Sonata Arctica to film live dvd

[nomisofsiman]

From Blabbermouth...

Finnish melodic metallers SONATA ARCTICA have issued the following update:

"SONATA ARCTICA are extremely excited to announce their upcoming recording of their second DVD which will take place at the Alcatraz in Milan, Italy on September 30th, 2010.

"The band will perform a pretty unique show of at least 120 minutes. Next to songs of their latest albums, 'The Days Of Grays' and 'Unia', they also will perform some of the older songs from previous albums plus some very rare songs they didn't play live during the last years. For sure this will be an unforgettable event and a journey from the beginning of their career as one of the most popular Finnish metal bands until now — you definitely shouldn't miss it.

"The DVD will be released in spring 2011 (to be announced) through Nuclear Blast Records and Marquee Inc. in Japan and will, next to the show in Milan, contain another show, recorded 2009 during the SONATA ARCTICA Open Air Festival in their hometown Kemi, Finland. And of course there will be massive bonus material such as the 'making-of,' interviews, and plenty of video footage the band recorded the last few years during their career on tour."

 

[Jasonic]

Well, good to hear it will be a unique set.

Their live set has gotten VERY stale over the past couple of tours.
Very predictable, to the point that I don't bother seeing them anymore.

 

[TychoCelchu]

I went to this last tour because I hadn't seen them yet with the new guitarist, having missed both of the Unia tours. So I figured, a four-year break between seeing Sonata, it's worth going. I was not at all disappointed with a setlist overly dominated by Days songs because I totally love that album.
SPOILERS TO THOSE WHO DON'T LIKE SETLIST SPOILERS
I did feel a little cheaped-out by Tony's emphatic announcement about them playing a song that had "never been played live before ever!" which, given the setup, had me thinking one of the deep cuts from Ecliptica or Silence but turned out to be Deathaura. A lead-in like that toyed with the hopes of long-running fans. I love Deathaura, but they could have just played it without a misleading build up and I'd have been happier.

 

[nomisofsiman]

Well, good to hear it will be a unique set.

Their live set has gotten VERY stale over the past couple of tours.
Very predictable, to the point that I don't bother seeing them anymore.

I think a lot of power metal bands do this. Edguy also is infamous of this. For me though, Sunday night was the first time I had ever seen them and I must say I was quite impressed and was quite surprised that they played a song or two off of Winterheart's Guild. Again though, I had nothing to compare it to.

 

[Sir Exar Kun]

I did feel a little cheaped-out by Tony's emphatic announcement about them playing a song that had "never been played live before ever!" which, given the setup, had me thinking one of the deep cuts from Ecliptica or Silence but turned out to be Deathaura. A lead-in like that toyed with the hopes of long-running fans. I love Deathaura, but they could have just played it without a misleading build up and I'd have been happier.

That is pretty weak...... "It's a song we've never played live before! Why haven't we played it? Because we just wrote it last year!"

 

[Jasonic]

I think a lot of power metal bands do this. Edguy also is infamous of this. For me though, Sunday night was the first time I had ever seen them and I must say I was quite impressed and was quite surprised that they played a song or two off of Winterheart's Guild. Again though, I had nothing to compare it to.

Don't get me wrong. SA are a GREAT live band.
Good call on Edguy. Always a predictable setlist.

 

[DemonOfTheWoods]

... one of the deep cuts from Ecliptica...

like Destruction Preventer!

or maybe a bonus track, like The Rest of the Sun Belongs to Me- the Japanese bonus track on Winterheart's Guild.

 

[DemonOfTheWoods]

Good call on Edguy. Always a predictable setlist.

Yep. The only thing that changes with Edguy's set is how many of the same 13 songs they get to play!
Maybe 10 songs, maybe 7 songs, maybe 13 songs...but always the same ones!

I wonder if they even remember the other 70 or so songs they never play...

"Hey, Edguy...do you remember a song called Fairytale? It was on Vain Glory Opera..."

 

[dtmetalfan69]

I hope that they do stay true to their word and mean it when they say that it is going to be a unique set list. I just saw them perform on Sunday and they played a lot off the new album, but the rest of it was the typical sonata set list. It will be interesting to hear if they are actually going to change up the mix and play some songs that they have never performed live. (and I am not talking about the songs that they have just written either.)

I would consider Silence as my favorite album, so I hope that they play more off of that one along with Winterheart's Guild. We shall see.

 

[Guardian of the Blind]

"Hey, Edguy...do you remember a song called Fairytale? It was on Vain Glory Opera..."

I think a better question would be.... Do you remember that Vain Glory Opera is an album and not just a song in your never changing setlist

 

[SeaStorm]

I was surprised and pleased to learn that Sonata is changing at least one song in the setlist every night on this tour. I know it doesn't take the setlist as deep as many would like, but I have to give them credit for at least not making it identical each night. For example, we got As If The World Wasn't Ending last Monday in St. Paul, while Winnipeg got Last Drop Falls the following night.

I had an absolute blast at our St. Paul show. Then again, I love Unia and the new one, so I was bound to I particularly liked that Tony spent a good amount of time introducing the new songs and explaining them. Since the lyrics are generally intentionally opaque, it was nice to get some insight on the meanings.

 

[adaher]

Seems like most power metal bands don't give their fans too much live. The performances are technically solid, but the song selection never changes, they don't play very long, and there's no real attempt to entertain the crowd, make the show an experience. It's just like listening to a CD at high volume. Or as Simon Cowell would say, "It's very karaoke."

Given the prevalence of downloading, bands are going to start depending more and more on ticket sales for income. I love power metal more than any other musical genre, but I just don't rush to see very many power metal bands because there's just nothing much interesting going on that I don't already get from the CDs.

Contrast that to a Meat Loaf show, or a KISS show, or even a B-level 80s rock band. If an 80s rock band didn't know how to entertain, they got nowhere on the club circuit. And it's not like you need a big budget. Dee Snider was grabbing audiences by the throat and shaking them back when they were just playing clubs. Or Metal Skool more recently.

Although I will give credit to Edguy. they may not change the setlist much and they may not play long enough, but Tobias is a riot. But Sonata? Seen them twice, got no reason to run to see them again.

 

[nomisofsiman]

Seems like most power metal bands don't give their fans too much live. The performances are technically solid, but the song selection never changes, they don't play very long, and there's no real attempt to entertain the crowd, make the show an experience. It's just like listening to a CD at high volume. Or as Simon Cowell would say, "It's very karaoke."

Given the prevalence of downloading, bands are going to start depending more and more on ticket sales for income. I love power metal more than any other musical genre, but I just don't rush to see very many power metal bands because there's just nothing much interesting going on that I don't already get from the CDs.

Contrast that to a Meat Loaf show, or a KISS show, or even a B-level 80s rock band. If an 80s rock band didn't know how to entertain, they got nowhere on the club circuit. And it's not like you need a big budget. Dee Snider was grabbing audiences by the throat and shaking them back when they were just playing clubs. Or Metal Skool more recently.

Although I will give credit to Edguy. they may not change the setlist much and they may not play long enough, but Tobias is a riot. But Sonata? Seen them twice, got no reason to run to see them again.

Got that right with Tobi. I've only seen Sonata on the latest tour, so you probably are right on the set list as I know that'a a common complaint with them. However, I would say performance wise they put more into it than a lot of bands. They're really entertaining live I feel, so I wouldn't quite say that it's essentially the same as listening to them on disc. There are bands like that don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't say they're one of them.

I would have to say though and I could be wrong, that I believe Gamma Ray and Helloween mix up their sets and usually play longer than the average power metal band. I got the feeling though that Primal Fear is another one though that doesn't change it up a bit but then again, I've only seen them once.

 

[adaher]

Brainstorm's another power metal band that really delivers, at least on the performance aspect. Can't judge the setlist since I've only seen the one show. But anything Andy Franck is involved in will deliver live.

Now Sonata, they've already done a DVD. I'm not sure what the value would be in doing mostly the same songs with a few from the last two albums worked in. They've got to break out songs like Empty File, Weballergy, and My Selene for it to be worth a buy, IMO. I have For the Sake of Revenge already.

 

[No-Mercy]

sounds awesome...ive been hoping for another for a while. wish it wasnt gonna take a year though lol

 

[nomisofsiman]

Brainstorm's another power metal band that really delivers, at least on the performance aspect. Can't judge the setlist since I've only seen the one show. But anything Andy Franck is involved in will deliver live.

Now Sonata, they've already done a DVD. I'm not sure what the value would be in doing mostly the same songs with a few from the last two albums worked in. They've got to break out songs like Empty File, Weballergy, and My Selene for it to be worth a buy, IMO. I have For the Sake of Revenge already.

Well I think with them saying it would be a unique set and that it would be of at least 120 minutes makes it pretty promising. I'm actually quite envious though, why they can't do at least 120 minutes over here. Oh well. I agree though that one of those songs should be on it at least, especially "My Selene" as I was very disappointed they didn't play that on this tour.

 

[DemonOfTheWoods]

They've got to break out songs like Empty File, Weballergy, and My Selene...

Is Empty File a better song than Blank File?

Sorry, couldn't help but be a smartass for a second (well, assuming you meant Blank File). For all I know they could have a song now called Empty File...I avoid Unia at all costs & only enjoy one track (Juliet) from the new one.

Anyway, point is, "that File song from Ecliptica" would be nice to hear. Someone I know said they played it on the Dragonforce tour last year, but i missed that tour so I don't know. The guy who told me that is probably wrong anyway...he's the kind of person who thinks I Want Out is a Gamma Ray song.

 

[No-Mercy]

i agree on weballergy and blank file.

i dont own their first dvd so not sure the songs on it...but i would love to see kingdom for a heart, don't say a word, out in the fields, wolf & raven too.

 

[adaher]

All of those are available on live CDs and the DVD except for Out in the Fields. Kingdom for a Heart is standard for them live and they've changed it a little bit over the years, adding a pretty cool bridge which I think makes the song better.

Don't Say a Word is also standard.

Wolf and Raven is available on their first live CD, Sounds of Silence.

Yes, Empty File is the 2nd song in the File Trilogy. The next album is supposed to have the conclusion, Error file size 0.

 

[Thorshammer69]

I've never seen Sonata Arctica, But that changes May 1st. They are playing in Raleigh, NC and I'll be there!!