OCTOBER 8th 2026
SABATON: LEGENDS ON TOUR
Review by:Metal Mom Rita
Photos By: Char Tupper
Full Gallery:
http://www.metaltitans.com/concertpics/sabaton-legends-on-tour/
The day has finally arrived, after 8 years of waiting, it was time to once again see the mighty Swedish metallers, SABATON! Plus, opening acts Pop Evil and Wings of Steel. It has been fun watching Sabaton over the years go from playing small places like the "The Venue" (now known as The Pearl), from now headling a larger stadium venue like PNE Forum, with full stage setup and pyro, wthey truly have pushed themselves and have well deserved this growth in their career. They put on one hell of a show! Let me tell you about my experience tonight.
Opening act was WINGS OF STEEL, I thought was a pretty good band to start off the night, they had catchy songs, and people really enjoyed. I had not heard of them either, so a new one for me. It was their first time in Vancouver as well, what a great first experience venues wise for our city. I did enjoy them at first, however, after a couple songs, I felt it started to blend together, which after a little while, feels repetitive. Sorry, my opinion, but it seemed like the crowd enjoyed their sound.
POP EVIL , well I have never seen or heard of them before. For me, I was a little disappointed, very dark stage, and sorry to say as well, I didn't enjoy the music either. The sound quality was horrible, wasn't really a fitting band for the tour in my opinion I will even add, funny enough with Sabaton recently releasing a song with collaboration with Pop Evil, I am surprised that the collab on stage didn't happen? Felt like a missed opportunity there for Pop Evil especially . That being said, as I looked around the room some of the crowd was pretty happy to see them, and that is what counts.
Now, time for our favourite musical history lesson, Sabaton to hit the stage! They really started off with a bang, lights, let me just say, very explosive showmanship. The first 3 songs had some WOW effect with their pyro. Their whole set too, was extraordinary. For the stage layout, they had 2 tanks, which Hannes sat on the larger of the two, what an impressive beast of a tank it was! Plus, was nice to see him stand up once in awhile, so we could all see him up there, I am sure his view was pretty great way up there. The dynamic between the members is always fun to watch, the banter between Hannes and Joakim, or the fun stories they share among Chris, Hannes, and Thobbe (who recently rejoined the band after Tommy's depature). It is such a fun and positive atmosphere, full of catchy music and bursting with energy.
Set List Below:
Ghost Division
Yamato
The Last Stand
Storm Troppers
Xmas Truce
Soldier of Heaven
Crossing the Rubicon
Night Witches
I Emperor
Attack of the Dead Men
Bismarck
Fields of Verdun
Hordes of Khan
Templars
Primo Victoria
Swedish Pagans
To Hell and Back
Now I bet you wished you had gone. I knew all the songs, just not all the words, but you can bet I sang along to the ones I did know. The sound was excellent, not overwhelmingly loud, just the right amount so we could all enjoy. The songs were sung with such talent, singer (Joakim) had so much passion, the guitars (Chris & Thobbe) were executed with precision, the bass (Par) was just the right amount of thunder in the room, and the drums (Hannes) gave us the beat, true mastery to it all. I just can't do this band justice they were impressive, there is so much expertise and skill, so much energy, and you sure can tell they enjoyed every minute of it. Tonight was their last Canadian tour date. I sure hope they have plans to come back, and hopefully sooner than 8 years please, that was too long to wait. Thank you for stopping in Vancouver, we all appreciate it and cannot wait until next time.