We find ourselves at the Regency Ballroom just a few days after seeing the Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation. This time it’s for the Finns in the form of Sonata Arctica playing in support of their latest album Pariah’s Child. Tony Kakko, the mastermind behind the band, is in his rightful place on vocals and he is followed close behind by drummer Tommy Portimo, Elias Viljanen on guitar, Pasi Kauppinen on bass, and Henrik Klingenberg on keytar and keyboards.  Thankfully Sonata Arctica is a common sight in San Francisco and I’ve seen them on more than a few occasions over the years. I joke that every tour shirt I buy from them continutes to grow my collection of “wolf shirts.”

Tonight the supporting bands are the German band  Xandria and Dutch group Delain. I first listened to Xandria on the recommendation of a friend who said “they’re like old Nightwish” (and I do love me some Nightwish). By “old Nightwish” we mean “the days where Tarja belted out operatic vocals” and Xandria does a good job of it. To my knowledge this is the first time the band has made their way to America and I’m glad I was here to see it. Another first comes in the form of Dianne van Giersbergen who made her album debut on Sacrificium, released earlier this year. With just a scant half hour to work with the band led with the Sacrificium single “Nightfall.” Each of the following songs would bounce between 2014’s Sacrificium and 2012’s Neverworld’s End. It was a short but speedy way to start off the night.

Delain is a fairly commonly seen fixture in San Francisco. I saw them last year alongside Kamelot and with tonight’s Sonata Arctica tour and next year’s backing of Nightwish means that in the span of approximately nineteen months I will have seen them three times. Can’t complain with that.

One thing to point out is Delain’s founder and keyboardist Martjin Westerholt. If this name sounds a little familiar it should; he is the brother of Within Temptation’s Robert Westerholt and in fact was a founding member of the band up until shortly after Mother Earth. Due to medical reasons he left Within Temptation but that couldn’t keep him down for long and he formed Delain in 2002. Earlier this year the band released their fourth album titled The Human Contradiction but strangely enough it is the previous album We Are the Others that makes up the bulk of the setlist. This is not necessarily a bad thing; there are a lot of solid songs in the list like “Mother Machine” and “Get the Devil Out of Me,” alongside the two songs from the new album in “Stardust” and “Army of Dolls.”

The very last song played tonight and title track of the album of the same name, “We Are the Others,” deserves a bit of background as it is about the Sophie Lancaster murder. One night in 2007 Sophie and her boyfriend were attacked solely because of how they looked. The song is about how all of us in some way have our differences in interests and appearances (among other things) and how “normal is not the norm.” In ways it is a celebration of the quirks and things that make us different. Sometimes you might think you are alone but you are not.

Headliners Sonata Arctica hit the stage just around 10PM. The band was first formed almost twenty years ago but this year marks the 15th Anniversary of their first album Ecliptica. Tonight can be called a celebration of their career with songs from almost all of their albums through the years including their newest, Pariah’s Child. I’m proud to say I’ve been around for six of their eight albums.

While Xandria and Delain are both female fronted and symphonic/orchestral in nature, Sonata Arctica is seemingly about one thing: rocking out. Lots of headbanging, lots of speed, lots of keytar/guitar duos, and of course lots of horns and fists in the air. Xandria and Delain also had the crowd going but it’s different when you have Tony at the helm.  He’s a man who likes to have fun on stage and would mimic playing a guitar via the mic stand and even a bit of twirling and swinging of the same. Subject matter ranges from wolves, to love, more wolves, sometimes the supernatural, and even a bit of Romeo and Juliet.

They started off with a few of their lighter songs (for them) like “The Wolves Die Young,” “Losing My Insanity,” and “My Land.” The former are from the band’s newer albums and the latter is from their first, Ecliptica. Tony progressed through the set like a wave going up and down. He’s well in control of speed and tempo making sure not to break the crowd by rocking too hard. Faster songs like “Black Sheep” and “Flag in the Ground” were contrasted by others like “Letter to Dana” and “I Have a Right” to allow for breathers.  These breathers still allowed for a fair bit of headbanging at a slower pace as to not let your neck get too comfortable.

This pattern held up until the very last song of the primary set,”San Sebastian” which was followed by the encore in the form of “Blood,” “Wolf and Raven,” and “Don’t Say a Word.” It was all high-speed and headbangings from here on out. “Don’t Say a Word” is by far my favorite Sonata Artica song and the one that really cemented my listening. The speed of it, the lyrics, and the theme are just great. As is the custom, Tony closed with a rousing vodka chant (“We need some vodka!”).

A couple of songs I feel were missing are “8th Commandment” (from Ecliptica) and “Victoria’s Secret” (from Winterheart’s Guild which was strangely unrepresented). They could have easily fit into the setlist, especially towards the end. They hit hard and fast and would have helped bring the night to its crescendo close.

“Ladies, and gentlemen, Sonata Arctica has left the building.  Maybe not, but at least they’ve left the stage.”  May streams of vodka follow in their wake.  Knowing what this band does in the off time that’s almost a given; they did select Henrik after a interview-cum-drinking party…

Xandria’s set list:

  1. Nightfall
  2. Blood on My Hands
  3. Forevermore
  4. Stardust
  5. Valentine

Album count:

Sacrificium: 2
Neverwold’s End: 3

Delain’s set list:

  1. Mother Machine
  2. Get the Devil Out of Me
  3. Army of Dolls
  4. Stardust
  5. Electricity
  6. Milk and Honey
  7. Sleepwalkers Dream
  8. The Gathering
  9. Pristine
  10. We Are the Others

Album count:

The Human Contradiction: 2
We Are the Others: 5
Lucidity: 3

Sonata Arctica’s set list:

  1. The Wolves Die Young
  2. Losing My Insanity
  3. My Land
  4. In the Dark
  5. Cloud Factory
  6. Black Sheep
  7. Last Drop Falls
  8. Flag in the Ground
  9. I Have a Right
  10. X Marks the Spot
  11. Letter to Dana
  12. Fullmoon
  13. Kingdom for a Heart
  14. San Sebastian

Encore:

  1. Blood
  2. Wolf & Raven
  3. Don’t Say a Word

Album count:

Pariah’s Child: 4
Stones Grow Her Name: 1
The Days of Greys: 2
Reckoning Night: 1
Silence: 3
Ecliptica: 4

The US tour continues on for a few more dates this month:

10/4/14 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater

10/5/14 Lawrence, KS – The Granada

10/7/14 El Paso, TX – Tricky Falls

10/8/14 San Antonio, TX – Backstage Live

10/9/14 Dallas, TX – Trees

10/12/14 Houston, TX – Scout Bar

10/13/14 Atlanta, GA – Masquerade

10/14/14 Orlando, FL – House of Blues

10/15/14 Tampa, FL – The Orpheum

Of note is the closing show on October 15 in Tampa where they are joined by another band I really enjoy, Seven Kingdoms. I first saw them while they toured with Blind Guardian a few years ago and have never had the chance to see them again. Since they’re based in Florida they don’t really get all the way out here but hopefully they’ll tour the US (and the world?) once more.