Sabaton Concert!

 To say it had been a LONG TIME since we'd been to a great concert.... massive understatement!   For my birthday, Eric purchased tickets to see one of our favorite bands, Sabaton, who were to be performing in downtown Minneapolis.  Ramsey would have LOVED to have gone, but he doesn't care for extremely loud environments, even with headphones!

Sabaton is a metal band from Sweden who write songs and sing about historical military battles, heroes, etc.  Their music incorporates Nordic chant, Celtic influences, thrash, ballads, a ton of energy plus nostalgia to boot.  

We drove down early in the AM, checked into the hotel for a quick snooze, then met up with some friends for a few beers at a local brew pub.

When we arrived to the venue, there was a line.  It kept going... and going... and going... and going.  It wrapped around the block, into the parking ramp, and around and around and around.  For such a small venue, who knew so many people would fit?   And, next time, Eric knows that he will not drink beer before standing in line for an hour!    Eric was not impressed with the line. 

When we got into the venue, Eric pushed his way to the front to get us an incredible [standing] spot in the pit!   A band called Epica opened up.  They're a cool thrash metal band who has a redheaded soprano as the lead singer - quite the dichotomy!   We hadn't heard of them before, but they were good!  At the end of their performance, a slam-jam style mosh got going in the middle of the floor area.  We steered clear of that mess.

When Sabaton came on stage, it was quite a theatrical show, opening up with a video about the start of WWI and The Dough Boys.  The song they opened with was "Ghost Division".

We had been wondering if the venue was large enough for them to set up their iconic drum platform; a tank.   It was soon revealed!

At some point, Eric left to go get a refreshment and to use the biffy.  Then, he never came back.  I moshed on and "threw horns" amist a crowd of strangers.  

Sabaton soon played one of our family's favorite songs; "Attack of the Dead Men", about toxic (now banned) chlorine gas that was used in 'The Great War" (WWI), during a fight at Osowiec Fortess, between the Germans and Russians.

The gas masks came out and the crowd went bananas!

Back to Eric...

After the concert, I would find out that Eric wasn't able to get back into the general area after his bathroom break.   He did, however, pay a fee to get up to the front (on the opposite side of the stage) for a better view (he got better videos too).  Then, he had to use the biffy again... and he lost his spot in the front.. again.  He watched the concert from the far back for a while. 

While he was standing in the back, he started chatting with an obvious metalhead, donning tight leather pants and long hair.   The gentleman revealed to Eric that he was part of the opening band, Eroica!  They had a nice convo until some other fans came up who had recognized him.  

We left the next day to get back home.   When Ramsey is a bit older, we'll take him to one of these concerts (with ear protection).  He truly would have LOVED it!