Sabaton are bringing the force of power metal to the Friday of Bloodstock before Trivium close the main stage. But what will their set entail? Well according to Joakim there’s gonna be a tank and possibly some golden oldies.
Will you be bringing your famed tank drum riser to Bloodstock? “Yes, but I’m not sure which one right now. We have two. One has a cannon mounted, and the other has a gatling gun. We haven’t yet decided with of the two we’ll bring over. However, I can assure fans we will have one of them onstage with us!”
**You’re second on the Ronnie James Dio stage. Would you prefer to be headlining the Sophie Lancaster stage? **“It doesn’t really matter to us. We’re not the sort of band who worry where we are on the bill, we just get on with the job. At some festivals, it is better being on the main stage, because you are always likely to play in front of a bigger crowd. But Bloodstock attracts true metalheads, and they’ll have made up their minds already which bands they want to see, because they are so knowledgeable. So at this festival there’s nothing to be gained, and we are happy with where we are.”
What sort of set can Bloodstock expect? “We’ll mix it up. We did a lot of the new stuff on our recent tour, and it would be boring for us and the fans to repeat this set at Bloodstock. So, we are bringing back some older material, just to spice it all up.”
What memories do you have of playing Bloodstock in 2013? “Ha, we had the most problems we’ve ever had at a festival. For a start, although we arrived with no problems, our clothes didn’t. So, I was missing my favourite vest to wear onstage. But I spotted someone in the crowd who had exactly the same vest, and in exchange for a six pack he agreed to lend it to me. Then, when we went onstage we discovered that another band, and I shan’t name them, hadn’t followed Bloodstock’s technical specifications for setting up their sound. So it caused us enormous problems during our set. Our people were trying to sort it out as we went along, so I had to do a lot more talking than I usually like to do, and tell some jokes. But despite all of this, it was a great day.”
Do you plan to see any other bands at the festival? “I wish we could, but our schedule won’t allow it. We fly in on the day from the south of Spain, go straight to Bloodstock, play, and then leave pretty much immediately and the get the Eurostar. It’s a shame because we’d love to hang out there for a while. The fans are great, and genuinely love their metal, and it’s so much fun to spot all the people who are dressed up funnily!”
In one sentence, what you would say to convince anyone to watch Sabaton at Bloodstock? “Our songs might be about people dying in wars, but we have fun onstage and are always smiling. Come and see for yourself!”
