Tampere's own power metal act, Dreamtale, was also there to warm up the audience for Stratovarius. They are also just about to release their sixth album World Changed Forever on April 26th, and nearly half of the songs performed on Saturday were off that new album.
Dreamtale's gig started out with Powerplay, which is one of their best tracks – and a magnificent live track, and something I had never heard at the very beginning of their show before, but it was a nice surprise. It was followed by Firestorm, a powerful track they have often played at the beginning, but it also tends to be a successful way to turn the audience on. Soon we got to hear something they haven't been playing much lately – Wings Of Icaros off the album Difference – yet they had apparently played it before when warming up for Stratovarius.
The new songs sound great and set high expectations for the upcoming album. Even yours truly, who usually prefers to hear only familiar songs live, can truly enjoy those tracks, even hearing more than one or two new ones. Tides of War, The Signs Were True, Island of My Heart and Join The Rain are all warmly welcome to Dreamtale's future live sets!
Stratovarius started out with the first track of their new album, Abandon, which isn't a bad song, but not the best or the most stunning way to open up a live show. However, the second track, Speed of Light, made up a bit for what Abandon couldn't do. The third one, Halcyon Days off the new album, was a good choice too, being one of the nicest new songs.
Then the band returned to the 90's to please those who are not too fond of the newer material with Eternity, yet it was followed by a new track again – Dragons. However, it also belongs to the strongest new tracks and was an agreeable live piece. The set comprised the majority of the songs included in the newest album, and didn't offer much to those who prefer their older material. Destiny was heard, as well as Against the Wind – and naturally, Eagleheart, Black Diamond and Hunting High and Low.
One moment between songs was filled with a drum solo, showing off how a guy from Tampere, Rolf Pilve, can handle his drumsticks in front of the audience from his hometown. While the act was skillful, it was unnecessary and relatively boring, obviously making many people in the audience yawn and eagerly waiting for the next actual song. Later Lauri Porra's bass solo turned out to be somewhat more interesting and enjoyable, but still not a particularly good way to spend time during a live show. And since the show didn't feel particularly versatile to begin with, the solo parts did not really claim their place.
For those who both attended the concert where Under Flaming Winter Skies – Live in Tampere live album and DVD were recorded and have also been listening to those, some moments during the gig were sort of small déjà vus. Timo Kotipelto says such things between the songs which are touching at best but cliché at worst, and some phrases and sentences were exactly the same or very similar to those uttered in 2011. Sure it is a difficult task for the vocalist to come up with something smart to say between the songs, a gig after gig and a tour after tour, but Kotipelto's attempts to flatter his audience are not particularly convincing. Making the audience repeat "hunting high and low" again and again is not also the most interesting way to get them engaged and excited (at the very end of the gig).
All in all, Stratovarius's show was a disappointment, boring as a whole despite the occasional very enjoyable tracks. As stated earlier, the support act was the winner of the night. Both bands suffered from slightly bad sounds though, leaving especially vocals occasionally quite muffled, which was unfortunate, yet not the reason why Stratovarius didn't manage to blow my mind.
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