The Arctic Storm Tour brought a powerful blend of musical genres to Helsinki’s Tavastia on October 5th, 2023. With headliners SONATA ARCTICA, glam rock sensations RECKLESS LOVE, and the up-and-coming alternative metal outfit LUNA KILLS, the stage was set for an unforgettable night of music.
LUNA KILLS, a band we’ve been following since their early days, proved once again why they’re destined for greatness. Led by the charismatic Lotta Ruutiainen, LUNA KILLS brought a level of energy to the stage that had even the most reserved Finns in the audience moving and singing along. Ruutiainen‘s energetic stage presence, coupled with her flawless vocals and stage antics, left the crowd awestruck and we wouldn’t be surprised if they gained a lot of new fans because of this. New songs like “BULLET,” “deep cuts,” and “super sick” translated into powerful live performances. What’s even more impressive is that for a relatively unknown band, they managed to gather a lot of people to the venue from the start of the evening; a rarity in Finland where support acts are often overlooked. The only downside was that their set was way too short; we could have watched them play all night (on repeat!)
While special guest RECKLESS LOVE might have seemed like an odd choice for this tour, the audience clearly disagreed. The band primarily focused on their latest album, “Turbo Rider,” and sprinkled in some of their hits like “Monster.” Fans enthusiastically sang along, creating an electric and dynamic atmosphere. The band is pretty entertaining to watch live as they move along to their poppy tunes with lots of swag. At one point.
In recent years, Finnish power metal titans SONATA ARCTICA re-discovered their own music by creating acoustic renditions and also went on an Acoustic Adventures tour throughout Finland and Europe. While they had a good run, it was clearly time for the band to leave the acoustic instruments behind and return to their power metal roots with a bang. The Arctic Storm tour featured a setlist with a thrilling mix of their classic power metal anthems and selected newer tracks, carefully curated to inject a little nostalgia into the evening.
The show kicked off with lots of energy when the band started playing “Black Sheep,” after a Hans Zimmer intro. The band clearly is in good shape, playing fast power metal songs with much ease and lots of energy. The band interspersed some newer tracks into the setlist, “The Wolves Die Young,” “Closer to an Animal,” and “Cinderblox” followed trying to keep the energetic arch to the maximum level. “I Have a Right” slowed down the pace a little, personally, this is a song I wish at this point they’d just leave out of their setlist, but it seemed like most of the audience disagreed with me as everybody sang along loudly to it.
Then, the show focused mostly on older material, “Paid In Full,” followed by lots of enthusiastic cheers from the audience. “8th Commandment” brought the set back to second gear and the band only slowed down with fan-favorite “Tallulah,” which a lot of people sang along loudly to as it is also a very popular karaoke song in Finland as they held up their phones to provide some atmospheric lights. Singer Tony Kakko got to rest his voice a little with “FullMoon” as he only sang the bridge and a little bit of the chorus, but left the audience mostly singing along to the classic themselves. The band concluded their set with the obligatory “Don’t Say a Word,” which naturally ends with the “Vodka outro,” which at this point it would be a criminal act to leave it out.
In conclusion, the Arctic Storm Tour‘s stop at Tavastia in Helsinki delivered an unforgettable night of music with LUNA KILLS impressing as a rising star, RECKLESS LOVE entertaining everyone with their glam rock charisma, and SONATA ARCTICA reaffirming their status as power metal legends. It was a night that celebrated the diversity of the Finnish music scene and left fans eager for more.
Setlist
- Black Sheep
- The Wolves Die Young
- Closer to an Animal
- Cinderblox
- I Have a Right
- Paid in Full
- Replica
- 8th Commandment
- Tallulah
- FullMoon
- The Cage (Encore)
- Don’t Say a Word (with Vodka outro) (Encore)
