TWILIGHT FORCE

Much to my vast disappointment unfortunately I missed the opening band Twilight Force due to standard London transport failures. I was very keen on seeing them as it is that fantasy power metal revival that is a lot of fun to watch, especially since I caught the band later in the lobby dressed in the Wizard and rouge assassin Elf attire. Many of the attendees did tell me the show was fantastic, and to definitely not miss the next one should the Swedes ever wind up on UK shores again.

FREEDOM CALL

Freedom Call have been around for a long time now, and they don’t let up on doing what they do best – playing that engaging cheesy European power metal that is so catchy that we all just love it. It’s one of those things you can’t explain, but it is some of the best feel good music in the metal scene, and Freedom Call just do it so well after 17 years in the game. It’s Freedom Call’s first time back in the UK since supporting Luca Turilli in 2012 at this very same venue, and while this kind of power metal isn’t the most popular subgenre in the UK, it doesn’t cease to amaze me how Chris Bay and crew manage to captivate the UK audiences.

The band kick off with a brand new song, ‘666 Weeks Beyond Eternity‘, of course in the standard Freedom Call vein of fierce double kicking on the drums and catchy vocal hooks with general input about ‘metal warriors’. You would never know it was a new song with the fans singing along when the last chorus of the song rang out, but then the band waste no time into blaring into the established material, blaring the trumpets of ‘The Eyes of the World‘.

Frontman Chris Bay really does know how to control an audience, commanding fist pumping and getting every member to sing along to the hook of the classic ‘Island of Dreams‘, and while the show was nothing more than a standard Freedom Call show, it was very much enjoyable as it was the last time they played in London. Bands that can turn every show into something special without the need of props, stage-lighting and particularly complex music command a lot of respect, and those who came into the evening having never heard of Freedom Call or never cared about them, certainly respected them now!

SONATA ARCTICA

Having been a fan of Sonata Arctica for many years, I have seen the band play many shows across the world. I’ve seen them on top of their game, and not at their best, but tonight was to be something very special on a personal level. The band were to take the time this evening to perform one of my favourite albums of all time, ‘Ecliptica‘, in it’s entirety – an album that really got me into metal upon it’s release in 1999, and the performance of some songs that have been left untouched for possibly over a decade had me itching with excitement. With three new members of the band since that legendary album was released, the sold out Islington Academy were very interested to say the least about how this performance would fare.

Before the band got to the evening’s focal point, they kicked off with their progressive classic ‘White Pearl, Black Oceans‘ much to the surprise of the audience before jolting into a more recent track, ‘X Marks The Spot‘. Masterfully performing the two opening tracks, the stage went dark and a pre-recorded introduction rang through the PA in the venue, it was time to witness Sonata Arctica play their first album live in it’s entirety. Without hesitation drummer Tommy Portimo hit the high-toms at lightning speed to kick in the opening track of ‘Blank File‘, and suddenly every single person was singing along every word with deafening force. It became apparent that every single fan in the venue was a old school Sonata Arctica fan here to see the classic album performed tonight, being deprived of classic Sonata material as the band did not play their first show in the UK until 2005. It was unexpected to see so many ‘Ecliptica‘ fans here tonight, but it did bring a magic to the Sonata show that I have never seen before.

The audience was electric when massive classics such as ‘My Land‘ and ‘Full Moon‘ were performed, and As the band powered on with the full album, many were curious to see how guitarist Elias Viljanen took on the complex parts that former maestro Jani Liimatainen had played on the first album. He proved himself more than worthy as he shredded the solos and complex riffs to perfection and with stunning valour on tracks such as ‘Kingdom for a Heart‘ and the never-played-before ‘Picturing the Past‘. The album was performed flawlessly, albeit in what seemed like a different key, and as ‘Destruction Preventer‘ rang out it had all flown by too quick. It was hard to grasp on personal level what had just happened, that something I had dreamed about happening for years had just been performed before my very eyes and ears, with 800 other die hard Sonata fans.

The show wrapped up with another couple of tracks, a ‘new’ song from ‘Ecliptica‘ as Tony Kakko described it which was actually the old bonus track of ‘Mary-Lou‘, the single from the latest album ‘The Wolves Die Young‘ and of course the standard Sonata closer ‘Don’t Say a Word‘, where the full energy of the band and audience bounced off the walls in the Islington Academy. If I haven’t elaborated enough already, it truly was a special performance to not only see the band play ‘Ecliptica‘, but to see so many hardcore UK Sonata fans, and how happy they were along with myself to be part of this evening.

This performance will be remembered by UK fans for years to come, that is until the band decided to play ‘Silence‘ in it’s entirety…