Sonata Arctica Gears Up For American Tour

SONATA ARCTICA is currently preparing their fifth trip to North America. Returning to the western hemisphere to play 21 shows with fellow Finns Nightwish (fronted by new Swedish lead singer Anette Olzon) and playing six headlining shows of their own, keyboardist Henkka shares the process of choosing set lists, the prospect of shows in Hawaii and Las Vegas, shopping lists, liver transplants, and an update on Conan O’Brien:

“About the set lists, it's a process of trial and error, mostly error. We actually had some time to rehearse a couple of songs we're never played live before and we're gonna do these now on this tour. Most of the songs will, however, be a nice mixture of old and new favorites, some to which you can dance and some to which you can't. We tried hard to bring this tour to Hawaii, but not hard enough. I think I sent a request to have all off-days in either Hawaii or Las Vegas but neither seems to be possible this time, so we'd probably end up staying on the bus in front of a Wal-mart somewhere. Speaking of Wal-mart, our shopping lists include: socks, Chivas Regal 12 years old, Frank Zappa CDs, cowboy boots, Marlboro Lights, ice, more Chivas, and new Zippo lighters. I sincerely believe our Finnish super-livers will survive many more tours than this one, so no liver transplants will be necessary. Conan O’Brien should still fear having us show up in his studio audience because we WILL prevail! Eventually we're bound to succeed according to the great prophecies of Reverend Lance. What would be greater than appearing on his first show when he replaces Jay Leno? We'll keep the rest of the plan a secret.”

The band will be keep their fans updated via their Royal Artist Club mobile blog with “behind-the-scenes” adventures during their North American trek. The site can be viewed here.

SONATA ARCTICA's latest album, Unia - released in North America last May - landed on international album charts in Finland (#1), Japan (#7), Sweden (#27), Germany (#35), Switzerland (#40), and Austria (#62). The "Paid In Full" single also secured the #1 Single slot in their mother land.

Here are the latest Sonata Arctica tour dates:

28.08.2008 Jaxx, Springfield (VA) - (Headline show) USA
29.08.2008 The Trocadero, Philadelphia (PA) USA
30.08.2008 The Palladium, Worcester (MA) USA
31.08.2008 The Chance, Poughkeepsie (NY) - (Headline show) USA
01.09.2008 Metropolis, Montreal (QC) Canada
02.09.2008 The Docks, Toronto (ON) Canada
04.09.2008 Agora Theater, Cleveland (OH) USA
05.09.2008 Harpo's Concert Theatre, Detroit (MI) USA
06.09.2008 House of Blues, Chicago (IL) USA
07.09.2008 Station 4, St. Paul (MN) - (Headline show) USA
09.09.2008 Showbox SoDo, Seattle (WA) USA
10.09.2008 Roseland Theatre, Portland (OR) USA
11.09.2008 Big Easy, Boise (ID) - (Headline show) USA
12.09.2008 The Fillmore, San Francisco (CA) USA
13.09.2008 The Wiltern, Los Angeles (CA) USA
14.09.2008 Marquee Theatre, Phoenix (AZ) USA
16.09.2008 Palladium Ballroom, Dallas (TX) USA
17.09.2008 La Zona Rosa, Austin (TX) USA
19.09.2008 Meridian, Houston (TX) USA
20.09.2008 House of Blues, New Orleans (LA) USA
21.09.2008 Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg (FL) USA
23.09.2008 Valarium, Knoxville (TN) USA
24.09.2008 Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte (NC) USA
25.09.2008 Uncle Pleasant's, Louisville (KY) - (Headline show) USA
26.09.2008 Rams Head Live, Baltimore (MD) USA
27.09.2008 Nokia Theatre, New York City (NY) USA
28.09.2008 Penny Arcade, Rochester (NY) - (Headline show) USA
18.10.2008 Loudpark Festival, Tokyo Japan
31.10.2008 Folketspark, Huskvarna Sweden
01.11.2008 Rockefeller, Oslo Norway
02.11.2008 Tyrol, Stockholm Sweden
04.11.2008 Tivoli, Utrecht The Netherlands
05.11.2008 Elysée Montmartre, Paris France
07.11.2008 Razzmatazz 1, Barcelona Spain
08.11.2008 La Riviera, Madrid Spain
09.11.2008 Rock Star Live, Bilbao Spain
10.11.2008 Bikini, Toulouse France
12.11.2008 Fillmore, Piacenza Italy
13.11.2008 Gasometer, Vienna Austria
14.11.2008 Petõfi Hall, Budapest Hungary
15.11.2008 Stuck, Maribor Slovenia
16.11.2008 Backstage, Munich Germany
18.11.2008 Z7, Pratteln Switzerland
19.11.2008 Garage, Saarbrücken Germany
20.11.2008 Hof ter Lo, Antwerp Belgium
21.11.2008 Lucky & Co, Rijssen The Netherlands
22.11.2008 Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen Germany
28.11.2008 CDK MAI, Moscow Russia
29.11.2008 Roks Club, St. Petersburg Russia

Sonata Arctica's "Paid In Full" Music Video: