It is a yearly tradition here in Stockholm, Sweden for the biggest amusement park in the center of the town to hold a series of concerts in its main scene throughout the summer. There is a bunch of performers both local and international. One of the names that I was really looking forward to attend was SABATON, a band that made quite an impact with their latest release "Carolus Rex", especially in their home country. Not only because it is one of the best works but also because there is an alternate version of it in Swedish as its concept theme is about one of Sweden's King, Gustav II Adolf.

As with every concert in Gröna Lund the starting time was at 20:00 and despite the awful weather and the constant threat to start raining like crazy (though only a few drops eventually fell) the area was full of people. I could estimate an amount of a thousand and a half at the main scene though it is quite hard to estimate because there are a lot of people in other buildings with view to the scene plus some bars there etc., but to make things simple I could say everything was full.
 

After a short presentation of the band from the Gröna Lund stuff the band stormed the scene with "Ghost Division". The band was in a tremendous shape and everyone was insanely energetic. There were a lot of songs from the new album, which were sung with the Swedish lyrics and the crowd really enjoyed it (for obvious reasons). Highlights were the "Swedish Pagans", "Cliffs of Gallipoli" and on the encore "Primo Victoria" when an entire Gröna Lund was jumping up and down … madness!

For the tour the band has in its ranks Snowy Shaw who was a commanding figure behind the drum set. The duo of newcomer guitarists were smiling all the time and delivering the riffs with great ease while running here and there constantly and the same was for Pär Sundström on the bass. The band introduced to the crowd their pyrotechnics technician (there were a hell lot of pyrotechnics) Pyro Per whose name because a fav in the crowd. Joakim Brodén was a pleasure to watch and even he didn't manage all the times with the vocals he was the true leader of the band on the stage running and jumping everywhere (thus ending up with torn pants in the crotch…).
 

SABATON played for one hour and a half a really great duration for these kinds of concerts, delivering a very good performance and leaving satisfied everyone that was there. During the end of the show they picked up a toddler from the crowd, brought him to the scene, asked him a few stuff and after giving him some treats from the band they sent him back to his mother, a wonderful way to make your fans happy from the very young age. The crowd seemed to enjoy every moment of the concert and new all the lyrics and sang along with the band.

The final verdict is that SABATON delivered a great and enjoyable performance and they proved that the name is very strong in their home country, as despite the awful weather the place was full.