Live Review: Sabaton – The Tour To End All Tours – OVO Wembley Arena, London

Fans have been waiting for Sabaton’s ‘Tour To End All Tours’ since the summer of 2020. With a slight postponement from its originally planned date as well as a change of support, it was clear that fan’s excitement would be built to an ungodly manner for the shows. With special guests Babymetal joining the tour, we had to head down to the band’s OVO Wembley Arena London date to see what went down.

Drenched in red the Babymetal trio marched onto the stage, every movement in synchronisation with each other. The band’s unique J-Pop Metal mix is always a sight to behold, and tonight would be no exception, with every pair of eyes in the arena fixated on the band throughout their playtime. Start to finish the band delivered a well choreographed setlist – albeit a bit short for my liking – which perfectly showcased their sound. Fan favourites like ‘Megitsune’, ‘PA PA YA!!’, and ‘Gimme Chocolate!!’ made for some great moments throughout, but newer tracks like ‘Divine Attack – Shingeki -’ showcased the band’s darker more atmospheric side.

With the anticipation in the sold out Wembley built to explosive levels, it was finally time for the main attraction of the night. It was clear how ready the crowd were as an intro of ‘Sun Tzu Says’ played out, with chants of the band’s name echoing around the room. Sabaton’s tank styled drum riser and barbed sandbagged stage set the scenes for the band’s war themed theatrical antics that would fill the whole set.

The thunderous roars of the first pyrotechnics of the night introduced the band to the stage in a cloud of smoke, as they launched into ‘Ghost Division’. With fireworks throughout, this band really started how they meant to go on. Heating things up, ‘Bismarck’ followed, with about 15 flamethrowers laid out around the stage this would be the first of many in the set to melt the faces off the room.

Throughout the band’s career spanning setlist, Sabaton did a brilliant job of bringing the stories told within the songs alive. From assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand with ‘Sarajevo’, to ‘The Red Baron’ about German fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen, there was never a dull moment or a chance to look away. Even in the slower moments like set closer ‘Christmas Truce’ – about the famous unofficial truce that took place during World War I – the band kept up the theatrics with Tommy Johansson taking to a burning piano for a fiery solo, and snow blown across the front row (Something I’ve never seen in a live show before!).

With the crowd asking for more, it wouldn’t take long for the band to return to the stage capping off their set with a three song encore of ‘Primo Victoria’, ‘Swedish Pagans’, and ‘To Hell and Back’. Fans ate up every last moment before they’d have to head off into the real world once more.

It would be easy to dismiss Sabaton as just gimmicky metal, however it wasn’t only the theatrical display put on by Sabaton that impressed, but also a combination of the band’s musicianship, storytelling lyricism, and stage presence. A fact that can also be extended to Babymetal who also managed to command the crowds with their stage presence.