Sabaton, Apocalyptica & Amaranthe, Wembley Arena, London
It's on the first notes of Amaranthe's set that I enter Wembley Arena on Saturday the 8th of February. Fans stream in from all the doors wearing camouflage pants and Sabaton t-shirts, marching up and down the hallways. Everyone has a huge smile on their faces and the atmosphere is electric!!After grabbing a quick beer at the bar, (A really expensive beer…) I wander down the stairs to join my metal family in the standing area!
The first thing I notice is the quality of the sound! I have been to Wembley a few times but never heard such good quality sound before! Especially when you think we are only watching the opening act. Speaking of the opening act, I am also positively surprised by Amaranthe's (6) performance! Compared to previous gigs, their set is a lot more on point and it seems like having Angela as a manager is working well for everyone!
After this short but impressive set, it is time for Apocalyptica (8) to jump onstage! Armed with their cello they start a powerful and mesmerising set in front of a wall of videos which accompanied their music beautifully. Elize Ryd comes back on stage to lend her beautiful voice on a couple of songs, giving some extra depth to this wonderful set. It’s with the entire venue singing along that Apocalyptica end their set with Nothing Else Matters
The entire venue is buzzing and I can feel the excitement building around me!W the crew is busy setting up the stage, people already start singing Swedish Pagans. It is dead on time that Sabaton (9) invade the stage, ready for battle and start really strong with their famous Ghost Division. Already bombarding us with us with Pyro and fireworks, I am blown away by the energy and the fantastic set up the band has prepared for us!
As always, Hannes sits triumphant on his tank while his band mates run around the stage making their way between barbed wire and sand bags! They are all smiling and looking extremely happy and proud to have conquered a sold out Wembley on their first assault!
Joakim is running around the stage singing one hit after another, taking a few seconds in between the songs for a few jokes and swear words! They decide mid set to invite back on stage their tour mates from Apocalyptica to collaborate on a few songs. The new song Angel that they wrote together is definitely worth seeing live and having Apocalyptica adding they magic melodic touch to The Price Of A Mile was just the best moment of the set for me! You can tell they have work really hard all together to create this collaboration on stage and their hard work delivers remarkable results!
It is too fast that Apocalyptica leave the stage while Sabaton carry on their powerful set served with fireworks, fire, CO2 canons, more fire, pyro, confetti cannon, more fire. Going from classics to new songs from their latest album The Last Stand there is not a down moment in this show and the crowd does not have a second to catch their breath. A show that unfortunately comes to an end way too quickly but perfectly with their set ending To Hell And Back
The battle is over and it is with legs sore from jumping around that I leave the venue with my fellow metal heads, everyone smiling from ear to ear and singing all the way to the tube station!
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