16-09-2015 Stratovarius

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This year has been rich for Stratovarius gigs from my side. One of the best things about living in Helsinki is that most of my favorite bands are from this city or more correct to say from Finland, which makes it easier to catch up with the gigs. And, as the autumn is already here, my concert calendar is getting more crowded constantly. Yes, it is a big “yay!”.

Back to that beautiful Wednesday night in Tavastia… If you follow the news inside metal scene or if you are a fan of Stratovarius, you probably know that they have released their latest album, “Eternal” on September 11, 2015. I will try not to do any album reviewing here but might touch to some points regarding the album. So, if you haven’t purchased it yet, I highly recommend you to do it so.
On Wednesday evening, I went to Tavastia, very excited to hear new songs from the latest album. I was also proud to see the first show of the band after releasing the new album. And also it was the first show of their Finland tour that is going on during September. The support band was, “Serenity” from Austria. To be honest, I haven’t heard about the band before. However I was glad to discover a new symphonic metal band. The band was quite excited as well to play in Helsinki for the first time. Yet, there were some in the audience that were familiar with “Serenity” already unlike me. The lead singer Georg Neuhauser, seemed to be very happy about a Finnish fan in the crowd, who sang along all the songs of the band. Thereupon, he offered a beer to the fan and got very surprised when he got a negative reply from the fan saying that he does not drink alcohol. It was an amusing moment for the crowd and the band as well, since the band had the stereotype on Finns being harsh drinkers based on their touring experiences with some other Finnish bands

After, “Serenity” left the stage, the exciting waiting has started. The venue got packed with the fans short after even though it was a weekday and a slightly late concert. Stratovarius had a long setlist for us that night including some old songs that they rarely play live nowadays. The first song was, “My Eternal Dream” from the brand new album. The olds songs that were played that night were as it follows; “Eagleheart”, “Against the Wind”, “The Kiss of Judas”, “Phoenix”, “Under Flaming Stars”, “Will the Sun Rise?”, “SOS”, “Unbreakable”, “Forever”, and as the last one, “Hunting High and Low”.
For me the climax of the show was when Lauri Porra had an amazing bass solo continued with “Will the Sun Rise?”. Also to listen one of the greatest masterpieces like “Forever” was quite memorable from that night. I was also very glad to listen, “Lost without a Trace” from the latest album “Eternal”. It definitely is the number one in my Eternal list for now…

Do not forget to note that Stratovarius will be touring the world to promote their new album in October 2015. The world tour will start with 16 countries in Europe and continue to In October 2015, Stratovarius will embarking on a world tour to promote the new album. “GloryHammer” and “Divine Ascension” will be the support bands for the European part of the tour.

Links:
Stratovarius Facebook