Timo Tolkki Celebrated The 25th Anniversary Of Stratovarius Visions Album at Sargento Pimienta, Lima, Peru On October 25, 2022.

 

 

I remember that in the mid-90s, heavy metal had been displaced by grunge and alternative music. Many of my favorite bands changed their sound to fit what was trending and the classic 80’s sound was disappearing along with bands that didn’t want to follow trends. My disappointment was great. One day I met a metalhead friend who suggested I listen to European bands that hadn’t given up on the classic sound of metal and had rather repowered it. One of those bands that impacted me and renewed my faith in metal was Stratovarius, a Power Metal band that came from Finland. The album he showed me was Visions, perhaps the most successful of this band. The impact was instantaneous and from there Power Metal marked a new beginning in my long career as a fan of hard rock and heavy metal.

With this introduction you can imagine the joy I had when the producer DangerSteel announced the arrival of Timo Tolkki, founding guitarist of the band and main composer until he retired in 2008, to celebrate 25 years of the emblematic Visions album. This was Tolkki’s second visit to Peru, the previous one was in 2019 when he gave a concert accompanied by Peruvian musicians who reviewed several of the classic Stratovarius songs. This new visit to Latin America was originally planned for May of this year but due to Covid-19 it had to be postponed until October, the tour began in Colombia and covered countries such as Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Mexico. Timo Tolkki arrived accompanied by a great band made up of vocalist Alessandro Conti (Luca Turilli´s Rhapsody, Twilight Force), Jari Kainulainen (Stratovarius, Masterplan), Alex Landenburg (Kamelot, Luca Turilli´s Rhapsody) and Eduardo Geff. This time the place of the concert was the Sargento Pimienta, a historic bar located in the tourist district of Barranco, in Lima, Peru.

The band in charge of opening the show was Dangerous Project, a Peruvian Power Metal band that presented a forceful setlist made up of the songs from their debut album Cosmic Vision performed in the same order in which they appear on the album. The powerful voice of Javo Moscoso merged with the guitar of Oscar Martin and the influences of neoclassical metal were heard from the song “Evil Strike/Hide In The Shadows” to “Into The Eternity”, which closed a presentation much applauded by the public. Dangerous Project is one of the best bands that have emerged in Peru in recent years and they showed it that night.

 

Band:

Javo Moscoso – Vocals

Oscar Martin – Guitar

Eddi Geott – Bass

Rod Goyas – Drums

 

 

Setlist:

1. Evil Strike (Intro)

2. Hide In The shadows

3. Burning Angel

4. Cosmic Vision

5. Guardian del Sol

6. El fuego En Mi CorazĂ³n

7. She Doesn’t Believe In Love

8. Never Surrender

9. Into The Eternity

 

At 9:45 pm and in the midst of the excitement of the attendees that filled the venue, the members of the band appeared on the stage followed by Timo who was received with shouts and applause that increased when the chords of “Forever Free” were played. This would be the beginning of a show that included not only songs from the celebrated Visions, but also from other albums composed and recorded by the Finn such as Fourth Dimension, Episode, Destiny, Infinite and Elements. The song “I Did It My Way” from his Revolution Renaissance project was also included.

The concert was full of funny anecdotes such as when Tolkki’s guitar forcefulness caused the amplifier to burn out and they had to get a replacement that turned out to be a Marshall, just the brand that the guitarist liked least. At another point he began to play the notes of the Pink Panther song that was very celebrated as well as the chords of Survivor’s Eye Of the Tiger. Another emotional moment was when the band asked for a couple to go on stage, many offered and Tolkki selected one who nervously went up to be greeted with hugs by the band. The reason for this was to ask the groom to declare his love to the bride prior to the performance of the song “Forever”. The emotion of the couple spread to everyone.

After almost two hours of concert, the band performed “Black Diamond” to the fury of the audience who did not stop at any time to sing the songs and show their love for Timo who looked very happy on stage. The band showed a lot of charisma and Conti’s voice was highly praised after the concert. At the end some of the members came to sign autographs and take some photos with the attendees who were still in the room. At the time of writing this review the band is on its way home after finishing this short Latin American tour in Mexico.

 

Band:

Timo Tolkki – Guitar

Alessandro Conti – Vocals

Jari Kainulainen – Bass

Alex Landenburg – Drums

Eduardo Geff – Keyboards

 

 

Setlist:

1. Forever Free

2. Eagleheart

3. I Walk To My Own Song

4. Against The Wind

5. Twilight Symphony

6. Speed Of Light

7. Paradise

8. Stratosphere

9. 4000 Rainy Nights

10. Visions

11. Father Time

12. Hunting High And Low

13. Forever

14. I Did It My Way

15. Black Diamond

 

 

 

 

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