Sabaton in Prague they got Kreček and sang “Ententýky”
The Czech Republic remains unmissable in Sabaton’s work and live performances. Singer Joakim Brodén did not show his Czech passport this time in Prague, but once again demonstrated to the sold-out O2 arena that the band is very well aware of where they are playing. They were ahead of Avatar and Bloodbound.
Live: Sabaton
place: O2 arena Prague
date: August 25, 2022
Support, support: Avatar, Bloodbound
Bloodbound set list: Creatures Of The Dark Realm, Slayer Of Kings, Battle In The Sky, Moria, Rise Of The Dragon Empire, Nosferatu
Avatar setlist: Colossus, Let It Burn, Silence In The Age Of Apes, Paint Me Red, Bloody Angel, The Eagle Has Landed, Puppet Show, Smells Like A Freakshow, Hail The Apocalypse
Sabaton setlist: Ghost Division, Stormtroopers, The Great War, The Red Baron, Bismarck, Dead Men’s Attack, Sky Soldier, Far From Glory, Carolus Rex, Night Witches, Resist And Bite, Dreadnought, The Last Stand, Christmas Truce, Primo Victoria, Swedish Pagans, Highway To Hell (AC/DC cover) (excerpt), To Hell And Back
Photogallery
© Vojta Florian / musicserver.cz
Come to the sold-out O2 arena without masks and a band T-shirt? Inconceivably. Just like in January 2020, when they played there, Sabaton came this time to meet their faithful, who proudly represent them with their strict dress code, just like they did the last time Slipknot did a month earlier. But while Slipknot enjoys long-standing respect and sometimes unreserved admiration among the metal community, Swedish fans of sharper music are divided. For one dedicated supporter, there is at least an equally staunch opponent – they are criticized for being calculated, uninventive, the same announcements at every Czech concert and, above all, the fact that most of their songs are musically quite similar.
© Vojta Florian / musicserver.cz
But before the Czech audience, among which was Marek Ztracený and his son, could be convinced of the truth, the first of the frontrunners, also the Swedish Bloodbound, tried to stir up the crowd. They tried to impress the already admirably quickly filled arena with their 80’s power metal, a strong howl, but otherwise a relatively poor stage presentation. They were pleasant to listen to, the audience in the cauldron even waved for a while and anyone who wanted could look for references to the series “Game of Thrones” in their lyrics, which greatly influenced their work at the time. Coincidentally, her last composition was a piece called “Nosferatu”. And one such Dracula replaced them on stage half an hour later. Avatar is first and foremost glam, theater and shows, and only then heavy metal. And they probably know very well that their not very melodic music alone would not attract crowds of supporters to the stage. That’s why they stage their performances more like a horror movie. Distinctive make-up, theatrical gestures of principal Johannes Eckerström, unified choreography and jokes on the edge (“I’ll kill you all here!”, “We’ve come for your women and your jobs!”). These are their main weapons. Thanks to this, their concert was varied and managed to keep the audience’s attention. In short, you wanted to know what was going to happen next. It’s just a pity that the frontman’s trombone solo was not heard at all. Maybe they will have better luck with the sound engineer next year, when they are supposed to come back to us with a new album.
© Vojta Florian / musicserver.cz
The sound engineer Sabaton already knew well how to make the Vysočan hall sound, and so the pre-recorded symphonic passages were intertwined with the live music of the five Swedes in a relatively respectable symbiosis. The ears hurt mainly from the pyrotechnics. Several cannons symbolizing a shot from a tank, which served as a dominant scene and a stand for drums in one, were able to really shake the heads of those present. The show was absolutely colorful. If the smaller rockets weren’t flying, the stage designed like war barricades filled with sandbags remained hidden under a volley of flames. In the song “Red Baron” it even featured the biplane of the same name, which were actually just keyboards in disguise. And right at the beginning, he aimed a bazooka at the singer’s terrifying tank. In the meantime, the titles of the songs or key passages of the lyrics were shown on the projection behind them, together with the accompanying footage.
© Vojta Florian / musicserver.cz
The composition “Bismarck” was responsible for the most impressive ones. Back then, all those who are currently building a 1:200 scale model of a German warship in newsstands could admire footage of a remarkably faithful graphic rendering of the monstrous vessel. And to remember one of the most famous, but also the most tragic stages of war in human history. It is at least strange that in the song Sabaton they basically highlighted the magnificence of this ship, but what it symbolized, the values it fought for and how ingloriously it ended up together with the crew of two thousand, they are already forgetting there. However, it will not be the more or less faithful musicalization of wartime history that will be remembered most by fans from the O2 arena. As much as the aforementioned program, the formation resorted to various jokes and Czech words, thanks to which it showed that it knows very well where the group performs today. The frontman’s early childhood is forever connected to his Czech-speaking mother and he knows Prague well. As the bassist Pär Sundström later recalled, it was the Czech capital where in 2005, i.e. during their first European tour, the band, which in other countries plays in much smaller halls than ours, went to play when they were canceled two concerts in a row.
© Vojta Florian / musicserver.cz
And it was his childhood that he remembered when he jokingly sang the encore “Ententýky”, after which a few minutes later the stuffed Mole landed on the stage. And it won’t be the first in his collection. And for the first time there wasn’t even an announcement “One more beer!”, in which the audience heckled anyone who took the microphone. The band was ready for that and turned in one piece after another on request. On ex. It waved only with guitarist Chris Rörland, who subsequently burped proudly into the microphone. The sense of camaraderie and friendly nudges that culminated in Brodén trying to twist guitarist Tommy Johansson’s nipple while he in turn stuck picks to the singer’s sweaty forehead was marred by only one thing. Namely, the fact that at any time there could be a guitar solo, the expelled Czech Nightingale aspirant recommended it backstage. Someone could argue that this gave the guitarists the opportunity to stand out, but it can also be argued that it easily lost the team spirit and the effort to give everything on stage.
© Vojta Florian / musicserver.cz
But that was just a minor complaint on an otherwise quite successful evening, which included a song celebrating Karel Janoušek, the Czech flag on the projection and, after all, the complete ill-manneredness of smokers who, despite a clear ban, infested their addiction not only in the local toilets. It was a concert that, at least for a while, gave the impression that Czechs and Swedes can cooperate as brothers. But always only until the same countries meet again in hockey.