“Sonata Arctica performs on a blustery cold winter’s night to a nearly sold out show at Chicago’s House of Blues.”

Two weeks ago, Sonata Arctica set sail from their fair land in the wilderness of Kemi, Finland journeying through the States on the North American Crusade 2006 Tour. Tonight the Finnish Viking ship, the Heimløsa Rus docked…oops the band found themselves in a familiar territory as far as climate is concerned here at the House of Blues on one cold, blustery, winter’s eve. How apropos; it must have been - 0° outside! However, the close to capacity crowd warmed the hearts of our Scandinavian visitors!

Tonight’s bill was a good one for Chicago fans as we had two local bands filling the opening slots for Sonata. Local power metallers Ion Vein were perfectly matched and in direct support no less and then there was Grigori 3, a rather strange match for this show but good in their own right. However, this band would have probably been better suited opening for the likes of Ministry since Grigori 3’s music falls under the tent of gothic/industrial metal. No matter how you look at it, it is always nice to see a female fronted band; it’s always a welcomed sight.

Overall, it was a very good night for music. Sonata’s performance lit a fire in us all, good thing since tonight marked the first smoke free show here at the Chicago House of Blues. Guessing this debunks the adage of where there is smoke there is fire. Here’s how the night broke down band by band:

Lineup: Gwen Bartolini – vocals; Ray R. Wise – guitars; Mike Lindsay – drums; Justin Bailey – Synth/Keys; Akkharu - bass

For starters, you pronounce the name of the band...Gri gore E 3 (as indicated from the band's website). It just so happens that the origin of the band's name is very fascinating. Named for a race or collective of fallen angels who lost their grace in the eyes of God were also referred to as watchers. To round out their name the the number 3 equals completion. Really, we will get back on the review of tonight’s show but the nerd in me had to share what else was uncovered about the Grigori angels. According to lore, the Grigori angels were sent to Earth to assist and look after man at the beginning of time. God was not pleased with the outcome of the angels. Instead of looking after man, the Grigoris began teaching humankind magickal forms of divination, which God forbade such as herbal crafts, magick, and astrology to name a few. Apparently they took their role of "watchers" a little too seriously as the angels began wanting the womenfolk. In order for the angels to satiate their desire, they had to “assume a physical form” of man. Through time the Church wanted to dispute anyone that was not of the same opinion as them (imagine that) that angels were neither man nor woman or genderless therefore could not embody a man. At any rate, the half-bred spawns bore from the female earthlings were called Nephilim. Pissed, reportedly God enslaved the angels for seventy generations “imprisoned in a layer of heaven”. Now wasn’t that spellbinding?

Having said all that, Chicago’s Grigori 3 took the stage and unfortunately performed to a less than full venue. Unfazed by the lack of response from the meager crowd, the band soldiered on perform a more than credible set. Unfortunately, the sound was not as great as it has been in the past at the HOB. The indistinguishable meld of instruments had to have been cranked to 11 or something, which leads one to ask why was vocalist’s, Gwen Bartolini’s mic, so low? Again, it's not like the venue was anywhere close to capacity at any point during their set; it was nuts! From what one could gather, the music was airy, atmospheric, and fueled by melancholic emotions. From what could be heard, Bartolini had an amazingly great voice; it was just too bad you really could not hear it clearly. Throughout their set, the crowd remained immobile and barely clapped. Loudly someone from the audience screamed, “The exit’s that way!” Rather unfair if you ask us, but hey, we just report what we see and hear. Well it’s a good thing the band didn’t allow any of the negative feedback to derail them from a solid performance given the fact they did not have much to work with. Hopefully the band will be able to play for a much more appreciative crowd next go round at the HOB again soon.

Click thumbnail to enlarge the photo

Click here to access interview with Gwen

Lineup: Brian Gordon – bass; Russ Klimczak - lead vocals; Chris Lotesto - guitar/backing vocals; Chuck White - drums/percussion

During the changeover, life was breathed into the stationary automatons that were once inert. By the time Chicago’s Ion Vein took the stage, the floor began to buzz and fill up. Once the band took the stage, they received a rousing response. The crowd was really into the band’s performance. Bassist Brian Gordon ripped into “Fool’s Parade” with precision like a hot knife slicing through a stick of frozen butter. Vocalist Russ Klimczak’s vocal performance was not half bad but still was unsettling...we will get into that in a bit. Chuck White’s endless battery on the drums and cymbals was most excellent. Introing “Seamless” Russ screamed, “House of Blues do we sound great? Boy are we happy to be back!" Guitarist Chris Lotesto’s solo was crisp and cutting. Gotta love the HOB, when there sound is on, it’s on!

