The Tour Diary (Our version)

[K.Mage101]

I'm just back from the Monterrey show, the set list was something like:

1. Maniac Dance
2. Speed of Light
3. The Kiss Of Judas
4. Legions
5. Twilight Symphony
6. Father Time
7. The land of Ice and Snow
8. Forever
9. Against the Wind
10. Destiny
11. Hunting high and Low
12. Black Diamond

And maybe 1 o 2 songs im missing.

The set list was somewhat short because they where sharing the stage with Lacrimosa.

Hmmm, I think Kiss Of Judas was No.4 after Legions. Well, anyways, I was with Stratoplayer and Fernando_Levy. You could imagine, we bought two shirts apice, and we put on the colored ones (4 reds, 3 blues, and a one-man-army of 1 grey) And on the waitining line we were surounded by the black sea of Strato shirts and one I think other red shirt, so we kinda stood out :headbang: ! Anyway, we were at the near-very-front, so we got a good look at Jens and others as they prepeared their stuff.
Stratoplayer: We were a good three feet from Koti and Tolki.

Once the concert started, they played Maniac Dance and Speed Of Light with a mere 3 second interval ( :funhi: ) unfortunately, due to technical errors, Jens was bearly heard *slits own veins*. Koti was actually surpriesed how well we all sang (Lacro fans included :headbang:) as he was doing one of the classic "can you scream louder than X city?", he look genuinely surpriesed by our responce. Koti said "Tomorow we are going to a small city named Mexico City" (Jens did a horror effect with the hapsicord [Rin, rin, rin.])"Think you can scream louder?" Response: "YEAHH!!!!!". When Black Diamonds played, Koti started "is it Red? Is it Blue? Is it White? Is It Oink? No, Its Black, Black, Black Diamonds!!!!" Even the Lacros fans started jumping like there is no tomorow (trust me there isn't).

After the gig we started stalking the near Carls Jr Hoping Jens might just take a bath and come to get some grub (seeing their hotel was mearly a block from the place ) but to no avail :crazy1: . Any way, theres my two-bits on the subject.

[stratoplayer]

well iv'e got very little to add to K.mages report, we were 8 guys, Stratosum was also with us, the night was magical, jens recorded us just prior to the show, he did have some technical problems but they fixed them, in some songs we sung louder than koti (speed of light, the kiss of judas, twilight symphony, forever, hunting high and low and black diamond!!!)

i was in the god damned slam for crying out loud, i was completly beat to shit in it, but i was 3 feet from koti and tolkki, and i sung MOST of the songs loudly (except maniac dance and just carry on, i haven;t learned those yet) and i think koti acknolegde me , he sort of winked when i was singing kiss of judas and speed of light)

the night was magical even better than my wildes hopes , the concert was about an hour and a half (could be longer but hey, what the hell)
i told the other guys at the Carl's Junior "we are not worthy and we have been purged of our musical sins, most of us listened to punk before strato )

although i do feel bad about lacrimosa, over half of the people there left when strato was through... us included... so that ought to have hurt

[stratoplayer]

damn i forgot, here is the setlist as i remember it

1 maniac dance
2 speed of light
3 legions
4 the kiss of judas
5 twilight symphony
6 just carry on
7 destiny
8 father time
9 land of ice and snow
10 forever
11 against the wind
12 hunting high and low
13 BLACK DIAMOND!!!!!

again i must say it... THEY WERE FUCKING AMAZING!!!! :headbang:

[Burning Reflection]

Thanks for those last couple of posts That's what I want to read about. Concert reviews+ setlists! Don't worry about listening to punk before as long as you've learned the error of your ways (as I have too)!

[stratoplayer]

of course, strato heals all!

[Botello]

Some of you stayed there long enough to see Jens during Lacrimosa's concert... it was really funny !! He touched the guitarist on his back and he almost jumped, hahaha...
And both shows last night were amazing...

[fernando_levy]

Like Kmage and Stratoplayer already mentioned, I was with them and other 5 guys during the gig. There are simply no words to describe the first time you see stratovarius live (which was our case!). We'd been waiting for stratovarius since we got to know their music (about 2 years ago, a short time after the last time they had come here (August 2003), so it had sucked) and I REALLY thought it would take them WAYYYYYYYYYYYY LONGER to come here, with all the problems they had last year and everything.... so it was much quicker than we had expected!

Regarding the new bass player, Lauri Porra.... HE FUCKING RULES!!!! He's a total bass expert keeping in mind he's about 27... sometimes he played the bass as fast as tolkki played the guitar... or maybe even faster . Jorg threw one of his drum sticks and it bumped off the hand of Kmage, damn ! And Kotipelto threw watter bottles at us... one of those went flying past my left side and it got everyone around the area wet, it was fucking fun! Next time they come here, I'll make sure I get their pics and autographs... rock on, long live Stratovarius !!! :headbang:

As for the set list, I believe it was the following:

1 maniac dance
2 speed of light
3 legions
4 the kiss of judas
5 twilight symphony
6 just carry on
7 destiny
8 father time
9 land of ice and snow
10 forever
11 against the wind (I yelled out the name of this song and Koti pointed out the place where I was standing, so I think he heard me )
12 hunting high and low
13 black diamond


The band members were fucking great... they really care about their fans and I really hope they'll come here again. They even drank Tecate (a famous Mexican beer brand)! One of our friends took lots of pictures during the gig... maybe we can post some of them after he downloads them. Fans around the world... keep us posted!

