Sabaton was in Atlanta Sunday night as the third show of their tour for The Great War.

What a show.

Hammerfall opened, and did a great job as well, with a large percentage of the crowd also being fans. It was also a nice touch to play the orchestral arrangements from the Soundtrack to the Great War during the setup after Hammerfall's set. Joakim handed off his sunglasses near the end, this time to a seven year old girl with huge ear covers sitting on her parents shoulders. The mosh pit wasn't huge, and when "Swedish Pagans" came on, sat down and started rowing in time.

It was a long set. For more on the background to each song, and the lyrics, you can visit their site.

  • Ghost Division - Rommel's panzers, and blitzkrieg warfare
  • Great War - song about WW1 in general
  • Resist and Bite - Belgian troops holding the border against the German army, fighting so fiercely that when captured, the germans were shocked to discover there were only 40 men, thinking there had been a much larger force.
  • Fields of Verdun - the 303 day battle of Verdun, where 700 million lost their lives. "They shall not pass"
  • Attack of the Dead Men - Battle of Osowiec Fortress, where the Germans followed up a gas barrage, and retreated in terror at a Russian countercharge of dying men, coughing up blood.
  • Red Baron - aviator Baron Von Richtofen
  • Price of a Mile - battle of Passchendaele
  • The Bismark - the attempted breakout and defeat of the German battleship Bismark.
  • Lion from the North - Adolph Gustav of Sweden
  • Carolus Rex - Karl Gustav, of Sweden
  • Shiroyama - last stand of the samurai
  • Night Witches - about the all-female 588th night bomber division
  • The Lost Battallion - the US battalion of the same name, surrounded and trapped in the Argonne
  • The Last Stand - the stand of the Vatican guard to allow the pope to escape when Rome was sacked by mercenaries in 1527
  • 82nd all the way - Sgt Alvin York, who almost single handedly captured dozens of German soldiers
  • Primo Victoria - The allied invasion of D-Day
  • Swedish Pagans - Vikings, with the mosh pit sitting down to row
  • Hell and Back - Audie Murphy of WW2

What I really wanted to discuss though, was the video presentation given before Sabaton came on stage - namely, a pitch for a World War One memorial in Washington DC.

Some people tear down history. Others embrace it.