##Sabaton with Leaves Eyes and Battle Beast at The Underground in Charlotte, NC
On the way back from my huge cooking adventure in Gatlinburg, TN, I grabbed a buddy of mine who was having a post-wedding get-together in Asheville and drove on to Charlotte to meet two more friends for a three-band show: Leaves Eyes, Battle Beast, and Sabaton!
I’d seen LE once before, many years ago, as the only opener the first time I ever saw my favorite band, Blind Guardian. I wasn’t thrilled to have had them wasting my time that night, but I like to think I’ve matured a little! Their new female lead is perfectly good, the male lead is much better than he used to be, and the instrumentalists are thoroughly competent. They still don’t rise much above Nightwish copycatism, but c’est le vie. One of the guys there loves the band, and he had an absolute blast, so I’m glad to have seen em!
Battle Beast are absolutely amazing. Their energy, charisma, and talent just poured off the stage, from tiny little Noora on up. Their ludicrous 80s-inspired glam metal antics may not be to everyone’s taste, but frankly, they’re one of my favorite acts to debut in the last decade after spending the last couple of months getting to know 'em, and it was killer to see them live. They hit all my favorite tracks, including “Familiar Hell!”
Of course, Sabaton are infamous for their insanely good live shows. The entire band clearly maxed out on CHA and DEX at character creation, and their hilarious antics, passion for the fans, and superior musicianship all showed through in their first headlining US tour. The crowd–a sold-out show–was absolutely bonkers for them, breaking out into chants of “Sabaton” between every song and jumping up and down like teens at a Bieber concert during the big hits. The band played around with us a lot, letting us vote on a track to hear and whether or not we wanted it in English or Swedish (Swedish, duh!) and giving us a little history quiz before playing “Winged Hussars.” Joacim, the front man, was eating up the fan-love and couldn’t stop falling all over himself thanking us for coming out on a Sunday night and bringing down the house, but frankly, for a top-5 all-time live act, what else could we do???
Plus, that Swedish flag bass? Yeah, dude’s got “SWEDISH WAR MACHINE” printed down the neck of it, hah!