Alter Bridge @ Wembley Arena; London 29/11/2011

I had been eagerly waiting for this gig since I bought the tickets back in June and I found out it was definitely worth the wait. Entering Wembley Village it was a very well set up with a number of restaurants and shops; I was also impressed with the very colourful lights that highlighted the fountain beautifully. My main purpose for the evening was to see three of my favourite rock bands that hail from the USA and Canada; they were Theory Of A Deadman, Black Stone Cherry and headliners Alter Bridge. Before I describe my experience at the gig I want to say there will be no photos for a while since I did loose my camera at the Arena; a bit of a nuisance but life must go on.

Anyways; the first act to appear on the stage that night were Canadian rockers Theory Of A Deadman. I have loved this band since I heard them in the shop Underground Clothing and I never looked back. They gave a top notch performance from start to finish performing a wide collection of songs from So Happy to brand new album material such as my personal favourite Bitch Came Back. It was great how frontman Tyler Connolly threw out guitar picks to the audience and how he introduced each song; overall I think Theory Of A Deadman were a great choice to open up the night of hard rock that was to fall on me that night. So I was happy to hear they will be touring the UK again next year.

Find Theory Of A Deadman on Facebook, Twitter and their official website

Black Stone Cherry were next to play; I was happy to be reminded of how good they are when giving a live performance. I had seen them twice before that night and I remembered how energetic these Kentucky rockers were. It was amazing how guitarist Ben Wells and bassist Jon Lawhon make use of the space on stage with such energy and passion. I liked the selection of songs they chose to play too; everything from first album material such as personal favourite Rain Wizard to brand new songs such as White Trash Millionaire. I was very happy to hear they will be touring the UK and coming to Southampton on my birthday.

Find Black Stone Cherry on Facebook, Twitter and their official website

Alter Bridge had only recently come into my life and I have grown a great likeness for them. Their live performance last night only boosted my respect for the band as they really pulled off a great live show; the lights went down and the intro to Slip Into The Void was heard on the sound system and there was Myles Kennedy in the spotlight singing the first line. What an incredible introduction it was. They got better and better as the show progressed but because of the heat inside the arena it made me feel very uneasy so I decided to step outside. That did not for one second stop me enjoying there show since I could hear it through the wall and I liked their live sound. Their acoustic rendition of Wonderful Life was remarkable, Ties That Bind cheered me up as I was frantically looking around for my camera and from what I saw they had great theatrical stage props. Such as pyrotechnics, grand stage lighting and a lot of confetti; I would definitely love to see Alter Bridge live again, probably next time I won't be close to feinting.

Find Alter Bridge on Facebook, Twitter and their official website

Overall despite feeling a bit poorly and loosing my camera I did enjoy myself; all the bands performed fantastically well and the atmosphere was incredible. 

Tuomaslotte rates:  TTTTT  

Turisas @ Southampton University; 15/11/2011

Eccentric Finnish folk metallers Turisas brought and fought the battle with the metal heads of Southampton.

Getting myself ready to go to Southampton Univeristy that consisted of dressing in a black and red combo, covering my face with black and red facepaint. I can tell you the reason for this; I was getting ready to see Finnish folk metal band Turisas for the first time and their colours are black and red. As soon as I got to the venue I got kitted out in my Turisas t-shirt I had just bought and was ready to take part in the night of heavy metal that was to be sprung onto me.

First band to play were fellow Finnish metallers Kiuas; I had only heard them briefly and liked their sound so I was looking forward to see what they brought to the stage.  They certainly were a great opening act for this night of metal; their charismatic stage prescence and passion was definitely a highlight for me. Kiuas are usually a five piece; their frontman was stuck in Finland so instead of cancelling their shows they carried on like true showmen and that was what I really admired about them. In the words of the very wise Freddie Mercury 'The show must go on'.

Find Kiuas on Facebook, Twitter and their official website

Taiwanese metallers Chtonic were up next to play; now not being the biggest fan of extreme metal I found these guys to be hypnotically incredible, bringing in oriental influences in the lyrics and music it gave Chtonic the mysteriously haunting vibe. It was amazing to see frontman Freddy Lim start to play a hena violin that arose a fantastic reaction; he also made a valid point that stuck with me for the rest of the night and that was no matter where you come from in the world that night was the night that metalheads unite together.

