I also conducted interviews with Dark Tranquillity vocalist Mikael Stanne and Insomnium frontman and bassist Niilo Sevanen, and both went very well, which is always good.
First up were our local homeboys in Primalfrost. This was my second time seeing them, and they put on a fantastic performance. Their set was only 4 songs though, and reason being was that they played the longest song from their album Prosperous Visions entitled "Cathartic Quest", which clocked in at over 14 minutes and they only had half an hour to play. They also played my favourite track off the album: "An End To Tyranny", so Dean, if you're reading this, thank you for playing that track dude! Third band was Insomnium. There were a bunch of crowdsurfers during their set who always ended up getting dropped as they were about to reach the stage, plus there was no barricade, which I think is a big mistake (I'll explain why another time). Being that Insomnium were very special guests on the tour, their set lasted for an hour, touching on songs like "While They Sleep" (my favourite track), "Revelation", "Ephermeral", "Unsung" and "Mortal Share" just to name a few. From what Niilo told me in our interview, the fans' support for the band was beyond their expectations with tons of merch sales, so he said that they're already in the stages of planning a headlining tour for North America in the fall.
Dark Tranquillity was one of those bands who I've heard some songs from, but I've never seen live. After seeing them live, I couldn't believe what I was missing out on all this time. Their live show was intense, dynamic but fun all at the same time. I'm glad that they played two of my favourite tracks, those being "Damage Done" and "The Mundane & The Magic". During the latter, two female crowdsurfers made it on to the stage and Mikael Stanne gave them hugs before they dove back into the crowd. During "Uniformity", they had the music video for the track playing on the video screen. Other tracks the band touched on included "Through Smudged Lenses", "Final Resistance", "Treason Wall" and ended with "Misery's Crown", leaving the crowd completely satisfied. |
CONSTRUCT WORLD TOURJournalist: Alex Stojanovic
Photographer: Navneet Johal Published: January 30, 2015 Dark Tranquillity
Insomnium Valfreya Primalfrost The Opera House
Toronto, ON Canada January 11, 2015 Presented by: Inertia Entertainment
2015 has just gotten started, and we've already seen some good shows, with many more to come. On a cold and chilly Sunday evening, Dark Tranquillity came to invade the Opera House once again on their Construct world tour. I wasn't originally planning on going to this show, because our other journalist was going to cover it, but when I was informed that she wouldn't be able to make it, I was asked to step in, and I said I would, because I'm always happy to step in and help out.
Next up were Valfreya from Montreal. They entered the stage in medieval costumes, and the drummer even wore a knight's helmet, which was pretty funny. As they were setting up on stage and I saw their outfits, I immediately knew what to expect from them, and that was songs about knights, dragons, swords, kings and castles. For the last song, they tossed a bunch of styrofoam swords in the crowd, and there was a wall of death, Lord Of The Rings style with everyone fencing and moshing at the same time, which had me smiling and laughing for a while.
Closing off the night was Dark Tranquillity. Before they hit the stage, there was a 6-minute countdown with "Iron Man" playing on the P.A. Everyone counted down the last 10 seconds, it almost felt like a New Years Eve party, then the band hit the stage, beginning their set with "The Science Of Noise". This is also the first show I've seen in a small venue that had a video screen. That's something you don't really see at small shows. Each song had its own animation. Mikael Stanne's stage moves were sort of in the vein of David Lee Roth and Steven Tyler where he was almost prancing across the stage, but he wasn't as flashy as Tyler or Roth. This is also the first show I've seen where a band played without a bassist. As we all know, Daniel Antonsson left the band in early 2013, before recording sessions for Construct began, and with the touring cycle for Construct going on for almost two years with non-stop touring, the band didn't have enough time to find a new bassist, but Martin Brandstrom handled the bass sound on his keyboard.
Sword fight in pit during Valfreya set.
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DARK TRANQUILLITY
Mikael Stanne - Vocals Niklas Sundin - Guitars Martin Henriksson - Guitars Anders Jivarp - Drums Martin Brandstrom - Keyboards Label: Century Media Records Website: www.darktranquillity.com www.facebook.com/dtofficial |
INSOMNIUM
Niilo Sevanen - Vocals & bass Ville Friman - Guitars & backing vocals Markus Hirvonen - Drums Markus Vanhala - Guitars Label: Century Media Records Website: www.insomnium.net |
VALFREYA
Grazzt - Guitars & backing vocals Shark - Keyboards Crook - Lead vocals Arbic - Bass Karhu - Guitars & backing vocals Jotunn - Drums Label: Maple Metal Records Website: www.valfreyaofficial.com |
PRIMALFROST
Dean Paul Arnold - Lead vocals & guitars Ric Galvez - Guitars Larry Varvarici - Bass Matt Ianuzzi - Drums Label: Maple Metal Records Website: www.facebook.com/primalfrost |
