Our first concert visit to Trelleborg at the very south of Sweden was opened by a band from the very north of our long country – Raubtier from Haparanda.

“Brace yourselves Trelleborg, the real panzer division has arrived!”
- Pär Hulkoff (vocals/guitar)

It’s unusual to be as excited about the support acts as the main band, but that was exactly what occurred here – why, even though we both wanted to see both Sabaton and D-A-D as well, we were in full agreement that Raubtier would be the highlight of the evening for us. We were a bit wary as the band had stated a few days earlier that their fans should be aware that this was a support gig, and that they thus didn’t have much time to play in. Not so much time, what was that we wondered, and feared that the gig might be over almost as soon as it had begun.
Standing on the clinically cut grass and hearing Nordman’s Be Mig play from the speakers, quickly followed by the Björnes Magasin theme, we could happily wave goodbye to all such speculations as our minds were in the absolute now, and all there was, was Raubtier…

Due to Sabaton’s equipment, Raubtier had only the front of the stage to operate on, but they still had their stylish cannon bass-drums set up behind which Mattias ‘Buffeln’ Lind sat and looked a bit sulky. Hulkoff and Jonas Kjellgren on the other hand were both full of life – from the moment they ran onto the stage to the moment they took a final bow and left, it was pedal to the metal (pun intended) all the way!
The mood was set by Det Finns Bara Krig, and after this followed a nice mix which concentrated on hits, where Från Min Kalla Döda Hand was the biggest surprise, and a pleasant one at that as this is yet another song from their Pansargryning album that has buried itself deep within my heart and ears – as have the entire album, which easily contends the top-position of Raubtier’s efforts.

“I understand you’re waiting for Dalmasarna, but you’ll have to wait for a little longer.”
- Hulkoff (vocals/guitar)

There weren’t many people in the sober section of the audience (yes, in Sweden the audience is split by fences into drinking and non-drinking, non-drinking always getting the favourable position close to the stage) as Raubtier began their set, but as the music thundered the audience was seen coming in more and more, though surprisingly without ever getting crowded.
Hulkoff understood perfectly well that this wasn’t the time for long conversations, and in their short stage time they let their music do most of the talking. This didn’t mean it was wall to wall metal though, as the northerner did get a word in edgewise once in a while, all to the delight of the audience whom despite their geographical differences seemed to understand him quite well. By his command we jumped through Världsherravälde, waved our arms true stadium style (and as we were at a stadium it felt even better) for Dobermann, and put our hands together Från Min Kalla Döda Hand, and by our own will a moshpit grew strong in Achtung Panzer.

Raubtier might have been well received by the Scanians who had show up for their concert, but they weren’t without support on the stage either – we were told that they might have someone doing guest stuff during Achtung Panzer, but we didn’t realize it would be the entire gang of Sabaton (minus vocalist Joakim Brodén) that entered the stage and shouted along to the chorus!
A less planned, at least judging by the faces of the involved, guest appearance came in the Världsherravälde jumping section, where two of the Raubtier crew came jumping in from the sides and raised havoc to the delight of the band, themselves, and the audience.

As this was the last gig of Raubtier in 2014, it was all about squeezing the lemon for all it had, and the band delighted us all during the some 35 minutes on the stage – so far this Trelleborg stadium extravaganza was going exactly as planned, and it would be hard for D-A-D and later Sabaton to top this nuclear explosion of pure metal bliss.

Setlist:

Be Mig (Nordman song)
Björnes Magasin (Anders Henriksson song)
Det Finns Bara Krig
Från Min Kalla Döda Hand
Skjut, Gräv, Tig
Polarvargen
Achtung Panzer (feat. Sabaton)
Dobermann
Världsherravälde
Kamphund
Låt Napalmen Regna
Terminator Theme (Brad Fiedel song)