[Stratobanger]

It was fucking awesome!!!!!!

I think the set list was something like this

1-Maniac Dance
2-Speed Of Light
3-The Kiss Of Judas
4-Legions
5-Twilight Symphony
6-United
7-Destiny
8-Against The Wind
9-Father Time
10-Forever
11-Hunting High & Low
12-Black Diamond

STRATO FUCKING RULE!!!!

[claudiodxe]

Yeah... the last one is the most accurate... from the new album the just played maniac dance and united...

Also the new bassist looked very energetic and young... nice guy nice playing...

In case you're wondering... jens couldnt be heard very well at the very front because his output was conected to the source of sound at the sides of the stage (doesnt have an amp for microphoning... they just connect his sound directly...).,.. but if you were in the back you could hear him perfectly...

strato rocks

[Cristiane]

They even drank Tecate (a famous Mexican beer brand)! One of our friends took lots of pictures during the gig... maybe we can post some of them after he downloads them. Fans around the world... keep us posted!

Tecate... this sounds pretty interesting!!
you guys should introduce them Jose Cuervo, if I was in Mexico I'd die drinking tequila! Best stuff I ever tasted!

[K.Mage101]

Some of you stayed there long enough to see Jens during Lacrimosa's concert... it was really funny !! He touched the guitarist on his back and he almost jumped, hahaha...
And both shows last night were amazing...

So thats why Jens was not at the Carls...

[browneyedgirl]

They even drank Tecate (a famous Mexican beer brand)! One of our friends took lots of pictures during the gig... maybe we can post some of them after he downloads them. Fans around the world... keep us posted!

Tecate... this sounds pretty interesting!!
you guys should introduce them Jose Cuervo, if I was in Mexico I'd die drinking tequila! Best stuff I ever tasted!

Yeah--I wonder how the guys are going to enjoy their stay in Margarita-ville/Mexico City?

Thats a song about Tequila that was popular in the '70s, btw!
"Margarita-ville", I mean. Appropriate Song, btw!

@Cristiane, I love the addition to your Sig(very true) and your new avatar is very cute!

[Cristiane]

Yeah--I wonder how the guys are going to enjoy their stay in Margarita-ville/Mexico City?

Thats a song about Tequila that was popular in the '70s, btw!
"Margarita-ville", I mean. Appropriate Song, btw!

@Cristiane, I love the addition to your Sig(very true) and your new avatar is very cute!

I'll search for this song, I also love margueritas!

and thanks Sherry! As you know I love fairies and mystical things and this one is really cute, sad though.
The signature is a quote from the movie "City of Angels", I was searching for some info about the movie today and found it. I also think this is very true
(and I still owe you a letter but I've been pretty busy since I'm back - my boss is on vacations and there is plenty of work to do here - so wait for me please! )

[browneyedgirl]

Yeah--I wonder how the guys are going to enjoy their stay in Margarita-ville/Mexico City?

Thats a song about Tequila that was popular in the '70s, btw!
"Margarita-ville", I mean. Appropriate Song, btw!

@Cristiane, I love the addition to your Sig(very true) and your new avatar is very cute!

I'll search for this song, I also love margueritas!

and thanks Sherry! As you know I love fairies and mystical things and this one is really cute, sad though.
The signature is a quote from the movie "City of Angels", I was searching for some info about the movie today and found it. I also think this is very true
(and I still owe you a letter but I've been pretty busy since I'm back - my boss is on vacations and there is plenty of work to do here - so wait for me please! )

City of Angels with Nickolas Cage&Meg Ryan? Oh, I loved that movie! It was so sad, though. But, there was a Crow movie called that, too&it was very good! I cannot remember that line, though.
We have all the time in the world, so don't worry about it!
BTW, that song is kinda Corny&Country/Western--I do not think you'll like it--it's by Jimmy Buffett.

[Cristiane]

City of Angels with Nickolas Cage&Meg Ryan? Oh, I loved that movie! It was so sad, though.

Exactly that one! It was really sad indeed...

[StragOvariuS]

I'm just back from the Monterrey show, the set list was something like:

1. Maniac Dance
2. Speed of Light
3. The Kiss Of Judas
4. Legions
5. Twilight Symphony
6. Father Time
7. The land of Ice and Snow
8. Forever
9. Against the Wind
10. Destiny
11. Hunting high and Low
12. Black Diamond

And maybe 1 o 2 songs im missing.

