Jani Liimatainen: shred night sonata



News:
11-08-2007:
Back again...main PC on the fritz...time to get some news updates...70 emails, 400+ rss feed news items...lots of reading...time to write down something...OK so first up is Jani Liimatainen...no longer lead guitarist for Sonata Arctica!

"As many already know, our guitarist Jani Liimatainen has been absent from the lineup this spring and summer. The reason was his messing around with his compulsory military/civil/prison duty, or rather, complete failure to take care of it.

"This matter, and everything that goes with it, caused a split between Jani and the other band members. This split was impossible to mend without Jani's help and co-operation.

"Therefore we would like to make known the following: During fall of '06 and spring of '07, Jani's personal matters and actions drove us to a situation where we had no option but to ask Jani to leave the band.

"Jani was notified of this in May, and the separation was amicable. We wanted to give Jani the chance to get his life together before making this public, which is why we didn't make this announcement earlier. We wish Jani well on his chosen path.

"'Show must go on,' so, facing the facts, we hereby humbly announce that Elias Viljanen is from this day forward a full and official member of SONATA ARCTICA.

"Throughout this summer, on many occasions, Elias has shown himself to be able to fill the big boots Jani left behind.

"We hope our friends and our fans understand that this was the only choice left for us to make so that our band could continue. SONATA ARCTICA has always been, and always will be, more than the sum of its parts. The band has become for us a way of life, a lifeline that simply can not be cut off.

"A long 'Unia' tour lies in front of us.



14-05-2007:
Audio samples from Sonata Arctica's new album, "Unia"

Sonata Arctica - Paid In Full


11-04-2007:
Sonata Arctica European tour dates
Oct. 31 - Arenan, Stockholm Sweden
Nov. 01 - Rockefeller, Oslo Norway
Nov. 03 - Lisebergshallen, Göteborg Sweden
Nov. 04 - Mejeriet, Lund Sweden
Nov. 05 - Markthalle, Hamburg Germany
Nov. 07 - Live Music Hall, Cologne Germany
Nov. 08 - LKA-Longhorn, Stuttgart Germany
Nov. 09 - Z7, Pratteln Switzerland
Nov. 10 - All Kart Halle, Kaufbeuren Germany
Nov. 12 - Carling Academy, London UK
Nov. 13 - Elysée Montmartre, Paris France
Nov. 14 - Transbordeur, Lyon France
Nov. 16 - Heineken, Madrid Spain
Nov. 17 - Razzmatazz II, Barcelona Spain
Nov. 19 - Alcatraz, Milano Italy
Nov. 20 - Petöfi Hall, Budapest Hungary
Nov. 21 - Planet Music, Vienna Austria
Nov. 23 - Garage, Saarbrücken Germany
Nov. 24 - Hof Ter Lo, Antwerp Belgium
Nov. 25 - 013, Tilburg The Netherlands

07-03-2007:
Jani Liimatainen is out of Sonata Arctica for a short while "performing civic duties". Mean while the Finnish melodic metallers Sonata Arctica have announced the details of their new album, "Unia" (Finnish for "Dreams"), due on May 25,2007 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was mixed at Finnvox studio in Helsinki and was mastered at the Cutting Room in Stockholm, Sweden.

"Unia"


01. In Black And White
02. Paid In Full
03. For The Sake Of Revenge
04. It Won't Fade
05. Under Your Tree
06. Caleb
07. The Vice
08. My Dream's But A Drop Of Fuel For A Nightmare
09. The Harvest
10. The Worlds Forgotten, The Words Forbidden
11. Fly With The Black Swan
12. Good Enough Is Good Enough

A single, "Paid In Full", will precede the album on April 27.


01. Paid in Full (radio edit)
02. Out in the Fields (GARY MOORE cover)
03. Paid in Full

03-02-2007:
Jani Liimatainen's Finnish melodic metallers Sonata Arctica plan to release "Unia" , meaning Dreams", as the title of their new album, due on May 25 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD is being mixed at Finnvox studio in Helsinki.

01-01-2007:
I hope you all had a good new year...Robota posted some more Jani Liimatainen video, some previously seen. Also found this live solo:

Victoria's secret solo - live


30-12-2006:
Jani Liimatainen and Finnish band Sonata Arctica embark on a North American headlining tour in September/October 2007. Confirmed dates so far are as follows:

Sep. 16 - Key Club - Los Angeles, CA
Sep. 17 - Galaxy Theater - Santa Ana, CA
Sep. 21 - The Metro - Chicago, IL
Sep. 22 - Harpo's - Detroit, MI
Sep. 23 - Peabody's Down Under - Cleveland, OH
Sep. 24 - Opera House - Toronto, ONT
Sep. 27 - The Medley - Montreal, QC
Sep. 28 - The Chance Theater - Poughkeepsie, NY
Sep. 29 - The Palladium - Worcester, MA
Sep. 30 - B.B. King's - New York, NY
Oct. 02 - The Trocadero - Philadelphia, PA
Oct. 03 - Jaxx - Springfield, VA
Oct. 05 - ProgPower USA VIII - Atlanta, GA
Oct. 09 - The Meridian - Houston, TX

04-12-2006:
Jani Liimatainen Sonata Arctica - young guitar lesson


15-11-2006:
Lots of video on YouTube:

Art of Jani Liimatainen


Young guitar demo


Background:
Jani Liimatainen was born in Finland in 1980. HE is maainly self taught with some guitar lessons. He has plain in a number of bands releasing a large number of CD's along the way. His current band is called Sonata arctica and his previous band was Altaria. For a full discography visit his web site and also his shop

Influences include: the band and lead guitar players of Freak Kitchen, Dream Theater and Pain of Salvation...plus Steve Vai.

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