Doors were supposed to open at 6:00, but we didn't get let in until about an hour later. Brennon repaid me for his ticket in alcohol, as we did a shot of Captain Morgan together, followed by a PBR (which in RVA is referred to "People's Brewery of Richmond"), which I felt was an even trade. It was a good thing, too, because I couldn't have suffered through the first opening band sober. To give you an indication of how much they sucked, their last song was "dedicated to sluts," and Brennon told me this band had also been opening for about 4 years now, playing the same set every time. The second band was better and basically did their job, which was to get us pumped for Sabaton.
And so Sabaton showed RVA an epic time, and we showed them how we roll. Vocalist Joakim Broden said after their opening song ("Ghost Division"), that he could hear us singing along over them playing. Can't get any better than that. They also played "40:1," "The Art Of War," "The Price Of A Mile," "Cliffs Of Gallipoli," "Swedish Pagans," and closed with "Primo Victoria." There were others, but those are the only ones I recognized, having not purchased their entire catalog like I have with Rammstein (which I will promptly rectify ASAP).
After the show, we hung around chatting with other fans, and Sabaton came out to mingle with us for a bit. Some guy that was with the band (probably their manager) handed out blank postcards of the band.
I got mine signed by all the members.
I was also fortunate enough to get a picture with Joakim Broden, not because of who he is, but because my phone's battery was about to die!
All in all an epic time. What was even more impressive though, and I give the band mad props for this, is that 3 months ago, they had a major line-up change. Only the singer and bassist are now the original members. But the new recruits learned the whole set they had played in 3 months' time. Bravo, gut gemacht!
