So on Tuesday I saw Hammerfall and Sabaton. Overall, I had a blast. As this was only my second metal concert, I'm sure some of the things I'm going to recount are "Duh!" moments, but I found the experience so fascinating I can't help but share.
It seemed unusual to me this was a two-band show. I kind of figured three was the norm with the opening act generally being local, but I'm sure it varies. This particular venue has an ironclad cutoff time of 23:00, which I presume limited Hammerfall to playing their shorter 11-song set from the tour, as opposed to the longer 13-14 one I saw pop up on setlist.fm a couple of times in the preceding weeks. (I've taken to listening to set lists in advance to better familiarize myself with songs I don't already know.) I was bummed this resulted in
Dominion being cut, one of the songs I took a stronger liking to. Mind you, the song I
really wanted them to play was
One Of A Kind, which I discovered I'd had saved in Spotify for a few years despite not recalling the song nor remembering how I'd discovered it. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear they've ever played that live.
* * * *
So I showed up an hour early, and was surprised to find a line that was already probably 200 feet long. Solo for this show, I took my place and passed the time by checking out the band shirts people had on (I was wearing my Slechtvalk crowd funding reward) and wondering whether the shawarma place a few doors down from the theatre would still be open after the show. Despite not being near the front of the line, my experience was similar to seeing Alestorm/Gloryhammer last year. When I finally made it inside, the floor was pretty empty save for the 70 people pressed up against the barricade. (Where had everyone gone? They weren't at the merch stand.) At the Alestorm concert my pal and I hung about two thirds of the way back. But being alone this time, I figured why not get up close? I would call this a moderate mistake.
See, I'd read online that Sabaton concerts don't usually develop large pits (though of course it varies by show). I walked up to the front and started sizing people up. There was a young couple ahead of me. To their left was a guy in a plaid shirt and musician's earplugs. There were a couple of older guys with grey hair. A short college kid right in front of me in a generic grey hoodie. Not a threatening crowd... no spiked wristbands; no goregrind or deathcore t-shirts (er, not that I'd recognize the logos). But what I failed to do was take serious notice of the crowd that filled in behind of me. I gather it works something like this... in a medium theatre venue, for the first 15 feet you have the hardcore fans who just want to capture awesome photos and get splashed with the performers' sweat. From 15-25 feet, you have serious fans who want to be up close and personal yet still able to see the whole stage. And from 25-45 you have the lunatic daredevils willing to make the most out of Canada's public healthcare system. Well, it turns out I chose to stand around foot 26. Having a pit break out in front of you isn't so bad (especially if you're a big guy like me)... you can see what's coming and brace yourself. But having one form directly behind you is an unideal experience.
And for the majority of Hammerfall's set, things were pretty calm. Moshing broke out a few times, but if you stood your ground you were mostly left alone. But the moment Sabaton began playing their first song (
Ghost Division--I'm getting mild anxiety just listening to it now), I was being crushed forward, struggling to stay on my feet. I instinctively lowered my frame and stretched out my arms and legs like a goalie, spending a good amount of time embracing the audience members in front of me to steady myself and spread out the force I was in turn inflicting forward. I got a few quizzical looks... I couldn't tell if they were annoyed thinking I was trying to draw them into the pit, or were just confused that my method of survival was giving them waist hugs. I also felt the need to keep looking over my shoulder lest I let a crowd surfer fall and/or get a shoe in my face (I came very close).
When the moshing didn't significantly subside after another song or two, I retreated behind the pit. I feel no shame. Being on the periphery of the pit was a thrilling experience, but it's a shitty way to experience a concert. At least, it's not something I personally enjoy.
* * * *
As for the performance itself... I didn't really know Hammerfall before hearing they were the opening act. They're as much heavy metal as they are power metal. As I got to know them in the weeks and months leading up to the concert, I found them rather generic. About a third of their songs were catchy, but they weren't really a band I'd choose to listen to. After having seen them live, my opinion of them is improved. Vocalist Joacim Cans is extremely charismatic (though his joke about no women coming to European shows felt dated), and the band definitely gives it their all. Their brand of cheesy metal definitely plays very well live where it's hard to be self-conscious. (
Hearts on Fire made me cringe when I first heard it, but it's kind of fun in a crowd of engaged fans.) I found it really cool that they hung out at the back of the theatre next to their merch stand at the end of the show to chat and pose for photos. They're headlining their own tour next September. I'm on the fence.
Sabaton was just outstanding, with amazing energy. While I kind of presume he says it in every town, Joakim Brodén kept reacting like he couldn't believe how into it the audience was, and commented that the atmosphere was amazing. Who knows, maybe it was true? The pit crowd got down on the ground and started rowing before they played
Swedish Pagans... saw this during Alestorm's Nancy the Tavern Wench as well. Joakim, breathless, said he had no idea what the fuck was going on. This amused me... though apparently this is a common audience interaction for this song. Perhaps it confused him that they started doing it before the song had even begun, or he was just playing around? Another highlight was at the end, when he chose a 13-year-old kid to give his sunglasses to. When he learned his name was Luke, the guitarist played the Star Wars theme and the audience chanted his name for two minutes. It was also cool to see their new guitarist Tommy Johansson, whom I knew from his band ReinXeed. This band plays with so much power, they're a ton of fun. (If I'd been younger and braver,
Night Witches might have gotten me to jump into the pit intentionally.) It was kind of disappointing that the video projection was mostly obscured by the tank prop, but that's just a minor atmosphere thing.
* * * *
- T-shirts were $45 ($34 USD) and $50 ($38) for the two bands respectively, holy cow! That's probably what you'd pay online with shipping, but I wasn't expecting them to be that much.
- I wish I had a mind for lyrics... I rarely memorize them without actively trying, even after dozens of listens. Makes me jealous of the sing-a-long folks.
- After Gloryhammer/Alestrom gave me an earache last year, I picked up some EarPeace HD earplugs. Unfortunately, even using the lightest filters, I found they muffle the performance way too much. This led to me popping them in and our a couple times to give my ears a break, but being unwilling to use the full-time to protect my hearing. They just defeated the point of being there. I'm sure there's a lot of history as to why acts play so loud, but I wish they'd play at a reasonable level so that no one was at risk of serious hearing loss.
- Outside of slamdancing, some other concertgoers just seem so oblivious when it comes to personal space. I'm always trying to be conscious of my surroundings and attempting to hold my ground against interlopers, while ultimately inching backwards to be polite. Meanwhile people are literally jumping on my toes and grinding their backs into my gut. I don't mind getting close to strangers in this environment... it's part of the experience. I definitely make unintentional glancing contact with others occasionally. But bloody hell, some people seem to have no spatial awareness whatsoever.