Sabaton review

Review Sabaton - Delain - Battlebeast 013 Tilburg !

My first visit to the „013” in Tilburg, and I won’t forget it soon. Opening the debates was Battlebeast. For me, the big unknown. I had no idea what to expect, and could watch the show with an open mind. They stormed the stage, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if they would have stormed right into the crowd. And in a way they did. The songs they played were very tight, and frontladyNoora Louhimo really touched the crowd. Her singing was sometimes a bit aggressive, to sound even fragile two seconds later. With their heavy metal, Battlebeast brings a highly contagious show. In my opinion, they can definitely open any MainStage on a big festival.

Maybe they can even be seen somewhere in the middle of the line-up in a rather short time.

Delain was no surprise to me. I know their work.

Not that I’ve been following them in the past, but I knew who they are before today. Before the show, Charlotte Wessels took some time for an interview, wich u can find in this SWM. In that interview, she told me she had a cold, and her voice wasn’t in the best condition. It needs no explaining, I was a bit worried. Those worries were al gone after the first song. This lady knows her job. She may not have used her voice to the fullest today, wat you will understand at the beginning of a five week tour, with a cold, but her professionalism definitely made up for that. The fragile, polite girl I spoke earlier, turned into a stage beast. She carried the band, and the crowd loved it. They ate every bit of Symphonic Metal Delain put on their plate. The band visibly enjoyed playing in their own country, before

Sabaton, and the enthusiasm they showed on stage, warmed the crowd for the headliner.

!

Knowing that Suzan Mclee, one of our photographers, is webmaster for the Belgian Panzerdivision facebookpage, you could expect me to be too kind for Sabaton. That would make me a bad journalist though. But I’m lucky. The band delivered everything I expected. A great show, a well build stage (with tank, although the stage is not that big in „013”) and great music.

Every self-respecting metalhead, should at least once, see Joakim and friends live. You might not like their Heavy Metal, you might not like their songs. That’s all fine by me. But the energy these guys have on stage, is something that transcends style or lyrics. During the interview with Pär Sunström he looked small and fragile. I know the photo pit at „013” is rather deep, and perspective does weird thing, but This wasn’t all about perspective. How small he looked backstage, in his hoody, the bigger he seemed on stage. How fragil he seemed before, the more impressive he became during the show. I’m convinced that Pär and Joakim would even scare their viking ancestors away. When you see that pair kicking ass on stage, you can only start kicking ass in the moshpit and have the time of your life. And when you’re having such a great time, and you see the band being blown away by the response they get from the crowd, that only makes your night better. These guys love playing for us, and who am I be, if I would say I don’t appreciate that.

Thanks Battlebeast, Delain and Sabaton for a great night.