KNAC.COM - Reviews - SABATON, EPICA In Houston, TX With Photos!

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SABATON, EPICA In Houston, TX With Photos!

By Larry Petro, News Monkey
Saturday, October 8, 2022 @ 8:53 AM

The Tour To End All Tours Hits Bayou Music Center On October 1

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All Photos By Larry Petro/Petrofyed Photography

The final concert of my 6 shows in 30 days was also the finale of a back-to-back affair in which I covered STRYPER and STEPHEN PEARCY the first night and then back into downtown Houston once again the following night for some Swedish 'war metal' in SABATON and support from Dutch Symphonic Metallers EPICA on the Tour To End All Tours. I was actually a little concerned about the crown turnout would be for this show considering that there were 3 other concerts taking place on the same night: SHINEDOWN played at the local shed venue north of town, ACCEPT also played on the north side of town at a local bar and grill and local Ozzy Osbourne phenoms OZZ played just a mile or two away at another venue. Evidently there were plenty of fans to go 'round for all of them because Bayou Music Center was packed! If it wasn't sold out it was damn close and regardless of who else was playing this night, the absolute place to be was here! I mean, where else can you get a metal show and a history lesson all at once?

I had not yet seen either of these bands live before and I, along with the other couple thousand people in attendance, eagerly awaited their arrival. EPICA started things off and blew us all away from the get-go. As the track "Alpha – Anteludium" played over the PA system the band took the stage and launched their evening with "Abyss of Time – Countdown to Singularity" from the band's 2021 album Omega. The band was tight and the only thing that outshined singer Simone Simons' beauty was her vocal performance. Her clean singing along with the growling vocals of guitarist Mark Jansen made for quite the mix as the band rolled through songs including "Victims Of Contingency", "Cry For The Moon" and "Code Of Life". It was hard to tell which band the crowd loved more because EPICA had them completely eating out of their hands, doing anything the band asked including all jumping up and down in unison during "Beyond The Matrix", which was a sight to behold. Probably the coolest thing I saw during their set was keyboardist Coen Janssen's bizarre looking mobile curved keyboard. It looked like someone had left a regular flat keyboard out in the Texas heat for just a little too long. And upon finishing their set with "Consign To Oblivion" I observed very few people leaving, a sign that most were in for the long haul for what would come next.

Setlist:

"Alpha – Anteludium" (taped intro)

"Abyss of Time – Countdown to Singularity"

"Sensorium"

"Victims of Contingency"

"Unchain Utopia"

"Cry For The Moon"

"Storm The Sorrow"

"Code of Life"

"Beyond The Matrix"

"Consign to Oblivion"

For those unfamiliar with SABATON or their music, this group of Swedes is what I classify as 'war metal', that is they sing songs about war. But beyond that, their music is historically accurate stories from wars such as World War I and World War II, with WWI being the basis for the band's latest album, The War To End All Wars. And as such, the stage was adorned in a war-like setting with strings of barbed wire lining the front of the stage and sandbags stacked up like a bunker on either side of the drum kit, which incidentally was positioned as the turret on top of a tank. A huge screen sprawled the stage behind the set and as the band took the stage a nearly 4 minute clip played on the screen detailing the war and noting how the United States has war memorials for various wars except one for WWI, urging all Americans to get involved to make one happen.

And with that SABATON stormed the stage and put the hammer down with "Ghost Division", a fantastic opener from their 2008 album The Art Of War and the crowd went nuts. There would be no ballads on this night from them, it was an all out balls to the wall affair of 18 songs of fine metal. Following the opener they rolled along with "Stormtroopers", "The Red Baron", "Bismarck" and then donned gas masks for the epic "Attack Of The Dead Men". To say that this band was elated to be back out onstage again would be the understatement of the year as the joy and elation poured from their faces as they gave the rabid crowd what they came for. The set continued along with songs like "Steel Commanders", "Carolus Rex", "Dreadnought" and Japanese samurai-themed track "Shiroyama". When it came time for the song "Gott Mit Uns" frontman Joakim Broden addressed the crowd and asked which version they wanted to hear, the English or Swedish. A few cheered for the English version but they absolutely roared when he asked if they wanted the Swedish one. Wrapping things up for the pre-encore set was the touching tale of "The Christmas Truce", when soldiers on both sides of the war met in the middle of the battlefield on Christmas Eve, not to fight and kill each other, but to sing Christmas carols together and just enjoy the holiday instead of killing each other.

The band returned to the stage for a 3 song encore comprised first of "Primo Victoria" and "Swedish Pagans". Then before the last song guitarist Tommy Johansson took the mic to sing the first verse and chorus of AC/DC's "Highway To Hell", finishing it off with a nice scream that prompted Broden to ask him when he got 'fixed'. After thanking the crowd Broden noticed a child at the barricade and would find out he was 8 years old and his name was Mark. Joakim told him how lucky he was to be at a metal show as his own parents would never have allowed that, a statement that elicited a chant of 'Mark, Mark, Mark' from the crowd. Broden then noted that the kid had some cool sunglasses but needed an upgrade and then gave him the shades he had worn during the show. What an awesome act of kindness, regardless of whether I had seen videos on YouTube from other shows on the tour where he did the same thing for others. SABATON then closed out the incredible night with "To Hell And Back".

Watching this band for the first time one could not help but notice the chemistry and camaraderie between the band and its members. They were in the best of spirits throughout the show and watching the members fuck with each other during the set was a completely separate set of entertainment on its own. The band fed off of the crowd's exuberance, or was it the other way around? No matter, this is a band that truly enjoys playing together and for their fans and there was no way that anyone left this concert disappointed. A lot of other bands could certainly learn a thing or two from this fantastic group of Swedes. This tour continues for a couple more weeks so if you've been on the fence about going or have never seen them, do yourself right and go, you can thank me later. This is one band I will see every time they come to Houston from now on.