Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica together in a joint European tour called Nordic Power Metal Titans 2023, or two of Europe’s most important power metal bands that have left an indelible mark on the genre with classic albums. They were joined by Induction who also have blood ties with power metal since Kai Hansen’s son plays guitar for them. So, it was a concert that we wouldn’t have missed for the world, a view that as it turned out we shared with hundreds of other fans as both concerts in Athens and Thessaloniki were sold out! Let’s go back to the beginning…
Induction: The band opened the show, but we managed to watch only the finale of their show, due to the huge que in the venue’s entrance. The good thing for them is that they played for quite a while with the venue full, which is not usual for support bands. In the short time we saw them we could see quite a few good elements and a good stage presence. “Go To Hell” and “Queen Of Light” closed the set and left some promises. Playing a symphonic power metal with a lot of… Campanic references (see Anton Kabanen and Beast in Black) the crowd seemed to liked them. They have a long to go and of course a tour with big names and in full clubs is only good for them.
Sonata Arctica: That was the first show of the band on Greek soil in their long career. Obviously, they were on the “bucket list” of a lot of fans, since a large part of the crowd was singing all the songs out loud. Tony Kakko also submitted his credentials as an excellent frontman in person.
Beyond that, the sound in Sonata Arctica’s 80 minute set, seemed to me to be a bit weaker compared to the headliners of the night. The band relied on their first 3 albums, “Ecliptica”, “Silence” and “Winterheart’s Guild”, which took the lion’s share of the set list. Their new single, “First In Line”, from their new album, which will be released in early 2024 as Kakko informed us, was also given its due. All in all, however, Sonata Arctica were very, very good and we hope to see them again soon.
On Friday night, the Finns put on an excellent performance with Kotipelto catching an incredible performance from start to finish while the pulse of the crowd was overwhelming from…the dressing room! They sang every lyric, belted out every refrain and even accompanied the guitar riffs many times. And notice…we’re talking about all the songs…not just the classics! Especially the new album “Survive” had its due since, as Kotipelto said, they are basically promoting the album with this tour despite the fact that “Survive” was released last year.
The show was definitely stolen by the classic power metal anthems, such as “Eagleheart” which was heard second, “Black Diamond” which closed the set and of course the enduring “Hunting High And Low” which ended the show and renewed the Stratovarius date…hopefully in less than 10 years.
Admirable that the concert was sold out in Athens and Thessaloniki! Maybe it is indicative of the fact that the concerts were missing due to COVID, that the Finns hadn’t visited us for a decade, that Sonata Arctica were also performing for the first time to the Greek audience…I will add something else, the guarantee of quality of Stratovarius, whose name is intertwined with European power, its great heyday in the 90s and the special relationship with the Greek audience since then. Besides, the average age in the audience was not young. In the end, Stratovarius offered us a sensational night but I will stand again on this wonderful crowd that had created a unique atmosphere from the beginning.
Sakis Nikas
