Stratovarius & Dream Evil, February 4th 2010 @ The Rock, Copenhagen, Denmark

Stratovarius had a rocky last decade. Falling from power metal grace by way of questionable publicity stunts, a slew of mediocre material, and, above all, the bizarre meltdown of founding band member Timo Tolkki, the Finnish powerhouse looked to be down for the count for good. On February 4th, 2010, however, The Rock--Copenhagen's premier rock'n'metal venue--saw a reformed, revitalized, and seemingly re-dedicated Stratovarius step up to the plate and live up to their spot on the top of the billing.

Dream Evil

Following a brief performance from Stratovarius' countrymen in melodeath act Tracedawn, another one of power metal's oft-mentioned purveyors took the stage. Dream Evil came in support of In the Night, an album that had just barely hit the street, its official release only a week prior to this gig. Not nearly as well versed in or attached to Dream Evil as most of my heavy metal compatriots, I wasn't overly concerned with their song choices, at least not on a personal level. I did, however, suspect that the unfamiliar material they had come to promote might result in a restless crowd.

How wrong I was! From the second "Immortal", the opening cut from the new album, began, The Rock was all smiles, all horns and all enthusiasm. Every song the Swedes churned out, be it old or new, was met with a similar reception. The choruses sounded massive; stuff like "Made of Metal" and "The Book of Heavy Metal" (sense a theme here?) was obviously written with crowd interaction in mind, and it worked out beautifully. They even invited a few of the members of Tracedawn up on stage to play the part of headbanging cheerleaders. Glorious stuff.

Armed with self-deprecating wit and a solid set of pipes, singer Niklas Isfeldt had perhaps the best showing of the night. And, despite the silliness inherent in Dream Evil's music, the rest of the band kept things tight throughout the night. Fun stuff! [5/6]

Stratovarius

It was evident right from the start that this wasn't Stratovarius using smoke and mirrors to mask their age and their flaws. This was a mature, focused metal band eager to perform the parts of their discography that earned them legions of fans in the past, with a couple of new, pretty decent songs tossed in for good measure. It was full speed ahead, and it was a sight to behold.

Jörg Michael and Jens Johansson (who recently appeared on the newest Mastermind album, which was met with positive reviews--including one on here!) showed why they are pioneers in the genre, the latter especially turning in an attention-gripping performance. How Johansson manages to make that modest-looking keyboard of his spew out sounds and melodies of such grand, melodic nature is beyond me. I suppose that's how keyboard wizardry works! Unlike most keyboard players, Jens gives you a first-class view of the action, as his weapon of choice is tilted slightly toward the audience. I, for one, was appreciative of this fact.
    Also directed at the crowd was the gaze of one Timo Kotipelto. His characteristic vocals didn't outshine those we just heard from Dream Evil, but they didn't have to; the guy's got charisma to spare, so his voice trailing off at the end of some of the more strenuous parts certain songs was easily forgiven. He did well.

The new band members also made a good account of themselves. Timo Tolkki's guitar parts were replicated competently by Matias Kupiaine, who sounded just as convincing playing his own material. I can't tell you how well replicated the bass parts were, but I will say that I was utterly taken aback at how active a role Lauri Porra played, both in terms of sound and performance--he came through crystal clear, adding a lot to the band's aural output.

The crowd was serenaded with anthem upon anthem: "Kiss of Judas", "Black Diamond", "A Million Light Years Away", "Hunting High & Low", "Eagleheart"--and many others. The hits kept on coming, mixed in with the occasional new song. There wasn't any song that really stood out as the highlight of the evening (I was sad that they skipped "Will My Soul Ever Rest In Peace?", seeing as it's the first actual heavy metal track I ever willingly listened to and I saw they'd played it recently), but it was all peaks, no valleys. I will say that I was surprised by the inclusion of "Phoenix" off of their Infinity album, especially considering it came less than 30 minutes after "Speed of Light". Granted, there are enough differences between the two songs to warrant their individual existence, but the main riffs share more than just a few similarities. That being said, there's no denying the entertainment value of watching and hearing these songs unfold in a live setting.

Aside from a crowd-pleasing setlist, Stratovarius performed a couple of solos, the most remarkable of which might have been the one churned out by their new bass player. Oh, and they also managed to squeeze in a cover of "For Those About To Rock" (thankfully sans vocals) for shits and giggles. In the end, it was hard not to leave with a smile on one's face: The guys in Stratovarius seemed to have genuinely enjoyed themselves, and, more importantly, they had turned in an impressive performance. I definitely hadn't expected them to bring the goods as convincingly as they did. Looks like they're back on track. [5/6]