For those who don't know, Sonata Arctica is my wife's favourite band. We saw them in Philly two days ago. There were three opening bands.
Glass Midnight was some local emo-metal. I give them credit for not pretending to be more than they really are: just a local band.
Powerglove was top notch and had the same uber-greatness as they did in 2008 when I saw them along with Turisas. They still handed Starburst candy to the audience, played a great set, and just got the crowd totally involved.
Mutiny Within . . . . I had never heard of these guys before. They are some sort of metalcore. No personality, no innovation, no risk, no glory. The thing that ticked me off the most is that they try to claim superstar status before paying their dues. On my way out, I was handed a sticker with “Mutiny Within - The future of metal has arrived” and I was also photographed by RoadRunner people with it
Bullshit though!! You don't make a metal band with marketing slogans.
Sonata Arctica . . . these guys need no introduction. They came, they delivered, they left . . . no, they didn't just leave. . . . about 90 minutes after the show was done, they came to their bus and there was a small crowd of fans waiting. They took the time to chat, sign stuff, take photos, and basically just shoot the shit with a bunch of fans.
I found a way to take a photo with the sometimes overlooked member that brings a little bit of contribution to a tour's success: the Sonata Arctica tour bus driver:
. . . and with the drummer . . . mostly because I like drums and this guy is a good drummer . . .
You can go see other photos of the show and after show in my photobucket folder:
http://s162.photobucket.com/albums/t249/wm_crash/music/SA2010/?start=0
cheers,
wm_crash, the friendly hooligan