Photos were taken at RockHard 2010.
The first band of the night were Finnish prog-power metallers, Thaurorod. They played about 6 songs, and despite a small audience put on quite a good show. There were those moshers in the audience though that one just knew weren't being serious - silly moshers! To be fair though, the music was monotonous and rhythmic, therefore good for moshing to.
For an opening act, Thaurorod were adept, and quite a few people in the audience seemed to love them, although there was a mixed reaction from some people. The band didn't seem to mind what the audience thought though, so they just played on and enjoyed themselves - good on them! They played songs such as Upon Haunted Battlefields and Scion Of Stars. Even if the band weren't world class, they were still undoubtedly a good opening support band. The sound wasn't perfect but still good, and what the band played was generally audible, which was good, considering how melodic the band are. However, the Finns had to make way for the pirates...
...Scottish pirates?! Meh, whatever. Alestorm opened their set with 'Heavy Metal Pirates'...a self-descriptive song (despite them being more folk metal than heavy metal and hating pirates). Next they played Wenches And Mead, and the hilarity began. Honestly now, they were hilarious. Words cannot describe exactly how side-splittingly humorous they were to watch, but doubtless anybody who has seen Alestorm live will have a good idea. After Wenches And Mead was their new song...erm...Rum. It was a song about...well...rum. "This calls for some immaturity!" After Rum was The Quest, a song about...a quest! (Alestorm are pretty good at naming their songs, are they not?) They then dedicated a song to the ladies, Nancy The Tavern Wench. Charming. Captain Morgan's Revenge was up next, one of Alestorm's first and finest songs, and they played it to absolute near perfection! Unsurprisingly, they finished off their set with the energetic, lively Keelhauled, and the audience were far from disappointed. In spite of Alestorm's amazing set, they weren't the headliners of this concert - there was one band left...
...Sabaton. To say the least, their set was brilliant. Sure, Sabaton's music has always been a little bit samey, but that doesn't stop them from putting on an amazing, consistently good show (they were also very close to mind-blowing at Sonisphere too).
For those who are not familiar with the music of Sabaton, pretty much all of their lyrics are based on war, but different wars and from different perspectives. Some of their songs are inspiring, such as Coat Of Arms, others moving, such as The Final Solution. This evening, they played songs including Ghost Division, Panzer Battalion, The Final Solution, 40:1, Wolfpack, Back In Control, Coat Of Arms, Primo Victoria and a Metal Medley.
Now...there was an unfortunate little mishap with Joakim Broden's trousers, weren't there? OK, for people who were not at this concert, basically his trousers were ripped open in the crotch area, giving everybody a rather nice view of his...let's just say underwear. A lot of people were issued to the hospital that night. Why? They laughed their arses off.
Fun.
The special edition 
So, the main event. Mighty Swedish purveyors of war-flavored power metal 
Much to my delight they played The Final Solution, my favorite song from Coat Of Arms and one that I didn't think they would play live due to its touchy subject matter and slower pace. Singer Joakim Brodén explained that the band were wary about playing the song, especially in Germany, but that it had been met with enthusiasm by everyone so far. It made me happy anyway!