The sound in the small upstairs was not especially friendly to any of the bands and Xandria put the sound crew through their paces as they struggled to get things right. At least the guys in Sonata Arctica must have felt a little like home.Īfter a local opening act (with no singer), Xandria took the stage for a quick, 30 minute set.

September 6th, 2014 was the hottest day of 2014, so the club felt like a sauna. That hardly seems fitting for a band like Sonata Arctica, who play to 1000s at festivals the world over, but it did mean the entire audience was on top of the stage : ) It was also hot. Exposed pipes and wiring give it an industrial feel and the whole place probably holds 300 people (vs. The main theater was closed for renovations so the bands would be playing 'upstairs' in what was formerly the foyer for the balcony seats. It was originally meant as a venue for live musicals and plays and must have been gorgeous in its day, but 20-30 years of rock shows have taken their toll. Anyway, a Saturday show with three great bands wasn't something this geezer was going to miss.Ī word about the Palladium it is old. 'Hardcore' isn't listed first by accident and you could just as easily replace that with 'modern' or 'nu' and have an idea of what an ordeal it is to sift through 60-70 bands that sound like Slipknot just to get one decent one. Usually, one or two bands will join a 'festival' like the New England Hardcore and Heavy Metal shows that take place each spring. It isn't often we get even one decent Power Metal band to visit this former mill city in the heart of the state (though the superlative Armory is from the nearby town of Townsend), let alone three. It was a regular invasion of European Power Metal bands on Saturday, September 6th, 2014 in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Sonata arctica silence tshirt