The Palace of Fine Arts is a place in San Francisco where I’ve been many an occasion bu this is the first time I’ve come for a concert though. To be honest I didn’t even know there was a concert venue here. The Palace, known for its spectacularly beautiful surroundings, is an often visited tourist destination and photo spot. You could tell that the bands realized that too by looking at their Instagram feeds. The Palace is also known for its auto break-ins and is one of the many burglary capitals of San Francisco. As a major landmark, it attracts many thieves and any item in a car is subject to being forcibly removed.
As mentioned earlier this is the first time I’ve ever been to the Palace of Fine Arts for a concert which also means I had no idea where the entrance is. I actually walked to the backside (aka the exact opposite side from the front doors) and noticed an ongoing sunset photoshoot at the central rotunda. I could hear Battle Beast already emanating from the inside of the venue.
No photos of Battle Beast, unfortunately. A bit of a snafu at the front desk meant that none of the photographers were on the guest list! Alas. I hung out front and thankfully the tour manager appeared and we were on our way. Battle Beast’s setlist featured exclusively songs from their most recent album, “No More Hollywood Endings,” and their previous album “Bringer of Pain.” That division does show the changing of the guard between the old days of Anton at the reigns and the new days of, well, external help, and cements the fact that I will never see any of the Berserk songs live. Thankfully Anton does have a presence over with Beast in Black and continues those Berserk songs.
One of my directions had been “don’t block the front seats” and I thought that would be simple enough. Very rarely do I ever block anything given the size of most stages and my stature. Well, until now, because the stage went up to my waist. I actually had a spat of trouble with an (assumably) drunk concertgoer who decided to block my camera whenever I got near here. Bro, it’s already the third song so I’m be gone in a couple of minutes and you’re taller than me to begin with. Thankfully most people stood and for the ones who didn’t I made sure to get out of the way.
Sonata Arctica is a band that has been around, at this point, for two decades. I started listening to them approximately 15 years ago and they are a band I make an effort to see any time they come out to California. They’ve never disappointed me. It’s actually been three years since I last saw them when they toured with Nightwish and Delain. Their most recent album, “Talviyo,” was released about a month ago on September 6.
Tonight’s set was composed half with their latest album with the remainder taken from previous albums. “Talviyo” was a little different from what I’m used to but Storm the Armada and Who Failed the Most are highlights of the album and they performed both of them tonight. Cold has grown on me quite a bit too. They picked some good songs to round out the set including the classic FullMoon (has there ever been a Sonata Arctica show that hasn’t had this song in it?), Life, and X Marks the Spot. No sign of Don’t Say a Word, sadly; that’s one of my favorites. I did get to see it on their previous tour. It’s a pity they had such a short set because they have way too many good songs to put on an opener set.
Vocalist Tony Kakko is a big advocate of live music and I fully agree. If you’ve ever seen a Sonata Artica show you probably remember seeing the “Keep Live Music Alive” speech and it stands for repeating. Concerts help drive money to the band itself to a greater degree than almost any other avenue and it allows for the band to go out and connect with their fans across the world. I’ve gone to quite a few concerts recently and there’s just something about being able to see something in person and experience the chest-pounding bass while surrounded by a crowd that knows the words to every song. I actually had a coworker ask when the next concert would be and surprise surprise it was in one week.
Kamelot was the main event of the night which makes sense considering this is the Shadow Empire tour. I saw them in 2018 on their Shadow Theory tour so the setlists were similar but that’s not an issue. I see bands solely because I like them and Kamelot is no exception. Play the good stuff and you’ve got me hooked. Thomas Youngblood has been at the helm of the band for the entirety of its existence so it’s in his very capable hands and the voice of Tommy Karevik. This is the first time I’ve seen Alex Landerburg who replaced long-time drummer Casey Grillo behind the set.
Clocking in at a total of fourteen songs meant they had a lot of room for both new songs and old. They actually split the setlist fairly evenly amongst all of their albums with none being favorited; 2015’s “Haven” actually had the most songs of any album played. Tour namesake “The Shadow Theory” was represented by set-leading song Phantom Divine, Burns to Embrace, and Vespertine. Lauren Hart, borrowed from the band Once Human, helped provide harsh vocals for a few of the songs. Noora from Battle Beast also appeared for the song Sacrimony in place of Arch Enemy’s Alissa White-Gluz.
I’ve probably mentioned it before but my first exposure to power metal was Nightwish in 2001. Kamelot is another band I’ve been listening for a while going back to that same year. The album that year was Karma and the titular song was part of the setlist today with another Kamelot classic, Forever, also present. There were a lot of fan favorites played including Rule the World, When the Lights Are Down, Forever, and March of Mephisto. The sound of “Haven’s” Liar Liar rounded out the set.
All in all it was a great night for power metal fans. Three great bands in a (for me) new, great venue. It might be a few years until these bands come out again and I’ll be waiting. Side note: my car was intact. I take that as a win any day of the week.
