Sabaton Live at Fillmore Minneapolis – Minneapolis MN – October 13th 2022

By Jake Hageman 2 years ago

The Fillmore Presents: Sabaton Live with Epica – The Tour to End All Tours

I’m going to start this review by talking about what I saw before the show even started. When I walked up to The Fillmore in Minneapolis, MN, I saw a huge line coming out of the venue, running alongside a building, and going into a parking garage. I’ve never seen it that busy there at all. I entered the parking garage to find the line wrap around a corner which was absolutely mind-blowing to me. Well, as I investigated further, this line went down 2 levels in the garage, and each level itself is pretty massive. I thought to myself “No fricken way all these people are going to fit in there”. Lucky for me, I was able to skip the line and get right in. Otherwise, I don’t think I would have been able to shoot Epica at all.

I started listening to the popular symphonic metal band Epica when I was in 9th grade (2014), but I haven’t been following them for the last few years. I’ve never seen Epica before, so I was super excited to hear how they sounded live. Since I haven’t been listening to a lot of their new stuff, I was a little nervous that I wasn’t going to really know any of their songs. To my surprise, I knew 4 out of the 9. Those 4 were also some of my favorites which were Victims of Contingency, Unchain Utopia, Cry for the Moon, and Storm the Sorrow. The band is led by vocalist, Simone Simmons who has a pretty similar voice of Floor Jansen of Nightwish. I believe the main thing that sets Epica apart from Nightwish is that they include some different elements like death, black, and thrash metal. This is the main reason why I lean towards liking Epica more. I really love the mixture of screams and the higher pitched vocals from Simone.

Epica Setlist: Abyss of Time – Sensorium – Victims of Contingency – Unchain Utopia – Cry for the Moon – Sancta Terra – Storm the Sorrow – Beyond the Matrix – Consign to Oblivion

There was only a total of 2 bands on this tour, so Sabaton was up next. I’ve been a fan of the band also since 9th grade (when I discovered a lot of power metal bands from overseas), and I’ve seen them 4 times now. Sabaton live never disappoints! For those of you that don’t know Sabaton, they’re a Swedish power metal band who sing about historical events (mainly wars and significant battles). As you can see from the photos, the drums are on a tank, the mic stands have guns on them, the stage is decorated with military stuff, they wear camo pants, etc. I’ve said this in other reviews, and I’ll say it again. I LOVE shooting bands that have some sort of gimmick to them. Having some sort of style like this always makes the photos look amazing. They played a ton of their hits, and I was singing along the entire time while I was taking photos. I saw some crowd members waving Swedish flags, and some were even wearing military uniforms and helmets. If Sabaton ever come to a venue near you, I highly recommend going!  Seeing Sabaton live is an amazing experience.

Sabaton Setlist: Ghost Division – Stormtroopers – The Red Baron – Bismarck – The Attack of the Dead Men – Soldier of Heaven – Steel Commanders – Carolus Rex – Gott Mit Uns – Night Wishes – Dreadnought – Shiroyama – The Last Stand – Christmas Truce – Primo Victoria – Swedish Pagans – To Hell and Back

Review and Photo by Jake Hageman