Sonata Arctica 2014
Saturday, September 13
I drove to my friend J's house in Detroit and hung out with him and his girlfriend, M, and slept.
Sunday, September 14
We woke up around 7:00AM and left around 8:00AM in the rental car, a Hyundai Elantra. It was pretty nice, but there were random weird stains in it. (Too bad we didn't get a Hyundai SONATA!) My friend J drove. We arrived at the Hampton Inn in Pittsburgh around 1:00PM. J didn't need to take a shower or anything so he went down right away to The Altar Bar to wait in line. He was the first person there. He kept texting M shit like, "I just said hi to Tony!" and she was freaking out. (This was her first Sonata Arctica concert.) M and I had to shower and put our faces on, so we didn't make J wait; he just held our spot in line. In the end it didn't matter because we didn't have VIP tickets. We got second row though, but having been used to front row, I was annoyed. But the show was fucking amazing, so who cares! There were three openers: Blackthorne (a band from Ohio), Xandria, and Delain. I had heard of Delain before but not Xandria. Blackthorne said this was their second show ever, haha. They did okay for some nervous kids, lol. Xandria's singer reminded me of Tarja. I liked them. I did not like Delain at all at this show. Something about their singer's voice grated my ears. Sonata was just as energetic and amazing as ever, and this was my 32nd time seeing them.
Between the openers' sets, I had to sit down. The moron in me wore fucking New Rock shoes to this show, which was a very bad decision. My back and feet hurt SO bad I thought I was going to collapse. Not to mention I was getting dehydrated. M saved my ass and bought me some water. I sat down on the floor and after a few minutes, the security guy told me I wasn't allowed to sit down. What the fuck!?!?!? I stood for one more set and then sat back down before Sonata. The security guy shone his flashlight at me, but my back was to him and he apparently didn't want to get off his ass to force me to stand, so he was just being a fucking dick. God I hate those guys sometimes. They can be your best friend or your worst enemy and it's all up to how badly they're PMSing at the time.
I am in the second row to the far left, holding up my phone, looking like I've just seen Jesus or something.
Setlist if you're interested.
After the show, we waited outside for Sonata. They came out, put their stuff in the buses as usual, and then signed stuff & took photos with people as usual. We waited until most of the people were gone. I had a good long conversation with Tony about random shit like what there is to do in Pittsburgh (I recommended he see the cemeteries, haha), how the tour was going, etc. He always looks you in the eye and makes you feel like everything you're saying is important. He's a really good listener and just generally a major sweetie.
M had painted some shoes and we had to show them to Tony. Upon seeing them, he and Pasi both instantly whipped out their phones and had to take photos. We knew they'd end up on Twitter! We told M to watch Twitter and she didn't believe us but there they are!
Their tour manager, Roger, came out and was handing out leftover signed VIP posters, so even though we hadn't gotten VIP, we still got signed posters. That was pretty awesome.
We all talked with the band for a while and then we headed out to look for a place to buy beer. It turned out nowhere that sells beer or liquor was open at that time other than bars, and we were sweaty and tired from the show, so we just went back to the hotel room and slept.
Monday, September 15
We woke up around noon. We went down to the Crystal Bar and had burgers and beer. It was DELICIOUS 10/10 would do again. We headed back up to the hotel room intending to sleep because full stomachs and beer made us super drowsy. J and M were successful in this endeavor; I was not. I went for a walk. I took some photos and called my parents to let them know I was still alive. It was good. Downtown Pittsburgh is slightly boring, but fun to walk around for a while. All the bridges are pretty interesting at least. J called me while I was out on my walk and said he and M were headed out to buy booze for tonight (we didn't have a concert to go to that night) and they'd meet me back at the hotel. I started walking back and a few minutes after I got back, they arrived with beer and vodka. WOO! I ended up painting J's nails black, haha. That was a fun night. We watched hilarious videos on YouTube and had a lot of fun. I think we drank about 16 beers among the three of us.
After having been second row, we decided we would get upgrades for the third show in Joliet, and we did so online, and printed them out at the hotel.
