It was a quite empty venue that greeted these three bands for their last date of the tour. TRACEDAWN though didn't seem to mind and they gave it all from the start. I wouldn't call them typically Finnish but sure, there were traces of CHILDREN OF BODOM and NORTHER in there. And of course those extremely joyful keyboards that are typical for Finnish music. Even if their music was quite impersonal they were much fun to watch, I got that feeling that time was speeding when they played, like small energizer bunnies on stage. It still got more hysteric and totally hilarious when Antti Lappalainen lost track of what he was saying and out came some really odd mix of Swedish, Finish and English in a big mish-mash. Bass player Pekko Heikkila tried to slide tackle the Engle guitar stack and ended up like a turtle on his back in the stage left corner, never stopping playing though. Mischief's like that really raises the impression of band and when it's fun to watch the nature of the music doesn't matter as much. But yes, this is a very young band, origin from 2007 this band has already managed to put out two albums, latest one "Ego Anthem" was released about half a year ago and they absolutely have the future in front of them and I do want to see more of them.

DREAM EVIL kept up the high standard and I must admit, the last couple of times I've seen them my opinion has changed completely. From seeing them as some half pathetic ploy band to realize that they have a whole bunch of very nice songs. Sure, everything around them isn't dead serious but now they really seem to enjoy what they're doing and doing it without making a joke out of it. DREAM EVIL just released their fifth full length album "In The Night" which sounds very promising, they sure have made another bunch of catchy metal tunes. I'm sure "Bang Your Head" will be another must have in the set even if it's a lot heavier and rougher than the rest of their material. I don't know if it was TRACEDAWN's energy that affected DREAM EVIL this time or that they just were happy to go home after this gig but DREAM EVIL sure was more energetic and inspired than I've ever seen. Antti joined in on the vocals for "The Book Of Heavy Metal" and stirred things up even further. The only downside really is that DREAM EVIL uses a lot of pre-taped stuff, a matter of taste of course but it still is a little turn off for me. But who am I to complain about something that sounded awesome, even got goose bumps of "Crusaders Anthem".

The total of metalheads on the floor in front of the stage got thicker the longer the evening passed by and I must say the crowd was at least fairly decent when STRATOVARIUS hit the stage. The thing though was that the ones who actually showed up were there to see the band and determined to do the best of it. I've never really been a fan of Finish Power Metal but I must admit that STRATOVARIUS have had and still have the ability to write memorable melodies. Then, that I can't stand Power Metal when it get too light weight is my problem. But to my surprise the show passed very fast and when they played songs like "The Kiss Of Judas", "Million Light Years Away" or "Winter Skies" STRATOVARIUS sounded really awesome. I was absolutely impressed by their performance. That there's an amazing line up of musicians behind Timo Kotipelto no one can deny.

New guitar player Matias Kupiainen did a very cool solo but most the impressive thing of the night was playtime he and bass player Lauri Porra had on stage. It's amazing how instruments can sound when people knows how to (ab)use them. Both Jens Johansson and Jorg Michael got the chance to shine too of course, with not boring solos. More bands should learn from this, do it short and tasteful. Timo did great too! Especially in those epic songs, his else quite whiny voice really suites those types of songs, where he can put some force into the tone and really sing. I doubt STRATOVARIUS were too unhappy about the response they got at Klubben because they even added a song to the setlist, "Higher We Go" from latest release "Polaris" were added before "Paradise". Timo ended the evening with a challenge for the crowd, to scream louder than the other last couple of other towns on the tour. I must say people gave it all, it's really amazing to hear such response to the singers command. If Stockholm won we never got to know but I'm sure we couldn't have been far behind if we didn't win that challenge.

STRATOVARIUS setlist:

01. "Destiny"
02. "Hunting High And Low"
03. "Speed Of Light"
04. "The Kiss Of Judas"
05. "Deep Unknown"
06. "Million Light Years away"
07. "Winter Skies"
08. "Phoenix"
09. "Forever Is Today"
10. "Higher We Go"
11. "Paradise"
12. "Eagleheart"

Encore:
13. "Forever"
14. "SOS"
15. "Black Diamond"

(photos by "Eagleheart" Erika)