Quoting straight from the Sabaton tour programme: “A castle in an arena sounds like a fantasy, but for Sabaton, it had to be as close to reality as possible.”
That’s where we were asked to step in! The Swedish power metal band’s vision for a stone fortress was brought to life by Spacial Installations, developed from the band’s initial concepts and inspired by various medieval castles. Designed to travel from venue to venue, country to country, it forms a key part of The Legendary Tour stage — delivering huge scenic presence and robust performance spaces within a custom touring system.
The project first centred around Hannes Van Dahl’s drum riser, featuring four fire-breathing dragon gargoyles built into a stone façade, hoisted into the air during the performance by three giant Airworks hands. As the band’s ideas for the tour evolved, so did the scale of the project. Soon Spacial Installations were designing and creating battlements, stone castle walls and towers, complete with rear walkways and performance platforms.
With a tight tour schedule of twenty live shows in twenty-eight days across Europe, rapid installation and de-rig was paramount. This was achieved through a custom metalwork system and heavy-duty flight cases engineered specifically for both road and air transport. The front and side sections of the castle ramparts include integrated lighting and flame FX, all used to maximum effect throughout each show.
It was an incredible project from start to finish, giving us the chance to collaborate with some outstandingly talented industry professionals along the way.
Thanks to SJGB and Airworks.
For further details on the band and tour, check out www.sabaton.net
Show photographs used by kind permission of David Dauphin « Dwidou Photography » for Rock Metal Mag.
