Sonata Arctica live at Islington Assembly Hall in London 2022

On Halloween night I decided to go down to the Islington Assembly Hall to assist with the London date of the “Acoustic Adventures MMXII” (2022) from Sonata Arctica with the participation of Eleine.

Open the evening we have Swedish metal band Eleine. They were formed back in 2014 by vocalist Madeleine Lijestam and guitarist/growler Rikard Ekberg and the following year they release their self-titled debut album. Eleine is renowned for its dark symphonic metal sound that has influences from black metal, death metal and thrash metal with a very unique and interesting spin.

On October 14th of this year, Eleine released “Acoustic in Hell”, an EP with acoustic versions of eight of their tracks which allowed them to fit perfectly with the theme of the night and this whole tour.

Even if tonight is not their usual set-up, Eleine is able to person with the energy they are known for, involving and engaging the crowd. The band is showing that acoustic can also include a lot of power and energy and the reaction of the crowd is more than convincing judging by the cheering and applauses. Sing-a-long and high vibe, this is what Eleine creates with their music and setting the bar high for the headliner.

Just in time for a quick break and we now have Finnish power metal band, Sonata Arctica. Sonata Arctica began in 1996 under the name Tricky Beans in Kemi, Finland. In 1997 they renamed themselves Tricky Means, changing their rock ways into a more Power Metal feel. And then in 1999, it was time they decided to choose a more appropriate name for their music – Sonata Arctica.

For this tour, they released the second and final chapter of their Acoustic Adventures series of albums where they rearrange songs from the back catalogue into an acoustic version which is more delicate and beautiful without leaving behind the emotions and power they are known for (30 Sept 2022).

Tonight, we can see how the band uses different instruments in order to create many sonic layers, without intact the main melody of each song. As consequence, merging the piano and the acoustic guitar with the bass, percussion and delicate vocals from Tony Kakko, creates the perfect atmosphere for a more intimate vibe. The members of Sonata Arctica are sitting throughout the entire set and making us all feel like part of something bigger and special that not everyone is lucky to experience.

As the night progress, the crowd participation is growing, with the crowd looking and listening in awe and even if there are softer moments, there are plenty of moments where fans are clapping and singing along. It’s these specific moments that make you realise how well put together the setlist is, in order to fully make you experience the acoustic vibes.

All in all, it was a great night and the band managed to fill up the entire room despite being a late Monday evening.

Eleine Setlist: