Be4Hills Festival Gave Epic Start To Hills Of Rock 2026

On July 23rd, the day before the start of the largest Bulgarian metal festival, Hills Of Rock 2026, a grand concert called Be4Hills took place on the Rowing Channel in Plovdiv. The organizers from Fest Team invited Savatage and Sabaton as headliners of the day. The first band on stage was the Bulgarian rock band Sevi. Named after their vocalist Svetlana Bliznakova, the rockers quickly captivated the audience with their emotional sound. Recognized as one of the best Bulgarian rock bands, they have many concerts in the country, and this year they have a tour in Europe. They performed their new song “Vampire Love” and other songs.

After them on the stage came the Dutch symphonic metal band Epica. The operatic vocals of Simone Simpson and the roaring of Mark Jansen filled the stadium with a magical atmosphere. They performed songs from their last album “Aspiral” and emblematic songs from their career.

The long wait for the appearance of Savatage on a Bulgarian stage was finally rewarded. The fans had the chance to see and hear a terrific concert. The American progressive metal band has a remarkable career, and they are on the “Prelude to Madness” tour. They have played for the first time in Bulgaria. Although their founder and composer Jon Oliva couldn’t travel due to health reasons, he pre-recorded the emblematic song “Believe” with his vocals and playing the piano, and the band played with the video record on stage. Savatage performed songs from their entire career. “Chance”, “Handful of Rain”, “Edge Of Thorns”, “Dead Winter Dead”, “In The Hall Of The Mountan King”, “Gutter Ballet”, and others.

Sabaton had a fantastic show. The Swedish power metal machine performed songs from their last album and old hits. They had a big tank on the stage, and the drummer was playing at the top of it. There were many pyro effects. Sabaton performed many of their songs with a chorus of six back vocalists. The penultimate song was “The Valley of Death” which was inspired by Bulgarian history and the Battle of Doiran, where a Bulgarian command led by officer Vladimir Vazov defeated the English command near Doiran village, and the Englishmen called the place “The Valley of Death”. After the song the Bulgarians started to scream “Българи! Юнаци!” (Bulgarians! Heroes!). The final song was the encore “To Hell And Back”.

The evening was epic and the fans were very happy to see such a cast of bands on stage. It gave a fantastic start to the three days of Hills of Rock festival on the Rowing Channel in Plovdiv.

Sabaton setlist: