Sonata Arctica US Headline Tour

[SkiBumMSP]

I will DEFINITELY be there at the Jaxx show! I skipped out on their tour with Dragonforce since I figured Dragonforce would bring out too many 14 year old Hot Topic products and video gamers for me to be able to tolerate.

Oh hell yeah! Shitty package or not, I am going to be there at Jaxx myself to see Sonata Arctica!

I would also love to see their new stuff live.

I guess having been a video gamer (still do on some occasion, but not nearly as much as I used to), I could at least dig the tongue-in-cheek aspect of that PowerGlove outfit. But I do have to agree with you - how the hell can you have video game music without keyboards?

 

[SkiBumMSP]

Yea, if you take it too seriously, but I like it for a quick break at work as opposed to the old cigarette break.

Talk about video games. Hell, one of the guys at work bought a Wii for the sole purpose so we could play it in the conference room during lunch or in the evening!

Funny as hell to show up in the morning and there are couple of the guys in there playing Wii before starting work!

Does make for quite an interesting lunch break when all of a sudden, the Wii comes out, complete with the balance board from the Wii Fit package.

But, since I don't smoke, I'll take the video games over a cigarette break any day. Figure if they could have their cigarette break, than I should be able to have my internet break.

 

[AeonicSlumber]

Nerd alert

I had no idea about that - I've actually never played any video games until last year when my kid got a wii (and I've so far only played a few games on that one). Computer games / video games never had my interest. Life's too short for that nerdy stuff.

Haha I mean really? Videogames have gone pretty mainstream these days. In fact, they are outselling music by pretty wide margins. It's no longer a nerd thing like it was in the 90s bro (although, I definitely miss those days). Powerglove does a lot of cool fanservice to oldschool gamers and I appreciate that. It's a niche thing, but props to them if people are buying the CDs and if the band is able to DIY it so successfully.

 

[TychoCelchu]

For people not so familiar with the Power glove, try to see an 80s movie called The Wizard, starring Fred Savage. It rules and features the power glove

 

[AeonicSlumber]

 

[Tommy3328]

I like what I heard so far of Mutiny Within

 

[Met-Al]

I believe most people write off Powerglove without so much as hearing a note from these guys. I think they're ridiculously talented. They certainly have a gimmick, but who doesn't these days? Each band that has or will headline a tour featuring Powerglove has a gimmick. Dragonforce pride themselves on being the fastest power metal band in existence. Hammerfall write songs about the templars of steel and dress as such. Sonata Arctica are an emo band disguised as a power metal band. These bands are just as guilty of finding a niche as Powerglove.

For those who have given Powerglove a chance and still can't dig them, I'm guessing you're from a generation or two before the Nintendo kids. Being a child in the 80s, I ate up those classic video games. I always thought it would be cool to hear some of the songs from those games performed by an actual band. Thankfully, these guys took the idea and brought it to life. They're the reason why I actually attended a Dragonforce concert, and they're icing on the cake for me when Hammerfall and Sonata Arctica come to my town.


Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert

 

[zedowns]

I know you're just trying to make a point but...

...I don't really think writing emotional songs counts as a gimmick.

 

[TychoCelchu]

Agreed, that was a stretch. There's a difference between a band having a style or theme, and a really obvious gimmick horse.

 

[dcowboys311]

nah, I played Nintendo and I still think Powerglove sucks.

 

[Met-Al]

If Kakko's emo lyric approach isn't a gimmick, it's certainly his shtick, and that shtick has earned his band a lot of emo fans. These emo fans would never give another power metal band the time of day. For some reason, though, they can listen to one band with Stratovarius's neoclassical sound but not listen to Stratovarius.

I could go on with other examples, but the truth of the matter is that lots of bands find that one thing that wins them their fanbase and stick to it in order to keep them. I'm not saying that I don't like Sonata Arctica. In fact, I like their music a lot. I'm just calling a spade a spade.

If people seriously don't want to see Sonata Arctica becuase they don't like the opening bands, that's their choice. It's obvious to me that those people don't like the band enough to see them in concert.


Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert

 

[OrbWeaver]

I love Sonata Arctica, but let's be real, folks. Change the music and band's image, but keep the lyrics the same, and you've got an Emo band. The music that SA writes is very fast-paced and happy-sounding, and completely at odds with the consistent themes of heartbreak, hearache, love lost, etc...that Kakko writes about. They are Emo lyrics with Power Metal Music.

I was at the same show as Met-Al in 2006, and I was absolutely surrounded by kids that looked like they stepped out of Hot Topic, or a Simple Plan concert. Now, if SA isn't "emo by any stretch" explain their appeal to the Emo crowd. I think the only metalheads against the stage (that I could see) were myself and my three friends who were there. Face it, if not for the Emo crowd, SA would not be as popular in the States as they are. Do they deserve the popularity? Yes! It would be nice if said popularity were due to the metal crowd, but sadly, it's not.

 

[zedowns]

I love Sonata Arctica, but let's be real, folks. Change the music and band's image, but keep the lyrics the same, and you've got an Emo band. The music that SA writes is very fast-paced and happy-sounding, and completely at odds with the consistent themes of heartbreak, hearache, love lost, etc...that Kakko writes about. They are Emo lyrics with Power Metal Music.

I was at the same show as Met-Al in 2006, and I was absolutely surrounded by kids that looked like they stepped out of Hot Topic, or a Simple Plan concert. Now, if SA isn't "emo by any stretch" explain their appeal to the Emo crowd. I think the only metalheads against the stage (that I could see) were myself and my three friends who were there. Face it, if not for the Emo crowd, SA would not be as popular in the States as they are. Do they deserve the popularity? Yes! It would be nice if said popularity were due to the metal crowd, but sadly, it's not.

Change Falconers lyrics, music and image and you got an emo band.

Either way, I'll take Sonata's lyrics over other power metal bands any day of the week.

 

[Stingray11214]

I love Sonata Arctica, but let's be real, folks. Change the music and band's image, but keep the lyrics the same, and you've got an Emo band. The music that SA writes is very fast-paced and happy-sounding, and completely at odds with the consistent themes of heartbreak, hearache, love lost, etc...that Kakko writes about. They are Emo lyrics with Power Metal Music.

I was at the same show as Met-Al in 2006, and I was absolutely surrounded by kids that looked like they stepped out of Hot Topic, or a Simple Plan concert. Now, if SA isn't "emo by any stretch" explain their appeal to the Emo crowd. I think the only metalheads against the stage (that I could see) were myself and my three friends who were there. Face it, if not for the Emo crowd, SA would not be as popular in the States as they are. Do they deserve the popularity? Yes! It would be nice if said popularity were due to the metal crowd, but sadly, it's not.

The last time I saw SA, I thought I stepped into a goth convention with all the emo's there. The only people that looked like they belonged at a metal concert were the Oceansouls and AMBR.

As for SA being Power metal: Forget it. "Days of Grays" firmly puts them into the "prog" category, especially after "Unia".

 

[AeonicSlumber]

I can't really speak for SA after Winterheart's Guild, because that was the last CD I got from them that I REALLY liked, but you guys clearly have no understanding of what emo is. Emo is an offshoot of punk and hardcore, which Sonata is not. Please stop sounding like close-minded dogmatic metalhead stereotypes and think objectively for a second.

Someone said "change the band's music and image and you'd get an emo band," or something along those lines. LoL at the hilarity of such a comment. Change the music and image of ANY band and you'd get a completely different band, because you're CHANGING THEIR MUSIC AND IMAGE. I can't believe I'm defending a band I don't even care much about!

 

[AeonicSlumber]

If Kakko's emo lyric approach isn't a gimmick, it's certainly his shtick, and that shtick has earned his band a lot of emo fans. These emo fans would never give another power metal band the time of day. For some reason, though, they can listen to one band with Stratovarius's neoclassical sound but not listen to Stratovarius.

What? There are so many scene/emo kids into Dragonforce. Hell, there are fairly infamous pictures of scene kids with Burzum shirts. This argument is ridiculous. Stratovarius hasn't done the amount of touring SA has, nor have their records ever gotten any real push in the US. SA outsells Stratovarius in the US by far.

 

[DTJeff]

Yeah, not going. Wasn't impressed with Sonata in '07 (Firewind blew them away), didn't like the new album, don't like the openers. Pretty open-and-shut for myself.

It pisses me off that all the tours I have no trouble skipping come to Philly (like the Hammerfall tour is), but all the stuff I will go to no matter what just play in NYC, so I have to make the trek. Oh well.

 

[dcowboys311]

If people seriously don't want to see Sonata Arctica becuase they don't like the opening bands, that's their choice. It's obvious to me that those people don't like the band enough to see them in concert.


Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert

...really?

 

[nomisofsiman]

If people seriously don't want to see Sonata Arctica becuase they don't like the opening bands, that's their choice. It's obvious to me that those people don't like the band enough to see them in concert.

Seriously. I mean to be perfectly honest, MOST concerts I go to I find to hate the openers but I deal with it. Not going to a band you like just because of the openers is absurd in my opinion.

 

[pyramazekeyboardist]

Life's too short for that nerdy stuff.

Life is too short NOT to do nerdy stuff