Concert Review: Sonata Arctica - Winnipeg, Feb. 8, 2008
Published February 10, 2008
It's astonishing how something so insignificant can mean so much to a fan. Had it landed safely in my hands, I would have just given it away to the nearest kid. In the end, the victor, drumstick clenched protectively to his chest, stuck out his hand to the kid who lost the prize. This pretty much summed up the mood of the evening, lots of fun with very little heavy attitude or negativity.
As a treat, the band played one of their classics for the first time in a long time, the juggernaut "Wolf & Raven," from the 2001 album Silence. For me, other gems played included "Replica," "8th Commandment," and "Black Sheep." Missing from the set were some tracks I really wanted to hear like "Weballergy," "San Sebastian," and "Blank File," all incredibly fast, superbly written power metal pillars from their catalogue. These are the tracks I include on mixed CDs when I want to introduce friends to their music.
Not all of the band's songs were memorable. In fact, I think they played too many that did not win the crowd over. Some of the ballads left me cold, but the well-known material was met with more unbridled enthusiasm than I expected. On several
songs, Kakko pointed his microphone to the audience and they sang out in unison, which pleasantly surprised me. The band also played for 75 minutes, possibly cut short due to the illness guitarist Elias Viljanen was suffering from, as he mentioned on his blog:
"02/08/08 Thunder Bay/ WinnipegI can only hope Sonata Arctica continues to tour as they are bound to increase their fan base considerably due to their live shows. They need to weed out the weaker material and just not record such songs so they don't feel obligated to play them when promoting new albums.I'm still sick. At noon I had to get out of bed because we had a shower room in a hotel. We were in a city called Thunder Bay. It was very nice to get cleaned up. Then we headed for Winnipeg. We were afraid that we wouldn't be on time because of the bad weather. It wouldn't be nice to cancel. Finally we were there around 10 pm. It was a close call. The show was sold out. Not nice to perform while you have fever. Well, we met some fans after the show again."
Almost weekly, Triniman catches new movies, and adds one or two CDs to his collection. Due to time constraints, he blogs about only 5% of the CDs, books and DVDs that he purchases. Holed up in the geographic centre of North America, the cultural mecca of Canada, and the sunniest city north of the 49th, Winnipeg, Triniman blogs a bit when he's not swatting mosquitoes, shovelling snow or golfing.
- Concert Review: Sonata Arctica - Winnipeg, Feb. 8, 2008
- Published: February 10, 2008
- Type: Review
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Metal, Music: Live Concerts, Review
- Writer: Triniman
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Comments on this articleComments
If Nightwish can play a venue twice the size, I can't see why these guys can't get into a larger venue. I do agree with you that there are several "power metal" bands out there that terrible. The crowd had people with a variety of tastes based on the t-shirts, suggesting that even some Slayer, Maiden, Metallica fans like SA and the show was sold out. Most of the metal fans I know had not even heard about them, but they tend to like the old school bands the best.
Yea, I don't see why they couldn't play a larger venue but I don't think that style of music is what the mainstream metal fan wants. They are all into the hybrid-crossover of emo & hardcore. Most people wear the Maiden,Slayer & Metallica shirts as a fashion statement so I wouldn't count on the clothes to determine much.
There's so much musicianship hearkening back to classical music and its scales in their songs. And thankfully, they don't spend half the time brutalizing the same three chords and their own voices. Frankly, it's refreshing and incredible music, with much more taste and human meaning than traditional 'power metal.' All things considered, it's really no surprise that fans sing themselves hoarse at their shows.
I wish for their sakes that they earn the notoriety they deserve, though I enjoy seeing them perform at the smaller, more personal-feeling venues.
I'm sooo tired of the emo, hardcore, black metal, neu-metal, silly, cookie-monster vocals bands (except for Dimmu Borgir!) Been there, done that.
While I don't dig everything SA do, I appreciate their best material. It was a treat to see them in such a small, intimate venue.
This was the most amazing concert I have ever been to and I really hope they come back soon. It was a great experience. I really hope they get the atttention they deserve. They are no nightwish (thank god) and shouldnt be compared to them. We dont compare Billy Talent to Britney Spears meerly because they are from the same continent.
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"Clearly, a lot of metal fans just don't know about them"
Come on, alot of metal fans know about them but just don't like them. The "Power" Metal scene is just as bad now as the glam rock scene was in the late 80's. The horrible love-laced, bland ballads along with the generic galloping of the fast songs. Plus,the way-over-the-top production.
There are a trillion acts from Norway,Finnland,etc that all sound alike & it is all Stratovarius' fault.
Rhapsody of Fire, Fairyland, Nightwish,Kamelot,Evergrey... The list goes on & on. They sound like the band Europe on crack.
Don't even get me started about Dragonforce.