It’s 10:00pm on Monday; do you know where your metal heads are? I sure did this past Monday, they were all at the Grey Eagle Event Centre taking in Sabaton and their version of war-inspired power metal. I’ve been to plenty of shows at this venue over the last few years, so I was shocked by how packed it was for a Monday night. I’ve honestly seen smaller crowds here on a Friday. It appears Calgary loves their power metal.
If you were ever wondering what it might have been like to attend a show at the Whisky or the Roxy back in the 80s, Wings Of Steel would be close to taking a trip back to those glory days of hair metal. This 4 piece group, fittingly, from Los Angeles, California brought their brand of metal to the stage to get the crowd ramped up for the night. Dressed in exactly what you would expect from a traditional heavy metal band:
chains, bandanas, and above all leather, lots and lots of tight, shiny leather. They presented an image that anyone who can recall the days of Poison, Enuff Z’Nuff or Britny Fox would find more than just a little familiar. They carried the glam aesthetic perfectly, delivering the high-voltage swagger the genre demands while keeping the performance aggressive rather than theatrical. Wings of Steel delivered a sonic assault straight out of 1987, anchoring galloping traditional heavy metal riffs with the soaring vocal hooks of the Sunset Strip era. They blasted out a quick 30-minute set, ending with their eponymous track. And like they somehow knew it was about to occur the crowd was chanting their name as a setup to this last track. A surprise for me was the first crowd surfer of the night, not something I expected to see that much of with this night’s lineup.
Pop Evil blasted onto the stage, sort of. The Michigan based band brought their alternative metal sound to a crowd that fully embraced them. Once again, to my astonishment, a few crowd surfers made their way over the crowd to the barricade during some of the band’s heavier tracks like Criminal and Deal With The Devil. While I enjoyed the set, sonically, the guitars lacked the power I was expecting and the low end had no kick to it. I know a number of their songs and always felt a live set from this band would land in the chest caving low end, ear drum splattering distortion and high energy stage antics. None of these held true. While the energy of the crowd was still up, the set just fell flat for me. I tried a few different locations through the venue, thinking that maybe I was just needing to be in-front of the music, but that didn’t help. As this is my first time experiencing their show live I have no point of reference to go from other than what I had built up in my head from their sound and music videos. At one point Leigh (Kakaty) even thanked the crowd for accepting their style of music on a power metal night. So I’m not sure if it was just a case of them not feeling like they’re really fitting in with this tour or just how their shows are. However, while I wasn’t overly impressed with the live experience they brought to the stage, I enjoyed hearing them play all of their most well known and a few deep cut tracks.
If you know me and follow my antics on social media you’re probably thinking “Mike, what in the hell were you doing at a power metal show?!”. For those that don’t know me, let me explain. I’m not a fan of power metal. My tastes in metal sit firmly in the “if it doesn’t sound like the lead vocalist has been swallowing shards of glass for decades, I don’t want to hear it”. But I’m also open to any and all metal experiences. I have found in the past that seeing a band play live can change my perspective. I have also found that a live experience can be much different than sitting in a room and playing an album. The fans. The lights. Feeling the bass in your chest. Having the lead singer lock eyes with you, fist in the air. It can have such a massive impact on how you perceive a band and their music.
There was a portion of this that holds true for me. Sabaton are showmen. They know how to capture and hold a crowd’s attention. From the tank on the stage to the costumes to the crowd interaction, this is a band that understands what it takes to put on a show. The only thing missing for me, which is not on the band at all, is the pyrotechnics. Watching some videos in preparation for the night, the pyro added so much to the experience that lights on their own just can’t.
The banter and camaraderie on stage throughout the entire set showed that these guys aren’t just on stage to put on a show as a band, they’re friends that enjoy each other’s company. From the sideways smiles to the funny little things that you had to be paying attention to notice, Joakim dressed in a gas mask with a chemical weapon system, “blowing smoke” up Thorbjörn’s ass during The Attack of the Deadmen. While this is a serious song, as are most of the themes of their music, I feel that this kind of joker activity is a must have due to how heavy the subject matter is. They also did their best to keep the swearing and other adult content to a minimum due to the high number of underage fans in attendance. They offered up a pick or drum stick to the kids for every swear that was used.
As I mentioned at the start, all of this was on a Monday night. The crowd wasn’t just there because there was another metal tour making its way through Calgary, they were there as fans of Sabaton. All through the venue people were jumping up and down, dancing, banging their heads and singing along. Between no less than 5 songs chants would erupt, “Sabaton, Sabaton, Sabaton…”, while this kind of thing isn’t new to metal shows – the frequency at which it occurred at this show is.
The night ended with an onstage celebration of Joakim’s birthday, something that was mentioned a couple times during the set, but culminated in a birthday cake and a round of “Happy birthday” sung by the entire venue.
So has seeing Sabaton playing live converted me into a power metal fan? Unfortunately, no. I do however have mad respect for all 3 of the bands that played this night. Three bands walked onto a Calgary stage on a Monday night and delivered the kind of high-octane, unyielding performances you’d expect from a weekend headline slot. The crowd that showed up for them tells me there’s definitely a massive power metal following in Southern Alberta, even if it’s not for me. Would I attend another Sabaton, or other power metal show again? Hell yeah, oh guess that’s a pick or drum stick I owe to a kid in the crowd. I may not listen to power, or even heavy metal, in my day to day listening, but wouldn’t miss the chance to experience this kind of show again!
