KuopioRock: Sonata Arctica

Well, I started going through the KuopioRock pictures in an upside down order. Sonata Arctica was the last performer of the evening (well not quite, since Indica was the last another stage). We’d last seen Sonata when they were warming up for Nightwish in the infamous Hartwall Arena gig of 2004. What can I say, we live in Eastern Finland and generally avoid festivals…

Sonata had a strict limit of shooting three songs from the pit. For some reason, the lighting in the first three songs in these cases tends to be quite dark and heavy on the backlight when compared to the lighting in later songs. Which is why I continued to shoot from the audience.

In the Sonata Arctica forums I read some disappointed comments on the gig from fans (who’ve seen the band play more than enough times). I don’t know about them, but when its the first time of seeing one of your favorite bands for the first time in five years I try to enjoy it to the fullest. And enjoy I did.

In fact, I once again noticed how hard it is to shoot when your singing along – and sometimes even moshing or jumping up and down. As a photographer (and fan) I loved the way especially Tony interacts with audience. And how lively he is when performing – even if the lighting meant that I have lots of shots of a very blurry Tony.

And as an Ibanez and shredding fan, watching Elias from close up was a treat.

One of my best moments of the whole festival after Tony threw the following pose on stage:

As a fan, I acknowledged his interaction by giving him a thumbs up. He answered with the following:

Alas, the shot isn’t all that good since I had to scramble to get my camera back up. But I will always remember the interaction.

More pictures in our gallery.