The set list was somewhat short because they where sharing the stage with Lacrimosa.

Hmmm, I think Kiss Of Judas was No.4 after Legions. Well, anyways, I was with Stratoplayer and Fernando_Levy. You could imagine, we bought two shirts apice, and we put on the colored ones (4 reds, 3 blues, and a one-man-army of 1 grey) And on the waitining line we were surounded by the black sea of Strato shirts and one I think other red shirt, so we kinda stood out :headbang: ! Anyway, we were at the near-very-front, so we got a good look at Jens and others as they prepeared their stuff.
Stratoplayer: We were a good three feet from Koti and Tolki.

Once the concert started, they played Maniac Dance and Speed Of Light with a mere 3 second interval ( :funhi: ) unfortunately, due to technical errors, Jens was bearly heard *slits own veins*. Koti was actually surpriesed how well we all sang (Lacro fans included :headbang:) as he was doing one of the classic "can you scream louder than X city?", he look genuinely surpriesed by our responce. Koti said "Tomorow we are going to a small city named Mexico City" (Jens did a horror effect with the hapsicord [Rin, rin, rin.])"Think you can scream louder?" Response: "YEAHH!!!!!". When Black Diamonds played, Koti started "is it Red? Is it Blue? Is it White? Is It Oink? No, Its Black, Black, Black Diamonds!!!!" Even the Lacros fans started jumping like there is no tomorow (trust me there isn't).

After the gig we started stalking the near Carls Jr Hoping Jens might just take a bath and come to get some grub (seeing their hotel was mearly a block from the place ) but to no avail :crazy1: . Any way, theres my two-bits on the subject.

seems that was fucking great!
And i love the Mexico, specially Don Ramon!

[Eagle+]

Yesterday Stratovarius did a marvelous performance at Mexico City, Koti is such a great frontman and turns up the crowd easily, the setlist was very similar to what they have been playing but nevertheless, awesome. To close up they couldn't decide between "Hunting High And Low" and "Black Diamond", so they decided to play both. "...we have two songs for the end and we couldn't decide, so you'll get dos mas (two more)".

The phrase of the night was "Viva México cabrones", as Koti kept repeating it over and over again with the crowd going insane with each. Near the end, they brought up some classical mexican hats and some tequila too.

The setlist was something like this (maybe I'm messing up):

1. Maniac Dance.
2. Speed of Light.
3. The Kiss of Judas.
4. Legions.
5. Twilight Symphony.
6. Will The Sun Rise?
7. Lauri Porra's Bass Doodle. (Awesome, he ended up with the mexican anthem and the crowd went insane).
8. Timo Tolkki vs Jens Johansson Duel. (Guitar vs Keyboards, the crowd was all with Timo, but both did great).
9. The Land of Ice And Snow.
10. United.
11. Against The Wind.
12. Season of Change.
13. Father Time.
14. Coming Home.
15. Destiny.
16. Freedom.
17. Hunting High And Low.
18. Black Diamond.

A little bit over two hours, a great show but I still can't understand how one guy behind me said "...it sucked, "Black Diamond" was the only good one..."

[IceBreaker]

Well, there are still some masterpieces misisng on the setlist and I found there unfortunately 4 songs I don´t usually like. Just wonder where they got an idea to play "Freedom" now live? I think that song even isn´t on the top of the official song poll.
But the guitar&keys competition sounds extremely interesting.

[Stratofanius]

16. Freedom.

Freedom??

[Pikkusielu]

16. Freedom.

Freedom??

Why not?

[IceBreaker]

16. Freedom.

Freedom??

Why not?

A boring too fast "renkutus".

[Pikkusielu]

16. Freedom.

Freedom??

Why not?

A boring too fast "renkutus".

Liian iloinen ehkä.

[Burning Reflection]

I know it's not that technical of a song, but I love songs like freedom. Sure you could bash it whatever way you want, but songs like this are the reason why I love Strato. I think it's very bold and daring to songs like that; not many people have the courage to express themselves like that!
I think the setlist is missing Forever Free!

[Eagle+]

Uhh, my bad... that's a typo...

16. Freedom --- 16. Forever

Sorry =(

[Twilight Legionnaire]

Uhh, my bad... that's a typo...

16. Freedom --- 16. Forever

Sorry =(

*Sighs in relief.*

[IceBreaker]

Ah, then everything is normally. Forever appears of course on the song poll and is one of the most wanted livesongs. Playing Freedom live just sounds too confusing (at least for me).

[stratoplayer]

i wouldn't mind, its possibly the Happiest strato song ever!

[fernando_levy]

Lauri played part of the national anthen?? FUCKING AMAZING! And those solos... damn Lacrimosa, Stratovarius would have played for a longer time if it hadn't been for them...

[Eagle+]

lol, yeah. If it wasn't for Lacrimosa they would have played more

[stratoplayer]

i curse lacrimosa for stealing strato's time (they played close to 3 fucking hours)