Brutally Honest Concert Review: JUDAS PRIEST/SABATON! 5/2/24

The fact that Rob Halford is still in the game is so fucking cool.

$40+ for 2 drinks and they expect a tip? No fucking way!

I saw them on the Defenders of the Faith tour in the 80's, it was beyond epic. They were all in their prime and top form. Ahhh the 80s for music man.

Surprised you hadn't heard of Sabaton before. They're a hugely popular power metal band. Their former guitarist, Tommy Johansson, fronts another cool power metal band, Majestica. He's a hell of singer/player and has a cool YouTube channel.

Welcome to the Sabaton fandom. It's a deep rabbit hole to go down into with tons of fun & interesting stories. One of my favorites involves the coincidence that the grandson of one of the historical figures they sang about happened to already be a fan of theirs before they ever wrote that particular song. Kid (young adult at the time) was blown away when he started listening to what was at the time their most recent album and low & behold there was a song about his grandfather on there.

I saw them the night before in Illinois. It was my third time seeing them. The singer from Sabaton gave his sunglasses to a six year old kid in the front row, and the band gave him and another kid (probably his sister) picks and drumsticks. When Priest finished, the band gave the same kids picks and drumsticks and Rob shook their hands. Judas Priest always SLAYS and I'm thankful to see them when I can.

Yes, you are late to the party when it comes to Sabaton. One of the most funny things is, when they play in Germany, the audience will shout "Noch ein Bier" (which translates to 'One more beer') and Joakim will eventually gulp down a beer at some point life on stage. Not drink. Gulp down. Like his life depends on him drinking this beer within 3 seconds 😀 My guitar teacher had me practice "To Hell and Back" and "Red Baron". The latter one is really great for practicing these "layz eigths", where you play eights note, but the upstroke is always slighty late. Like playing triplets without the middle note (sorry... I cannot describe it better in English and without the guitar in my hand)

Saw Priest and Maiden front row in 82. Probably loudest concert I've ever been to.

I discovered Sabaton through Indy Neidell's WW2 history - all of their songs are history metal - Joakim & Par from the band have a separate YouTube channel with Indy where they talk about the background of their songs. Seem like really good dudes.

The Dad with the kid on his shoulders the whole show...now that's metal!

I was just at the Atlanta date Saturday and man, yall got SO many more people there than ours. Our was just outside of Atlanta, but had a few other concerts going on that night, namely Mr. Bungle in Atlanta. But, yeah, drinks there were starting at like $25, and not many people were feeling Sabaton, but when Priest came out, tore the roof off man. Halford is an absolute monster.

The drummer for Sabaton is married to Floor Jenson, the lead singer for Nightwish.

Priest was my first concert in 86. Never will forget it. Maybe it's best at the concert wasn't so loud. I have permanent hearing damage from concerts. Nothing wrong with getting emotional at a show. Happened to me a few times. So many hours listening to your heroes and then they're in front of you playing the songs of love.

Damn bro you really didn't know about Sabaton?

Richey Faulkner suffered his heart attack playing Pain Killer and finished the song

Your concert review runs parallel to my experience I had while stayioned in Germany 1979-1981. Friends and I saw Kiss and the opening band was unknown to me. The double lead guitars were unbelievable, and could not figure who this opening band was. I saw a few photographers taking lots of pictures and noticed the tee shirts they were wearing. The shirts depicted a skeleton figure and the name.......Iron Maiden!!! First time I heard them! Thanks for a great channel!

My brother is a military history buff so he’s a huge fan of Sabaton.

Sabaton are one of my favourite bands! Glad you enjoyed them.

Thanks for your review. It's great to hear from people new to Sabaton; of course I've only been listening to Sabaton only 5 years (basically my real shift into metal). This was my 12th Sabaton show since Oct 2019 (and nothing happened in most of 2020 / 2021), and was the shortest trip I've done to see them; a 3 hour drive to Seattle notwithstanding. I flew from Vancouver specifically for Sabaton; I don't know JP at all really, so didn't care. Some of us did know about that other door; there was only about 5 people there for the longest time. I simply didn't feel like telling anyone else in the long line about it. I was first in in that line, so it didn't affect me. The "giggle" incident was when Chris (guitar) got up between Joakim's legs with a drumstick, like a little wooden phallus. The guys are great musicians, and don't take themselves too seriously; you must have seen the guitar pics being stuck to his head, right? For the best shows, you have to see them in Europe (or Montreal) where they actually use pyro. Flares shooting from the tank like AA is just amazing. There is an official FB group where you can connect with 37K other fans. Welcome to the family!

I first saw Sabaton when they were opening with Delain for Nightwish in Spokane a handful of years ago. The energy in the room was already at a fever pitch with Delain, but when Sabaton came in, Joakim kick-jumping in the air across the stage, the room just blew up. The sound of the crowd was deafening! At one point during the Sabaton set, Troy from Nightwish was in a far corner of the balcony near the stage sharing bemused incredulity at our crazed energy with whom I think was the Nightwish tour manager. Unfortunately, the crowd totally blew all of its energy with the openers and the energy died down during the Nightwish set. I felt so bad, but we were tired, dehydrated, and just wasted. Nonetheless, what an electric night! Unforgettable! But, Sabaton totally stole the energy of the crowd. I am glad you had a positive experience with them as well. Cheers!