Tuesday, September 16
We weren't hung over, thank goodness. We got up around 7 again and left for Cleveland after getting some free breakfast at the hotel.
We arrived in Cleveland around 10 or 11. We didn't have a hotel room reserved, but J had counted on there being a room available. We went to the hotel nearest to the venue, and they didn't have any rooms available yet, but they said they would have one once their staff was done cleaning it. So we went to a Walgreens to get some stuff we needed anyway (insoles for my shoes, concealer for M, etc.), and by the time we got back to the hotel, there was a room available. We went to the room and it only had one bed. M went down to the front desk and charmed the staff (she works at Red Roof Inn so she knows things, lol) into giving us a 2-bed room. The hotel wasn't as nice as the one in Pittsburgh, but I didn't really care because all we really needed were beds and a shower.
We drove to The Agora and sat out front. We were the first ones there. This was the one we had already bought VIP tickets for, so we were sure to be the first.
We talked with Roger, the tour manager, again. He is a really cool guy.
Tony and Pasi went past us with gift shop bags from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "So you went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame again, huh?" I said. "Yes! Every time!" Tony replied. I figured they would have to anyway, because Pasi is new to the band and he'd have wanted to see it. I've been there and I don't think it's all that impressive, but whatever floats your boat I guess.
J had gifts for all of them, so he gave them to the ones who were there. He told them he had gifts for the entire band and that he'd give them to them when we saw them. (They always end up passing by us when we're in line and saying hi. It's so cute. By now they really know us well.) M had painted shoes for Tony as well, which matched the ones she'd shown them in Pittsburgh. Tony opened the box and was overjoyed. He immediately hugged M. It was so cute. M had been so fucking nervous about giving him those shoes and she had said "I don't dare hug him, I'm too nervous!" but turns out he hugged her instead! Hah. J had bought Pasi a coffee mug that said "MIGHT BE VODKA" on it. Pasi thought it was great.
Later on, the rest of the band walked by. J gave Tommy this t-shirt, Henkka 2 bottles of Jagermeister (one spiced, the other regular) and a Rangers watch because Henkka had mentioned that was his favorite hockey team, and Elias a Red Wings hat. J had given Tony one a few years ago and Tony had tweeted pictures of him wearing it 3 or 4 times, which really made J squee like a little fangirl. They all loved their gifts.
We went in and did the VIP thing which just consists of going in, getting a poster, going down the table and having them sign it one by one (and anything else you might've brought to have signed), and then running up to the barricade to get front row. While we were waiting, everyone was of course playing with their phones. Tony got quite a few things from people at this show apparently.
There was a girl behind us who was 15 and had her mom with her, and it was the girl's first concert ever. Aww. (Mine was Metallica at that same age, although my mom didn't feel the need to accompany me, thank god.) Everyone at this show was pretty nice. The audience in Pittsburgh had been a bunch of douchebags, so this was a welcome change.
Blackthorne played again, then Xandria, then Delain, and then Sonata fucking ruled. By this show Delain was sort of growing on me but I didn't want to admit it. I already accepted that I like Xandria, mostly because they have an operatic singer and I fucking love that shit.
Pasi's photo from stage (we're in front; M is in the fuzzy wolf hat in the middle of the me and J)
Setlist from this show
We decided not to stay after this one, because we'd already given them their gifts and it was very late, and we'd have to get up at 6 the next morning to drive to Joliet. So we headed back to the hotel and got some sleep.
Wednesday, September 17
J drove us to Joliet. We got there without incident, thankfully. We arrived there around 11 local time (Central time zone, 1 hour earlier than Eastern). We were again the first ones at the venue (MoJoe's). I called my dad to let him know I was still alive. He and my mom were really worried because they used to live in Joliet and they seem to think it is this shithole where you'll get shot if you go outside. This wasn't the case in the area we were in, so I let them know this. The areas of Detroit where I've gone to see Sonata Arctica before have been far, far worse. I saw them at their third US show ever and I think that was the scariest neighborhood I've ever parked in, and here I still am alive.
