It was time once again for a big metal show in Laval at Place Bell, as one of the biggest metal bands was back in town to teach us a history lesson and deliver some heavy metal. The mighty Sabaton was ready to rock our city once again after their last show had been rescheduled.
This has nothing to do with the show itself, but dear god, parking is awful at Place Bell. By the time I finally got out of the car, I only caught the tail end of the opening act, Wings of Steel, and I immediately wanted to hear more. This is exactly the kind of rocking classic heavy metal I love, and they were a perfect fit to open for Sabaton. I hope they come back to town soon so I can catch a full set.
In my 20-plus years as a concertgoer, Pop Evil gave me a first time experience that I had never encountered before. I could not endure more than one song of their performance. The sound mix was awful, distorted, excessively loud, and quite painful. Speaking of painful, Pop Evil plays what I like to describe as SiriusXM Octane “metal.” This is simply not something I enjoy, and judging by the number of people eating hotdogs and loitering in the halls of Place Bell, I was clearly not the only one looking to escape their performance…
I have lost count of the number of times I have seen Sabaton live. They are a behemoth on stage, and I always enjoy seeing them perform. So when the cheers erupted as the giant tank and artillery were unveiled during the intro, I had a big smile on my face and knew we were in for a great evening.
As always, they kicked things off with their high-energy classic “Ghost Division,” immediately getting the crowd moving and singing along. The band was in high spirits, as expected, and singer Joakim was having some fun with fans in the front row who had dressed up like him.
We moved on to more fan favorites like “The Red Baron” and “The Last Stand,” both of which had the crowd singing along, before shifting gears with the faster “Stormtroopers,” accompanied by fireworks blasting out of the tank.
Bassist Pär then took a moment to thank the crowd for their patience, as Sabaton had postponed the tour originally scheduled for early 2026 due to some medical issues he was experiencing. He reassured everyone that he was once again in top shape and expressed his gratitude to the fans, mentioning that this was the biggest Canadian crowd of metalheads. He then invited everyone to light up the room with their phones for the power ballad “Christmas Truce.” The band was also joined by a chorus of ladies who provided some lovely backing vocals. They remained on stage throughout the rest of the show, adding a nice touch to the songs.
This was followed by “Soldier of Heaven” and our first taste of the new album Legends with “Crossing the Rubicon.” The new material fit right in alongside all these established classics.
The evening continued with the crowd singing along to favorites like “Night Witches” and enjoying newer songs like “I, Emperor,” about Napoleon. During “Attack of the Dead Men,” Joakim appeared in costume, firing poison gas on stage while cracking fart jokes at the expense of his fellow band members. We also got a tribute to the mighty Bismarck, complete with fans on the floor rowing a boat through the pit.
A few more new songs appeared toward the end of the setlist, including “Hordes of Khan” and “Templars,” both of which have all the makings of future Sabaton classics.
As is tradition at a Sabaton show, Joakim always makes a point of acknowledging the younger fans in attendance, and this time there was a particularly young fan in the front rows. Joakim reached out to greet him and handed him a pair of his trademark sunglasses. I am sure that little nine-year-old boy will remember that moment for the rest of his life.
The evening continued toward its conclusion with the classic “Primo Victoria,” which had everyone in the pit jumping up and down. Guitarist Thobbe then joked around and played the riff for “Swedish Pagans” to introduce the next song, prompting Joakim to remind him that introducing songs was his job. The two then proceeded to joke around and switch places, with Thobbe taking over vocals while Joakim picked up the guitar. It was a funny little skit, and while Joakim was great on guitar, Thobbe was not quite as convincing on vocals. It was all in good fun, however.
As is tradition, the final song of a Sabaton show was “To Hell and Back,” introduced by its unmistakable flute melody. The crowd got one last chance to sing along and rock out before the evening came to an end.
I have seen Sabaton many times live, and I always leave their shows with a hoarse voice from singing along all evening and a big smile on my face.
Sabaton are a well-oiled war machine, delivering metal wherever they go. They consistently deliver on stage, and every time I see them live, I see a band living their dream.
Many thanks to evenko for bringing this larger-than-life band to our town!
Review – Jason Maher
Photos – Ryan Rumpel
