Written by:	Bad English
Published:	May 09, 2017
Event:	Sabaton: The Last Tour - Europe 2016/17
Location:	Luleå Energi Arena, Luleå, Sweden

Intro

On a cold and a little bit snowy April day, some superstars decided to visit Luleå, even though spring did not. April is still a winter month for us, for those who don't know geography and nature. Anyway, I started my journey around 15:00 and went to my coworker's place; we had some beer, as old school metalheads do - beer, beer, beer, and one more beer!

We arrived at the Coop Norrbotten Arena pretty late, around 18:40 (the gig started at 19:00). This is the biggest arena in Luleå, where Luleå Hockey plays their home games (although they sucked last season). Originally the show was supposed to be in Luleå Energi Arena, where the local basketball team plays, but that's a smaller venue.

Twilight Force started precisely at 19:00 and, since they were the opening act, I knew there wouldn't be any long show, only 35 minutes or something. There is some kind of magic in power metal if you refuse to grow old and stay young forever. Lyrics about dragons, heroes, tales, the past, and Germanic legends will always be better than gore, death, and St. Ann, which are boring and overrated. The band impressed me with good sound and a good performance, even the vocals. For a totally unknown band, it was easy to sing along. The band only has two albums out, 2014's Tales Of Ancient Prophecies and last year's Heroes Of Mighty Magic. I've already told you the band's name and lyrical themes, and they're just so epic that you can't help but want to check them out; I doubt I would go looking for "Worms Infected My Guts" or "I Cut My Hand With A Chainsaw In The Mortuary." The band probably could have added one more song and cut out two or three minutes of talking. That's okay if you're the headliner, but not in a situation like that, so one song was missing. Don't ask me the name, but Joakim Brodén came out and sang one song with them, too. After the gig, the band was hanging around with their fans and I was able to chit-chat with those guys.

Accept, a German metal legend, as a warm-up band is like Carcass opening for Amon Amarth; a 40-45 minute set was way too short. I know many were bitching, but at the same time, with all those who were negative about Accept opening, how come none of them showed up? Yes, maybe it sounds weird, but if the band did not want it, would they sign to it? No, they wouldn't do it. Maybe this tour gives a few more years to the band? I will say this - if Accept played last, I bet 60% of the audience would simply leave the arena. The band didn't deliver the best set list, and had to play both old and new stuff; it's like a curse. The vocals were bad, and it was hard to hear what he was saying, but the sound was okay. I saw that performance where the three guitarists move at the same time standing close to each other. I don't think it works in the 2000s; maybe the '80s, but not now. It wasn't a disappointment, it was a good show, but the problem was it was way too short; it was like one single moment and then it was gone. Especially here in the north, where no metal bands ever come except maybe once a year, and you need, like, 30,000 SEK a month to travel to the capital city and abroad for shows, the shows need to be longer.

The band opened with "Stampede" and the other songs that I recognized were:

Stalingrad
Restless And Wild
London Leatherboys
Princess Of The Dawn
Fast As A Shark
Balls To The Wall

There were three or four more, but I don't remember.

Before I start with Sabaton, their new guitarist, Tommy Johansson, is from Boden, so he was almost home, hehehe. Their former guitarist, Thorbjörn Englund, is also from north Haparanda, Kalix somewhere, according to the internet.

The band is definitely a live band; they put on a great show with salutes, cannons, fire, Spartans, and another kind of stage performance, and singing in Swedish in the Norrbotten dialect was funny. Like I said, they're a good live band, and I don't know them so well from the studio, but I will definitely re-listen to all of their albums one day. I cannot say anymore; it was simply one damn great blast.

Set list (not in order):
Swedish Pagans
Night Witches
Carolus Rex
Sparta
In The Army Now
Shiroyama
Lejonet Från Norden

Outro

I have never seen so many people at an inside event here. Most came for Sabaton and bought merchandise. I would ask this: do all those people listen to music at home every day? Last year, I listened to 79 new albums and maybe 800 old ones, and every day I do listen to music. The audience wasn't all metalheads, and I know a few who weren't there, but it doesn't matter; it was a good crowd, and the bands must be pleased. I was lucky and got my stuff four songs before the end; otherwise, you would have had to wait probably three hours before you'd be able to leave. While the others waited I had a chit with Twilight Force.

Thanks to SSUS for fixing errors.