This was probably the most annoying waiting period before any of the three concerts, mostly because of the people around me, but partially because my emotional tank had been pretty much drained. I'm an introvert, so being around people for this long of a time is really exhausting. I just don't have the mental resources to deal with people for days on end without a break, but that's kind of the nature of the beast with road trips. Plus the fans waiting in line with us were super annoying. M and I had begun to get sick, presumably from lack of sleep. We were blowing our noses and sniffling the entire time. J went and bought us some DayQuil from a convenience store around the corner, so that helped us a little bit.
(I was hoping it wouldn't end up a repeat of a show I went to in Cleveland with my friend Karen where I actually had a fever which was only kept at bay by adrenaline from being front row at a Sonata concert. The second we left the building, BAM, it hit me like a train. I was shaking and sweating and an absolute mess. I took DayQuil that I'd brought because I knew I was getting sick, sat for a few minutes in my car, and then went back out to talk with Sonata. Yep, I'm hardcore.)
They finally split us up into 2 lines: VIP and general admission, and we went in and got our 3rd set of posters signed. I was first, so after I got my poster signed, I ran up to the barricade. Front and center. M and J followed shortly after, and while we held his spot, J went to get beer for himself and M. I didn't want to risk having to pee, so I declined. Beer was expensive there anyway.
That was what Pasi posted on the Sonata Arctica Facebook page.
Setlist
Some fucking dudebros were trying to elbow their way in between the girl to my right and me. NOT GONNA HAPPEN, BRAH. I was ready to nut-kick a bitch but he backed off after I whispered "let's cockblock this douchefucker" to the girl and we put our elbows together and accomplished it.
Between Xandria and Delain I sat down, and before Sonata's set I sat down too, and no security guard gave me any shit for it. :) Sonata was amazing as usual. Tommy handed me a drumstick! WOO! That's six total now! I earned that shit yo! I also got a set list.
Afterward we went to the bathroom, and then sat on the couches that were near the bar for a while. There were still quite a few people in the venue, so we decided to sit and talk for a while. The girl who'd been next to me came over and got M's Facebook info. I just told her I didn't really use Facebook and she didn't question me further. I don't like giving out my Facebook info to people I've just met. I keep that shit as locked down as possible.
We eventually migrated outside. The 2 guys with Finnish flag t-shirts (they're behind us in Pasi's photo) were out there waiting for Sonata, but other than them, there was no one else but us. I was shocked. We waited for about half an hour and Henkka came out and J talked to him for a bit. Then Tony came out. The rest of them eventually came out as well. We all stood around talking. The 2 guys in Finnish flag t-shirts had a Finnish flag for them to sign. It was a small one, probably about 6 inches wide. Tony has a policy of not signing the Finnish flag because he feels it's defacing it. I've known this for a while, but I can't fault the dudes for not knowing that. What I can fault them for, is continuing to pester Tony and pressure him 'til he signed it, taking advantage of the fact that he is too nice to say no to fans 90% of the time. Tony signed it with the black Sharpie the guys had, but on the dark blue part of the flag, so his signature didn't show up very well, and I am sure he did that completely on purpose. I mean come on guys, he said no, please just respect that. *sigh*
I am not sure who brought it up, but Tony asked us if we wanted beer, and of course we all said yes. Tony brought out beer for everyone (fucking Corona, lol). He then led us in a toast.
We drank and talked with Tony, Elias, and Tommy for at least 2 hours. Tony mainly talked with me. We ended up talking about Ron Jeremy, penises, porn, the song I Have A Right, Finland in general, the US in general, the showers at venues (there is a shower in the bus and I did not know that until Tony told me - "Yeah, there is a shower in the bus, I know that is sort of weird isn't it?" god he is so cute) and how sometimes shower pressure sucks and sometimes it is like a fucking machine gun, I talked to Elias about Fahrenheit and Celsius and discovered that -40 degrees Fahrenheit is weirdly equal to -40 Celsius through some mathematical sorcery, talked with Elias about meeting Gene Simmons and how Gene was kind of a jerk, and a whole bunch of other shit I do not right now remember.
9 years, 34 shows. I have not always enjoyed every one of their songs, but I just can't leave them. They've been too awesome.