Sabaton Live

I've completed my marathon gigging week at last. God my poor ears! It was worth it though as I enjoyed each and everyone of the gigs and finally got to see Rhapsody or at least Luca's version last night.

On Friday however I saw the Sabaton war machine again. They just don't know how to disappoint live do they! They are a complete riot. The new songs sound amazing. They sang plenty of new songs and loads of old ones too. Thet are getting very popular and whilst Kamelot's attendance at the same venue was very lacklustre indeed Sabaton damn near sold the place out so easily more than a 1000 punters. It seems just about every metalhead loves Sabaton be they powerheads or thrash and death metallers and even some black metallers. They are united under the Sabaton flag of true metal. First up on the night were Hungarians Wisdom. They were awesome let me tell you. The singer has an amazing live voice too. Great cover of Maiden's wasted years too.

Eluveitie are a good band with a whole lot of members on stage but their folky melodic death went down really well with the fans. I enjoyed it but didn't love it. I liked the bouncy folky flute playing and the lady violinist's head banging style. Its funny head-banging with a violin in your hand!

Sabaton as I already said slayed. Joakim is just a ball of energy going here there and everywhere as well as the ever smiling bassman Per. The new members made a seamless contribution and did not hinder the concert in any way shape or form although they were unfamiliar faces of course, but musically they were on a par with the departed members. I don't think this was the best Sabaton gig I have ever seen but since it included the Carolus Rex tunes then it was well worth attending and I will continue to attend their shows. Only low point of the night was quite a few drunk foreigners being a bit stupid down the front. There was a lot of pushing and shoving which made viewing rather difficult but hey I'll get over it. Sabaton is a popular band these days that attracts young, old and the crazy inbetween!

Wisdom: 

Eluveitie:

Sabaton:

 

2 down 2 to go

Halfway through my gig marathon for the week and I've seen two gigs so far with 2 remaining. Nightwish started it all off and were very good to be honest. Floor is the perfect fit for the band make no mistake. I didn't completely love the gig cause I missed material from the Oceanborn/Wishmaster era but that's cause that's my favourite Nightwish era and I'm not really a fan of post Tarja Nightwish. However the band was on great form and in Floor they have the frontwoman of their dreams. I personally don't really care if she gets the job full time or not but they'd be mad to at least not offer it to her. Pain, the support band, were a bit boring. I Couldn't get really good pictures cause I was pretty far from the stage but here are a few.

Last night was Kamelot's turn to shine which they semi-did. First we had Blackguard. The sound was atrocious and they sounded a mess. I  can sort of stand them on record but live they were just a chore to listen to. Good enthusiasm though. Next up were Triosphere who were pretty good. The sound was again a little dodgy but they were better than Blackguard. The front lady has nice headbanging moves though her voice sounded a touch strained. I enjoyed them anyway. Next up were Nightwish wannabes Xandria and their new singer. They did their best but their performance was a touch muted. I liked them a lot though and the new lady did a sterling job with her operatic vocals. They sound more spectacular on record than live though but once again there were a lot of sound issues with rough sounding guitars and vocals cutting in and out.

Finally at a slighly late 9.45pm Kamelot came on. The sound was ok but not perfect by any means. It was often a touch mushy and the guitars didn't sound crisp. However most were here to see how new singer Tommy would fare and to be honest it was completely seamless between him and Khan. So much that if you shut your eyes you could have sworn it was Khan up there singing. I'm not sure that's such a good thing though but Tommy easily won the crowd over with his performance by the end. The new songs sound very good live and the band are hardened pros at the power metal game that's for sure. One thing to note is that the venue was far undersold. The attendance wasn't small at around 350-400 but the promoters must have got their sums completely wrong to book this 1000+ venue when it was only half full. However to end positively Kamelot were far better than the last time I saw them with Khan which was a rather boring gig as I recall. This was by far better than that gig and the band sounds refreshed and energised with the addition of Tommy Karevik that's for sure.

Triosphere:

Xandria:

Kamelot:

 

A visit to Fulham

With my Uncle here from the States, we visited Fulham to watch the match versus Everton. It finished 2-2 in the end. A decent game.

On the musical front I am going to be hellishly busy and tired as I have 4 gigs over the coming 7 days believe it or not. Mind you I wouldn't be going to a couple of the gigs barring nabbing cheap tickets on ebay late in the day.

Tomorrow I will see Nightwish, Wednesday Kamelot, Friday Sabaton and saving the best till last, for the first time ever I will see Luca's version of Rhapsody. Been wanting to see Luca since I first heard the band and it never happened until now. Ok so Fabio won't be singing but what the hell should be great.

Here are some photos from Fulham: