Seinäjoki
—  City  —
Seinäjoen kaupunki
Lakeuden Risti Church
Coat of arms
Location of Seinäjoki in Finland
Coordinates: 62°47.5′N 022°50.5′E / 62.7917°N 22.8417°E / 62.7917; 22.8417Coordinates: 62°47.5′N 022°50.5′E / 62.7917°N 22.8417°E / 62.7917; 22.8417
Country	Finland
Region	Southern Ostrobothnia
Sub-region	Seinäjoki sub-region
Charter	1868
Market town	1931
Town	1960
Government
• City manager	Jorma Rasinmäki
Area(2011-01-01)[1]
• Total	1,469.23 km2 (567.27 sq mi)
• Land	1,431.64 km2 (552.76 sq mi)
• Water	37.59 km2 (14.51 sq mi)
Area rank	69th largest in Finland
Population (2012-01-31)[2]
• Total	58,796
• Rank	17th largest in Finland
• Density	41.07/km2 (106.4/sq mi)
Population by native language[3]
• Finnish	98.7% (official)
• Swedish	0.2%
• Others	1.1%
Population by age[4]
• 0 to 14	18.3%
• 15 to 64	66.8%
• 65 or older	15%
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Municipal tax rate[5]	19.25%
Website	www.seinajoki.fi

Seinäjoki is a city located in Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bruk iron and gunpowder factories founded in 1798. Seinäjoki became a municipality in 1868, market town in 1931 and town in 1960. In the beginning of 2009, the neighbouring municipalities of Nurmo and Ylistaro were consolidated with Seinäjoki.

The Town library, Lakeuden Risti church and central administrative buildings are designed by Alvar Aalto.

The asteroid 1521 Seinäjoki bears the town's name.

Seinäjoki was historically called Östermyra in Swedish. Today this name is very seldom used even among the Swedish speakers. Literal translation for Seinäjoki is "Wallriver".

Seinäjoki Airport is located in the neighbouring municipality of Ilmajoki, 11 kilometres (10 mi) south of Seinäjoki city centre.

History[link]

The settlement spread in the area of the present Seinäjoki during the first half of the 16th century. During the 1550s there is said to have been three houses in Seinäjoki, Marttila, Jouppi and Uppa houses. House of Jouppila, which separated from the house of Jouppi, was established during the same century. All of the houses were located on the shore of the river.

Seinäjoki belonged to the church parish of Ilmajoki like Kurikka, Kauhajoki, Jalasjärvi and Alavus. However, in the 18th century the roads from Seinäjoki to the Church of Ilmajoki were usually in poor condition. Therefore, the inhabitants of Seinäjoki and neighbouring Nurmo built together a new chapel in 1725 which in 1765 led to the formation of the chapel town of Nurmo. Seinäjoki, which after the Greater Wrath was called Alaseinäjoki, became a part of the chapel town. The chapel parish of Peräseinäjoki was founded in 1798, and the village of Alaseinäjoki was started to be called Seinäjoki again. The very same year, Östermyra steel mill was founded on the shore of Seinäjoki-river.

In the 1850s the actions to separate Seinäjoki from the church parish of Nurmo began. Ilmajoki wanted to connect Seinäjoki back to its own parish. In spite of the hard opposition of the inhabitants of Nurmo, the Senate of Finland accepted the petition from the inhabitants of Seinäjoki in 1863, to form an own chapel congregation. Seinäjoki got an independent local government in 1868. In 1900 Seinäjoki became an independent municipality.

Seinäjoki has grown around few important railroad crossings. Tampere – Vaasa railway which goes through Seinäjoki was inaugurated in 1883. The track, with the Kokkola track that has been opened for rail service in 1885, alongside the Kristiinankaupunki track which had been completed in 1913 raised Seinäjoki as an important railway crossing section in Finland. In the early 1970s the direct railway opened from Tampere to Seinäjoki and the services of Seinäjoki improved further.

After the Winter War and Continuation War some refugees from Jaakkima and Lumivaara were resettled to Seinäjoki.

Culture[link]

Club Rytmikorjaamo as seen from Vaasantie. Entrance is on the other side of the building

There are many kinds of cultural events in Seinäjoki nowadays. For example, Seinäjoki is known for hosting three large summer events: Tangomarkkinat, which is a tango festival attracting more than 100,000 visitors annually, Vauhtiajot, which is a motor racing event/music festival, and Provinssirock, which is one of the largest and oldest rock festivals in Finland. Rytmikorjaamo is a popular rock club, wherein almost every weekend play some Finnish or international artists. In Seinäjoki there are also several other bars and clubs offering live music and other entertainment. The city theatre of Seinäjoki has a wide quality program throughout the year, offering plays for everyone. The city orchestra of Seinäjoki is performing many concerts in the area and has been making many tours in Finland and abroad.

Sights[link]

• Lakeuden Risti ("The Cross of the Plains")
• Alvar Aalto's cultural and administrative centre
• the Southern Ostrobothnia District Museum
• the Civil Guard and Lotta Svärd museum
• Törnävä church
• the railway exhibition
• Mallaskoski brewery

Other points of interest[link]

• Törnävä tourist centre
• the Suviyö trotting-race
• the summer theatre
• the Jouppilanvuori winter sports centre
• the Seinäjoki City theatre
• Provinssirock
• Tangomarkkinat
• Vauhtiajot

Notable people[link]

• Arto Saari, skateboarder
• Paula Koivuniemi, singer
• Jorma Ollila, The Chairman and former CEO of the Nokia Corporation
• The Dudesons, Known stuntgroup that consist of four childhood friends. Also known as Extreme Duudsonit.
• Pekka Koskela, speed skater
• Veli Lampi, soccer player
• Mari Kiviniemi, politician (Prime Minister of Finland 2010—2011)
• Petri Kontiola, hockey player

Statistics[link]

• Population: 31,696 (2003), 35,918 (2005 after consolidation with Peräseinäjoki) and 56,229 (2009 after consolidation with Nurmo and Ylistaro).
• Annual growth: 624

Economy[link]

Finncomm Airlines has its head office on the grounds of Seinäjoki Airport in nearby Ilmajoki.^[6] Also Seinäjoki has a nationally and internationally significant food production and R&D industry. Headquartered in Seinäjoki food company Atria Corporation's net sales in 2009 were EUR 1316 million and it employed an average of 6,214 persons in several countries.

Seinäjoki also is well known for having a large number of SME's and a big number of shops for its size.

International relations[link]

Twin towns — Sister cities[link]

Seinäjoki is twinned with:

• Koszalin, Poland
• Schweinfurt, Germany
• Sopron, Hungary
• Thunder Bay, Canada
• Virginia, Minnesota

References[link]

External links[link]

Panorama image of Seinäjoki, Finland

Media related to Seinäjoki at Wikimedia Commons

• Seinäjoki travel guide from Wikitravel
• Seinäjoki – Official website
• Provinssirock – rock festival
• Tangomarkkinat – tango festival

v t e Municipalities of Southern Ostrobothnia Municipalities Alajärvi Alavus Evijärvi Ilmajoki Isojoki Jalasjärvi Karijoki Kauhajoki Kauhava Kuortane Kurikka Lappajärvi Lapua Seinäjoki Soini Teuva Töysä Vimpeli Ähtäri Former municipalities Alahärmä Jurva Kortesjärvi Lehtimäki Nurmo Peräseinäjoki Ylihärmä Ylistaro Southern Ostrobothnia Finland

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2010)

Sonata Arctica
Sonata Arctica performing live at the Galaxy Theater in Santa Ana, California 2007
Background information
Also known as	Tricky Beans, Tricky Means,
Origin	Kemi, Finland
Genres	Power Metal, Symphonic Power Metal Heavy metal
Years active	1996−present
Labels	Spinefarm, Nuclear Blast
Website	www.sonataarctica.info
Members
Tony Kakko Tommy Portimo Marko Paasikoski Henrik Klingenberg Elias Viljanen
Past members
Jani Liimatainen Pentti Peura Janne Kivilahti Mikko Härkin

Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, originally assembled in 1995. Their later works (most notably The Days of Grays, Unia and a few tracks on Reckoning Night and Winterheart's Guild) contain several elements typical of progressive metal.^[1]

Biography[link]

Formation and early years (1996–1999)[link]

The band was founded by Marko Paasikoski, Jani Liimatainen and Tommy Portimo in Kemi at the end of 1995 (Tony Kakko and Pentti Peura joined in early 1996). Originally named Tricky Beans, they played hard rock rather than the power metal with which they grew to fame. During their early career, they recorded three demos which were never sent to any recording label — Friend 'till the End, Agre Pamppers and PeaceMaker.

In 1997 the band changed their name to Tricky Means, and from that point until 1999 their style was thoroughly worked upon and ultimately was drastically changed, acquiring strong emphasis on the keyboard melodies and relying on an easily distinguishable rhythm line maintained both by the bass and the guitar. Vocalist Tony Kakko developed a clean singing style which relies both on falsetto and tenor voices and second guitarist Marko Paasikoski left the band. Kakko has stated that the change of sound was influenced by fellow Finnish power metal band Stratovarius.^[2]

In 1999 (after they changed their name to Sonata Arctica), the band recorded a demo entitled FullMoon in Kemi's Tico Tico Studios, which was their first real metal recording. The line-up consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Tony Kakko, guitarist Jani Liimatainen, bassist Janne Kivilahti and drummer Tommy Portimo. The demo was sent to Spinefarm Records by a friend of the band and a recording deal soon followed.

[edit] Ecliptica and Silence (1999–2002)

Later that year, Sonata Arctica's first single, entitled "UnOpened" was released in Finland. It entered the Finnish Top 20 sales chart on the week of its release and, soon after, the band had closed deals with labels from around the world, prior to the release of their debut album. The debut Ecliptica arrived by the end of 1999 and had a worldwide release, obtaining rave reviews from the specialized press.^{[citation needed]}

Tony Kakko then decided to focus on singing and began seeking a new keyboard player for Sonata Arctica; Mikko Härkin (ex-Kenziner) was eventually invited to fill the position.

In the beginning of 2000, Sonata Arctica was chosen to support the well known power metal band Stratovarius throughout their European tour. Marko Paasikoski returned to the band to play bass in the wake of Janne Kivilahti's departure after the tour.

From late 2000 to late 2001, the band worked on composing and recording their next album — Silence — which was released in June 2001. An extensive tour followed, which included concerts throughout Europe (together with Gamma Ray) and Japan. In 2002 Sonata Arctica made its first incursion to America, putting on shows in Brazil and Chile. According to some of the musicians from the band, it was one of their best tours to date — the other being the Japanese tour from 2003. A live album entitled Songs of Silence was also released that year, consisting of gigs from their tour in Japan. By the end of 2002, Mikko Härkin left the band due to personal reasons.

[edit] Winterheart's Guild (2003)

Their third album — Winterheart's Guild — was recorded with the help of the seasoned keyboard player Jens Johansson from Stratovarius who recorded the keyboard solos, while Kakko took care of the basics. The album was released in 2003.

In the search for another keyboardist, the band received many applications and two of them were invited for auditions. Since they were well aware of the candidates' ability, the band decided to pick the new member based on personality. To this end they spent a night drinking with each of the potentials in order to find out which one would fit best into the band's personality and mentality. Henrik Klingenberg was eventually chosen and joined the band in time to take part in the tour that followed the release of Winterheart's Guild. Most of the concerts on the tour were sold out.

With the end of their contract with Spinefarm Records, the band received invitations from most European recording labels, and eventually opted for Nuclear Blast.

[edit] Reckoning Night (2004–2005)

In early 2004, the band was chosen as the opener for Iron Maiden's Japanese tour. Additionally, Tommy Portimo became a father; his wife gave birth to a baby girl in March. Reckoning Night was recorded in three months and released in October. Both the single and the EP of this release remained on the top of the Finnish charts simultaneously for over six weeks. A promotional tour was to follow, but Sonata Arctica was invited by the popular Nightwish to join their European tour, and thus made a change of plans. The concerts that followed were played for audiences of over ten thousand people. Fans took notice that Reckoning Night was more progressive than previous Sonata Arctica albums. At that time in interviews, Tony Kakko and Henrik Klingenberg began to claim that they saw themselves as more so just a rock band than Power Metal. Another notable feature about this album was that Henrik Klingenberg introduced use of the organ to the band.

In early 2005, Nightwish invited the band to open the concerts of their North American tour. This tour eventually got cancelled, but the members of Sonata Arctica opted to still make a short tour, playing concerts in Canada and the USA. On October 21, 2005, Sonata Arctica opened for Nightwish at the Hartwall Areena, Helsinki.

[edit] For the Sake of Revenge and Winterheart's Guild video game (2006)

In 2006, the band released a live CD and DVD entitled For the Sake of Revenge, which was recorded in Tokyo in February 2005. Then, Spinefarm Records released a compilation album in order to get the most out of their contract with the band, since Sonata Arctica changed their recording label. The compilation is entitled The End of This Chapter and was released in Japan in August 2005 and in Europe in May 2006.

A computer video game was also planned, based on Sonata Arctica characters and music. The name of the game was going to be Winterheart's Guild, like their album. The game was to be developed by Zelian Games, and was to be an Action-RPG in a style between Fallout and Diablo. The game was cancelled for unannounced reasons but a demo was shown at the Leipzig video game conference in 2006, featuring Henrik Klingenberg as the playable character. In December 2006, the band began recording their fifth studio album.

[edit] Unia (2007–2008)

On May 25, 2007, Unia was released. The album's first single, "Paid In Full", was released on April 27, 2007. Interestingly, the cover for Unia features a barely perceptible image of a person's hair and eyes looking out through a crack in the background in the lower right-hand corner. It is likely an allusion to the person in the song "Caleb".

On August 6, 2007, the band announced on their website that guitarist Jani Liimatainen had been asked to leave the band due to problems related to his conscription. He was replaced by Elias Viljanen who had already filled in for him in the band's Finnish and Japanese shows during the spring and summer.

In October 2007 Sonata Arctica headlined the ProgPower USA VIII. Later the band supported Nightwish across their 2008 tour of United States and Canada and headlined at the shows that Nightwish cancelled due to Anette Olzon's sudden severe sickness.^[3]

In 2008 Tony Kakko collaborated with English singer/songwriter and arranger Mark Deeks to perform choral arrangements of some of the band's works at a special one off concert at The Sage Centre in Gateshead.

It was announced on September 4, 2008 that the band's first two albums would be re-released with bonus tracks by Spinefarm UK on October 6.^[4]

[edit] The Days of Grays (2009-2011)

Sonata Arctica during the The Days of Grays Tour 2011.

Sonata Arctica's latest album was released on September 16, 2009 in Finland and September 22 in the USA.^[5] Henrik stated that the new album would be in the same vein as Unia, but not as complex and darker.^[5] Singles from this album include "Flag in the Ground" and "The Last Amazing Grays". On August 28, 2009, the music video of "Flag In The Ground" was released to the web. The limited 2CD European edition of the album featured many of the album tracks with all instruments performed by a symphony orchestra.^[6]

The band also recently toured with DragonForce for the third U.S. leg of the Ultra Beatdown tour, and will be touring the US "two or three times," as well as doing a European tour and Asian tour covering Indonesia, Taiwan, China, and Japan. In early 2010 they engaged on an Australian tour with Ensiferum and Melbourne band Vanishing Point.

In April 2010, Sonata Arctica embarked on their USA and Canada Headlining tour for The Days of Grays. In October they headlined in Chile in support of the same album.^[7]

[edit] Stones Grow Her Name (since 2011)

In January 2011, the band hinted in an online interview for Metaleater magazine that they are currently writing songs for a new album while on their current tour. Elias is quoted as saying, "I've been working on some new riffs, quite dark. Tony's been stuck in his bed scratching notes about some girl and her 'Luna Lust'." Tommy states later, "We've just got back from Cozumel, we had a good time, had lots of beers, loads more sun and thought about putting a bit more Queen stuff back into the music again."

While playing in Wolverhampton, Tony stated to the audience that they were in fact hoping to start recording the new album this autumn and have it available for purchase before summer 2012.

In April, the band recorded a live DVD in Oulu, Finland, entitled "Live in Finland", which was released on November 11, 2011 (11/11/11).

It was announced on February 20, 2012 through the official Sonata Arctica website that the new album entitled Stones Grow Her Name would be released on May 18 in Europe and May 22 in North America .^[8][9]

Influences[link]

In a 2007 interview with C.B.Liddell, Tony Kakko cited the English rock band Queen as his biggest musical influence. "A lot of people seem to mention a Queen influence in our music," he said. "Queen have always been the biggest band for me."^[10]

Members[link]

Tony Kakko.

Elias Viljanen and Marko Paasikoski.

Tommy Portimo.

Henrik Klingenberg.

Current[link]

• Tony Kakko
  • Vocals (1996−present)
  • Keyboards (1996–2001, 2003, 2007–present)
• Elias Viljanen
  • Guitars (2007−present)
  • Backing vocals (2007−present)
• Marko Paasikoski
  • Bass guitar (2000−present)
  • Backing vocals (2000−present)
  • Guitars (1996–1997)
• Tommy Portimo
  • Drums (1996−present)
• Henrik Klingenberg
  • Keyboards/keytar (2002−present)
  • Backing vocals (2002−present)

Former[link]

• Pentti Peura
  • Bass guitar (1996−1998)
  • Backing vocals (1996−1998)
• Janne Kivilahti
  • Bass guitar (1998−2000)
  • Backing vocals (1998−2000)
• Mikko Härkin
  • Keyboards (2000−2002)
  • Backing vocals (2000−2002)
• Jani Liimatainen
  • Guitars (1996−2007)
  • Backing vocals (1996−2007)

Guest musicians[link]

• Raisa Aine − flute (on "Letter to Dana")
• Nik Van-Eckmann − spoken passages (on "...of Silence", "The End of This Chapter", "Last Drop Falls" and "The Power of One" from Silence and "Don't Say a Word", "White Pearl, Black Oceans..." and "Wildfire" from Reckoning Night)
• Timo Kotipelto − vocals (on "False News Travel Fast" from Silence^[11] and "Only The Broken Hearts (Make You Beautiful)", "Shitload Of Money", "I Have A Right", and "Alone In Heaven")
• Renay Gonzalez − spoken female passage (on "The End of This Chapter")
• Jens Johansson − keyboard solos (on "The Cage", "Silver Tongue", "Victoria's Secret" and "Champagne Bath")
• Peter Engberg − acoustic guitars, bouzouki, viola caipira, banjo, chromaharp, cavaquinho and Q-chord (on "They Follow", "Under Your Tree", "The Harvest", "It Won't Fade" and "Fly With the Black Swan" from Unia and "Cinderblox", "I Have A Right", "The Day","Don't Be Mean", and "Alone In Heaven" from Stones Grow Her Name
• Johanna Kurkela − female vocals (on "Deathaura" and "No Dream Can Heal a Broken Heart")
• Pekka Kuusisto - violin (on "Don't Be Mean", "Cinderblox", "Wildfire II, One With The Mountain", and "Wilfire III, Wildfire Town, Population: 0")
• Lauri Valkonen - double bass (on "Cinderblox", and "Wildfire II, One With The Mountain")
• Mika Myllari - trumpet (on "Shitload Of Money")
• Mikko P. Mustonen - orchestrations (on "Wildfire III, Wilfire Town, Population: 0")
• Anna Lavender - spoken passage (on "I Have A Right")
• Mediocre Media Ogre Choir - hey's (on "Shitload of Money")

Discography[link]

Studio albums:

• Ecliptica (1999)
• Silence (2001)
• Winterheart's Guild (2003)
• Reckoning Night (2004)
• Unia (2007)
• The Days of Grays (2009)
• Stones Grow Her Name (2012)

Cover songs[link]

• "Black Diamond" − Stratovarius (live, short clip in Stratovarius - Infinite Visions VHS/DVD)
• "Speed of Light" − Stratovarius (at the end of "False News Travel Fast" in Songs of Silence)
• "Fade to Black" − Metallica (Victoria's Secret, Takatalvi, A Tribute to the Four Horsemen)
• "Wind Beneath My Wings" − Bette Midler (Orientation)
• "Die With Your Boots On" − Iron Maiden (Last Drop Falls, Orientation)
• "World in My Eyes" − Depeche Mode (Don't Say a Word)
• "Two Minds, One Soul" − Vanishing Point (Don't Say a Word)
• "Still Loving You" − Scorpions (Takatalvi)
• "I Want Out" − Helloween (Takatalvi)
• "Out in the Fields" − Gary Moore (Paid in Full, Unia)
• "Silent Jealousy" − X Japan (live)
• "Crash & Burn" − Yngwie Malmsteen (live)
• "Excuse Me While I Kill Myself" − Sentenced (live)
• "I Was Made for Lovin' You" − KISS (live)
• "Smoke on the Water" − Deep Purple (live)
• "Child in Time" - Deep Purple (live)
• "Gaston y'a l'téléfon qui son" − Nino Ferrer (live)
• "One" − Metallica (live)
• "We Will Rock You" − Queen (live)
• "No More Tears" − Ozzy Osbourne (live)
• "Hava Nagila" ("The Cage"/"Vodka", "For the Sake of Revenge")
• "Master of Puppets" − Metallica (live)
• "The Trooper" − Iron Maiden (live)
• "Cowboys From Hell" - Pantera (live, Jani Liimatainen's Young Guitar DVD and Into The Storm bootleg DVD)
• "Metropolis" - Dream Theater" (live)
• "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" - Bonnie Tyler" (live)
• "Runaway" - Del Shannon (live)
• "Hell Is Living Without You" - Alice Cooper (One For All, All For One)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sonata Arctica

• Sonata Arctica's official website
• Sonata Arctica on Myspace
• Sonata Arctica's official fanclub
• Winterheart's Guild video game