Rarely have I seen such an affectionate welcome for a band. It was like the crowd was greeting an old friend, and sure enough, when surveyed by singer Tony Kakko, many fans acknowledged that they had seen the band before. The opening tune was "Black and White," the first song on their most recent release, 2007's Unia.
I was surprised to see what appeared to be a keytar, being played by Henrik Klingenberg, who also happens to bear a resemblance to Lars Ulrich. I had assumed a regular keyboard would be used, given the intricacies of the band's music, but the music didn't suffer at all.
Goateed Tony Kakko was very chatty with the audience and is quite simply one of the most fun front men in metal today. Sonata Arctica's music tends to be uplifting and occasionally romantic, and the set was peppered with blazing, flawless, unstoppable power metal tracks, power ballads, and songs that were between the two in tempo but were sometimes not terribly memorable to me. Ever since I heard they were coming to town a few months ago, I have listened to Sonata Artica more so than any other band, so I was fairly familiar with the standout material.
It was actually fun to watch the fans get whipped into a ferocious mosh whenever the band played a fast tune, and then watch the same group, mostly teenage guys, gently sway their arms back and forth during the ballads. One guy in front of me turned out to be a neck-snapping manic, and I feared he would collide skulls with an unsuspecting fan. At one point, he just went ballistic during yet another gloriously executed power metal piece, and a diminutive fan and I exchanged glances of surprise as we deftly stepped away from him. I avoided the pit by being on the left side of the stage, but once in a while I was almost "caught in a mosh."
The band's strengths lie in their musicianship and brilliant songs. New lead guitarist Elias Viljanen was excellent, but I would have appreciated hearing more of his guitar in the mix. Drummer Tommy Portimo looked as if he could be the elf Legolas from Lord of the Rings with his blond locks, and he almost unexpectedly caused a fight on the floor after tossing out his drum sticks. The fans were reaching to the sky to grab a stick, but it bounced several feet back and the crowd almost seemed to move as one entity as they stumbled over backwards, frantic to grasp the souvenir. A few kids pounced on the stick and a struggle ensued.
Article comments
1 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
"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.
2 - Triniman
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.
3 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
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.
4 - John
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.
5 - Triniman
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.
6 - Jocelyn
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.