Sonata Arctica

Sonata Arctica Take Over House Of Blues In Los Angeles

Sonata Arctica House Of Blues Los Angeles

By Allie Jorgen – Photos by Roc Boyum

Friday, September 29, 2014, House of Blues in Los Angeles came under seige from Sonata Arctica, the Heavy Metal Titans from Finland. The show started off with the opening band from Germany, Xandria, with a symphonic edge and soaring vocals; they set the stage for a night that Los Angeles would not soon forget.(Pictures below)

Next up, Delain; a Hard Rockin Dutch Symphonic Metal Band fronted by Charlotte Wessels with vocals and energetic presence to whip the House Of Blues into a collective force of energy. (Pictures below)

Next the band everyone was waiting for…..Sonata Arctica: The audience greeted the band’s drummer Tommy Portimo with a roar as they did for each member of the band that followed and when then the band’s singer Tony Kakko burst onto the stage he ignited the audience into a manic frenzy!!!

Tony is an incredible front man with a seemingly endless amount of energy, many times spinning across the stage like a tasmaniain devil. He’s a master of vocal control with a powerful voice; he can sing clean and strong or growl with the best of them, and this guy knows how to entertain as the audience was engaged every moment of every song.

Guitarist Elias Viljanen played with technical precision and lightening fast fingers like a wizard casting spells in every direction. The rhythm section was incredibly tight as Tommy Portimo played with masterful chops and double bass drum thunder while Pasi Kauppinen played his 5 string bass with the speed and intricacy of a lead guitarist. Henrick Klingenberg provided thick lush pads with his keys and joined the guitarist and bass player on several occasions to play unison harmony and lead lines like an Iron Maiden/Judas Priest tour de force.

 

 

 

 

 

The band’s catalog of music was well represented and they played even their most progressive and technical songs with razor sharp precision.

As the night progressed, crowd surfing took place with a number of people surfing over the barrier at the front of the stage and were grabbed by security while a ragging mosh pit took place in the center of room…ahhhh yes, this is what metal shows are made of.

My Land
Sing in Silence
Cloud Factory
Black Sheep
Letter to Dana
Flag in the Ground I Have a Right
X Marks the Spot
Tallulah
Full Moon
Kingdom for a Hear
San Sebastian Encore:
Blood
Wolf & Raven
Don’t Say a Word

If you’ve never seen Sonata Arctica before; find a show in your area and don’t miss it….. for all the Sonata Arctica fans out there, we can’t wait until they come back again.You can check their tour schedule here:

http://sonataarctica.info/
The set was:

The Wolves Die Young Check out the Sonata Arctica photo gallery here!
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