s face as they played their track “Bismark.”
During every song, we were treated to fantastic dynamic backdrops tailored to each song. After a dark intro about the deadliness of chemical weapons, the band stormed the stage wearing gas masks, and Joakim came out from backstage wielding a smoke machine-like weapon, playfully spraying smoke toward the crowd and his bandmates.
The show continued with other great tracks, such as Soldier of Heaven, Steel Commander and Carolus Rex.
The band asked the crowd if they wanted the next song to be in English or Swedish. The crowd massively answered they wanted to hear the Swedish version of the next song. Joakim teased us that most of us couldn’t even understand! They scoured the crowd and found one metalhead that spoke Swedish and exchanged a few words together. They proceed to play the Swedish version of Gott Mit Uns. The band then jumped into one of their classics, “Night Witches,” and then moved on to “Dreadnought,” where the crowd in general admission sat down and started rowing in unison along to the beat of the song.
Some of my personal favourites were; next, they played both “Shiroyama” and “The Last Stand” as all gathered in the hall sang their lungs out.
Bassist Pär took a moment to speak to the crowd. He informed everyone that this was the largest audience of the tour, and he was humbled by the number of new fans who came out to hear them play. It was a heartfelt moment, and he has always loved playing in Canada. Montreal rocks and has always been a bastion of heavy metal in North America.
We were treated to the power ballad “Christmas Truce” as hundreds waved their cell phone lights, creating a beautiful backdrop to the song.
As the band took a moment backstage, the backdrop showed historical footage of D-Day. The Sabaton classic “Primo Victoria” was set to start the encore.
All through the night, between songs, the crowd was chanting the melody for “Swedish Pagans.” Guitarist Tommy let the crowd know it was finally time to play it by playing the melody on his guitar. The crowd joined in without hesitation and sang along throughout the song.
We then had a little humorous moment between Joakim and Tommy, where Joakim accused him of stealing his job by introducing the songs. He then dared him to sing a song for the crowd if he could. After some back and forth and some humorous suggestions, Tommy sang a cover of Highway to Hell from legendary rock band AC/DC and did a fantastic job.
It was time for the last song as the flute intro for “To Hell and Back” played at Place Bell over the cheering of the crowd.
As the song finished, the fans were rabid, and I am sure would have enjoyed a few more songs, but the set was over. Sabaton stayed on stage and gave out guitar pics and drumsticks to all their faithful fans to a never-ending cheering crowd.
It was a fantastic concert, and I came out of the show an even bigger Sabaton fan than when I entered. They are fantastic musicians, great entertainers and seem to enjoy every minute they spend on stage.
Thank you to Sabaton and Epica for an amazing night of true heavy metal.
Review – Jason Maher
Photos – Kieron Yates
Check out our interviews with Sabaton and Epica below:
