The Dalarna band Sabaton put a lot of effort into their latest own world tour "The tour to end all tours" last year.
So we said to each other: "It's a shame that only 24 cities will get to experience this. We have to record it", says Pär Sundström, from western USA where the Swedes are on tour with Judas Priest.
Great interest
The performance from Amsterdam last year will be shown in cinemas. The film premieres on October 11 and the interest is great.
The first release was 40 cinemas in Sweden. Since then, we have fought our way into every country with different PR plans and now we are up to 1,500 cinemas in over 20 countries, says Pär Sundström, who is also Sabaton's manager.
Sabaton's dedicated fans have of course seen most of the band's music as clips, on sites like Youtube, but Pär Sundström means that the concert experience is something completely different on the big screen than when you see it on a smaller screen or a phone.
I'm pretty sure it suits that format much better. Sitting with a big cinema screen and powerful sound rather than sitting at home and watching TV, computer or phone.
Calm fans
But how does the concert experience become in a cinema? Maybe it gets rowdy in the rows of seats? Do hard rock fans sit calmly and still with a bucket of popcorn in their lap?
We probably also have those fans who sit with popcorn, I think. We have all kinds of fans – and actually, we have a lot who like to sit down and watch.
Pär Sundström tells that the band gets to hear from organizers that they attract a different type of audience than regular rock concerts.
It probably has to do with people having discovered Sabaton through an interest in history, or computer games maybe, and not belonging to the completely ordinary concert crowd. We are apparently an entrance to hard rock for very many people.
Now the concert film is being released, but Sabaton is also working on new music, says Pär Sundström.
We have worked extremely hard on new music and it's well on its way, I can say. What the lyrics are about? That's top secret, he says with a smile.
The concert film premieres on October 11 in Europe, the UK, and Australia. On October 30 and 31, it will be shown in the USA and Canada. In Sweden, it will be shown in collaboration with Folkets Hus and Parker and will also be shown at selected Filmstaden cinemas.
The concert was recorded at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam in 2023.