At the beginning of the third song, Klimczak addressed the hyped crowd again, “We have a new album coming out soon, and this song is off our upcoming release called "Face the Truth”. Ouuu, is this the perfect segue or what? The newer stuff is definitely heavier than the older material as this new song sounded wonderful unfortunately; Russ’ vocals are very much exposed on this particular song, probably more than ever before. By the way, none of this is said out of malice considering we do know the band. Taken as a whole, the band will get far someday providing they make some changes. This next set of comments may not be taken too kindly by the bands' fans but here we go… Having said all of that, why don’t we face the truth Klimczak’s vocals detract from the band. His voice and appearance takes the band in the wrong direction, back to the 80’s when Queensrÿche, Fates Warning, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and acid wash jeans ruled the world, serving as a major staple in the metalhead’s daily diet. It may have come as natural as breathing back in the day however; fact remains the band itself has obviously evolved by producing harder and much more aggressive tracks but the vocals remain virtually the same, as the music does not seem to fit Klimczak’s vocal styling at all. It will be interesting to see what the band does going forward.

Later in the year, Ion Vein is poised to release their long awaited follow up to Reigning Memories as the band is busily writing away and will soon be back in the studio with famed producer Neil Kernon to cut the record. Speaking of the future, the band landed an opening spot for Japan’s Loudness in March. Talk about a bill that’s fit to be tied. Of course we also have the band performing at Lotesto's and business partner from Twelfth Gate's annual Chicago Powerfest in April as well. Bottom line, their fans enjoyed their set immensely! Others in the audience seemed to provide mixed feedback, some positive some not. In closing, the band should have happy with their performance as they gave it all they could. What more could you ask for, right?

Setlist: Fools Parade; Seamless; Face the Truth; Faith and Majesty (off Reigning Memories); This Is Me; Love/Hate; Alone; Anger Inside; Enough.

Click here to access interview with Chris Lotesto &

here for photos / review of this year's Chicago Powerfest

Lineup: Tommy Portino – drums; Jani Liimatainen - guitar; Tony Kakko - vocals; Marko Passokoski – bass; Henrik (Henkka) Klingenberg - keyboards

The venue began to fill up rapidly during the changeover and the crowd grew increasingly restless. As the intro song piped through the PA, the crowd went nuts until the next event occurred. Before the first strum of the guitar or before one single note was sung, drummer Tommy Portino walks out onto the stage ahead of his bandmates, stands behind his drum kit, kisses his [talisman] pendant, and then takes his throne as his silhouette is bathed in an illuminated icy blue light. The mesmerized crowd at an even more feverish pitch began to scream and yell to the tops of their lungs. All smiles, the rest of the band joined their drummer seconds later.

Vocalist Tony Kakko was quite the fashion statement on stage this evening. He immediately addressed his faithful minion for the first of many times as the audience went ballistic, “Hey Chicago! This is the first song off Reckoning Day”. The band then ripped into “Misplaced”, the fans in the front of the barrier were particularly going nuts singing along to every word. After the song concluded, Kakko screamed, “Fucking A Chicago, it’s great to be back here! We’re Sonata Arctica from Finland!” more wild applause and screaming ensued thereafter. For the second selection of the night, the band played “Blinded No More” where the crowd probably sang louder than band!

During the intro for song number three, entertaining the crowd with his words once again said, “Gentlemen, you like ladies lingerie?” The men in audience yelled loudly, “Well this song has nothing to do with that! The name of the song is the same…Victoria’s Secret” The song was received more than well! At the conclusion of “Broken” Kakko says, “Chicago, we have an off day tomorrow, so I guess we’ll stay in Chicago!” the audience lost it, the singer continued, “...we’re boring but we like to drink beer and do other stuff too”. Laughing hysterically and hyped from the recent announcement, the floor was happy to mosh along to “8^th Commandment”. At the beginning of the eighth song of their set, Tony addresses the crowd again, “Are all you people here to drink beer?” receiving a hearty response, Kakko continues, “remember your beer cans need to be empty by the end of “Last Drop Falls”! During this song, Kakko broke out into what seemed to be a patois (or Jamaican patwa) scat! Crowd gave mad applause as the singer graciously thanked his fans, “Thank you Chicago”!

Introing the next song, Kakko’s sense of humor definitely started to pick up, “You all know King Kong? Well if King Kong had a hardon, it’s gotta be kingdom size, right?” The audience laughed a while. Laughing himself he continued, “This song is Kingdom Heart”. At the beginning of “Weballergy”, the entire venue erupted and began to sing along with Tony. The audience then broke out their lighters for the next song a ballad called “Tallulah” which is coincidentally off the same album, Silence, as the previous song. The singer gestured to the crowd to sway from side to side as his faith followers gladly obliged. “Tallulah” blended into “My Land”. During the final song, “Black Sheep” oh wait, did you see the air quotes, the crowd sang along loudly with the band.

 – INTERMISSION –

During the intermission, the crowd loudly chanted “Sonata, Sonata, Sonata”, over and over again. After the preempted break, Kakko ran out to talk to his beloved fans once again. “I can’t see for some reason you’re STILL here! I take it you want to hear more? There might be something we can do, we can play a few songs more!” the crowd went absolutely ape shit. “However there is something you can do for me!” patiently awaiting their commander’s orders he continues, “sing with me!” and that the crowd happily did so to the impromptu song. “Here’s a song we haven’t played in a long time…the Medley intro”! Once the song was over Kakko spoke to the audience again, “Thank you Chicago, thank you very much House of Blues that was fucking awesome, I’d have to say! For us at least everything’s good! You have you to give yourselves a round of applause because you are fucking awesome!” Kakko then bellowed, “This is Don’t Say A Word” during which, the audience clapped along to the chorus. Everyone sang along to this anthem, including us. At the end of the song Kakko said, “But that’s not all folks, we have one more song for you!” this announcement filled the audience with glee. He had gone on to tell the audience that he loved us all and what seemed that he wanted to say the phrase in Finnish but he stopped himself before he would complete the sentence. He ended with, “Chicago, thank you! This has been GREAT!”

Before the band concluded their energy filled set, for their outro, they performed an ode to vodka! How funny was this!! They also threw “Frankenstein” in there for good measure. To conclude their seventy plus minute set, Kakko says, “Thank you Chicago, you fucking rock! We’ll see you next time!” The crowd went into hysterics as the band threw out guitar picks, drum sticks, their sweaty towels…they then did the “world tour bow” to the crowd. What a perfect ending to a great set! Talk about a gorgeous light show, oh baby!! Tonight's show may not have sold out but the floor was full of love and devotion from start to finish for Sonata Arctica. For a bunch of power metallers, its doubtful they ever broke a sweat. They are the rockiness bunch of “bores” seen in a while! J  Thanks guys for such an entertaining set!

Setlist: Misplaced, Blinded No More, Full Moon, Victoria’s Secret, Broken, 8^th Commandment, Last Drop Falls, Kingdom Heart, Weballergy, Tallulah, My Land, Black Sheep, ****Encore**** Medley, Don’t Say Word, The Cage.

Click here to access interview with Tony & Henkka

SONATA ARCTICA 2006 North American Crusade tour dates:

Supporting Acts: Ion Vein and Grigori 3

Jan. 14 - Penny Arcade – Rochester, NY
Jan. 15 - The Chance – Poughkeepsie, NY
Jan. 17 - Jaxx – West Springfield, VA
Jan. 18 - B.B. King's Blues Club – New York City, NY
Jan. 20 - The Palladium – Worcester, MA
Jan. 21 - Medley – Montreal, QC – CANADA
Jan. 22 - Theatre Du Capitole – Quebec City, QC – CANADA
Jan. 24 - Petit Theatre Du Vieux Norande – Royun-Noranda, QC – CANADA
Jan. 25 - The Opera House – Toronto, ON – CANADA
Jan. 26 - House of Blues – Chicago, IL
Jan. 28 - Harpo’s Concert Theatre – Detroit, MI
Jan. 29 - Peabody’s Down Under – Cleveland, OH
Jan. 31 - Star Central – Columbia Heights, MN
Feb. 01 - West End Cultural Center – Winnipeg, MB – CANADA
Feb. 03 - The Warehouse – Calgary, AB – CANADA
Feb. 04 - Starlite Room – Edmonton, AB - CANADA
Feb. 06 - Richards on Richards – Vancouver, BC – CANADA
Feb. 07 - Studio Seven – Seattle, WA
Feb. 09 - The Pound at Pier 96 – San Francisco, CA
Feb. 10 - The Key Club – Hollywood, CA
Feb. 11 - The Galaxy Theatre – Santa Ana, CA
Feb. 13 - The Clubhouse – Tempe, AZ
Feb. 15 - Ridglea Theatre – Ft. Worth, TX
Feb. 16 - Sanctuary – San Antonio, TX
Feb. 18 - The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
Feb. 19 - Culture Room – Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Feb. 20 - The State Theatre – St. Petersburg, FL
Feb. 22 - Webster Theatre – Hartford, CT
Feb. 24 - Cabaret Du Capitole – Quebec City, QC - CANADA

All photos Copyright © 2006. Pictures may not be used without the written consent/permission of FourteenG