Find Chtonic on Facebook

The build up to the entrance of headliners Turisas was unbelievable; all over the venue fans started the call and response anthem Battle Metal whilst awaiting for them to conquer the stage. All of a sudden the lights went down; an intro piece of music was heard on the speakers and as the band members made their way onto to the stage the cheers got louder. Opening up with The March Of The Varangian Guard and performing it to the utmost perfection I could tell Turisas were well under way. I loved how they performed a mixture of material from Holmguard and Beyond to my personal favourite, Hunting Pirates, from the new album Stand Up and Fight. The violin solo half way through the set was so beautifully performed; with soft drums and piano in the background it was lovely to have a little break from the heavy music for a couple of minutes. Ending with Boney M cover of Rasputin and show stopper Battle Metal those were a clear indication Turisas gave us [the fans] exactly the show we had been asking for. From start to finish Turisas showed so much intensity, charisma, energy and passion in their performance; it spread amongst their fans as they showed the same kind of dedication for the band. That night with Turisas was one of the most fantastic experiences of my life and it has to be one of the best live shows I have seen so far.

Find Turisas on Facebook, Twitter and their official website

Tuomaslotte rates:  TTTTT

Words and photos by Charlotte Whittingham

Sonata Arctica @ Sub89, Reading 24/3/2011

This post is all about an evening of power metal that I witnessed last night at Sub89, Reading. The band I was intending to see last night were Finnish metalheads Sonata Arctica, when I saw they were touring the UK this month I just had to be there and the closest to me was the town Reading. The venue was brand new to me; it was very intimate, a lot different to what I was expecting. It was this one room with a bar on one side and a stage on the other; the general atmosphere was pleasant with it's friendly staff and excellent facilities. I bought my Sonata Arctica vest top and I was ready to enjoy some music.

The first band to play were Norwegian heavy metallers Triosphere; I heard some of their stuff before and quite liked it so I was particularly looking forward to seeing them play. Their entrance was definately a crowd pleaser where the band entered with such confidence and passion; once the music started I was absolutely amazed. Ida Haukland has such a powerful voice which sounded so amazing live and her skills on the bass guitar were spectacular. All these different musicians fit together perfectly, the melodies were awesome and there were some neck-braking guitar solos. Oh I also must mention their synchronised headbanging whilst on stage play their music gets a big thumbs up from me. Meeting them was pretty awesome too, Ida was very sweet, she reminded me of Anette from Nightwish. Hope they come back to the UK very soon.

Find Triosphere on their official website, Facebook and MySpace

Italian power metallers Labyrinth were next to play, their intro was heard on the speakers and I knew right away it was them. I had heard them before and to be honest wasn't too keen on their sound; the lead vocalist reminded me of a character from Lord Of The Rings and I loved how he got the crowd clapping. He took photos whilst on stage too, every single one was brilliant on their instruments. I really liked the keyboard sounds too. However as much as I tried to enjoy them, there was something missing in their performance that didn't seem to work for me. That was a bit dissappointing since they were such lovely guys and they tried their very best.

Find Labyrinth on their official website, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube

Last but not least headliners Sonata Arctica; I have liked them for about three years now so was really excited to see them last night, I had been listening Sonata Arctica for about two weeks non-stop to make sure I knew their material by heart. Excitedly waiting as the roadies performed soundchecks and took down a curtain to reveal another aspect of the stage, suddenly the lights went down and there were cheers all over the venue. A folk song was heard out of the speakers, to me that marked few seconds til these power metal heads embraced the stage; there was then a countdown from five and then ice blue lights spelling 'SA TOUR 2011'. I was shaking with so much excitement once I heard the smooth transition from this folk song to the instrumental of Everything Fades To Gray, it was that point I realised how much I love this band. This was possibly one of the best introductions to a band's set I had ever seen. The cheers got louder as the band members made their way onto the stage, opening with the almighty Flag In The Ground and performing it to such perfection. This got the crowd absoulutely pumping, from that I knew Sonata were well underway. The band performed a fantastic setlist mixing the old with the new from Replica to Last Amazing Grays, I also loved how the smoother tracks such as As If The World Wasn't Ending and Full Moon were performed setting a calmer tone to this energy filled evening. Tony's energy and sense of humour also highlighted the evening for me; his story of how the song Juliet was inspired through Shakespeare, singing a part of Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse Of The Heart and he knows who Tim Minchin is, he sung apart of his song. Their encore was also spectacular; particularly the song Don't Say A Word where jumping up and down to the bouncy chourus like crazy just made me so so happy. Overall a mindblowing performance, so amazing that I was sad it had to be over. I hope they will make another visit to the UK, well with the news of them working on a brand new album I'm pretty sure they will.

Find Sonata Arctica on their official website, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter

Take care now Tuomaslotte