“Wow London, I have no words. This will be my memory forever.”
says the overwhelmed new vocalist Floor Jansen at the end of Nightwish’ concert
at O2 Academy Brixton.
Who can blame her for being speechless? The atmosphere in
there was beyond immense, partly due to the excitement and anticipation that
has built up during the group’s three year absence from London, but also because
of the sheer passion of Nightwish fans.
I wanted to arrive early to get a front row spot. Ignoring
the advice of a friend and long-time Nightwish fan, I decided 4pm would be
early enough. By this time there were already several hundred people queuing.
For a moment I thought maybe I should have listened to my friend and arrived at
9am. After dragging my feet like a spoilt child to the back of the line I was
called forward to the priority area. I would get a front row spot after all!
The night grew dark and colder, and each consecutive hour
grew longer. After what seemed like an eternity of being pestered by tramps and
men with dodgy merch, looking to make a quick buck, finally the doors of the academy
opened.
After such a long wait, foolishly, many fans flocked to the
bar losing their front row spot. Like the wise non-alcoholic person I am (surprised?),
I ran down that hall and got a place second row from the front.
After another period of waiting my knees and back had really
begun to ache, this wasn’t helped by the huge logo of the opening band PAIN
staring me in the face. As you may know, Anette’s partner, Johan is a member of
Pain, and they were booked as support before her departure. Supporting a band that
has just ousted your lover, that could cause a lot of tension on either front,
so when the group arrived on stage it wasn’t surprising that it was without
Johan.
Pain is a kind of industrial band, combining influences from
techno and other electronic music with metal. This isn’t necessarily the type
of support act you would expect for Nightwish. I’m from an electronic background;
I listened to electronic music, and to industrial long before any other type of
metal, so for me Pain’s music is a winning combination. Everybody else there
seemed to really enjoy it too. Unless they were just being polite, the catchy
synth melodies and heavy chugging, performed to a high standard were enough to
win the Nightwish fans over.
Peter (lead vocalist and composer) interacted well with the
fans, getting a good crowd response. At the end of the set guitar picks,
shirts, setlists etc were thrown out to the audience causing a few minor
scuffles between fans.
The lights dimmed and another wait began. Mysterious
silhouettes occupied the stage moving things around, and setting up equipment.
The crowd roared as a cloth was lifted, unveiling Tuomas’ array of keyboards. All
was quiet for a while, and then another mysterious figure would appear causing
an outburst from the masses.
As the collective anticipation reached its climax the lights
slowly changed, and Roll Tide by Hans
Zimmer began to play. Silhouettes slowly moved onto the stage again, and this
time it was the ones we had been waiting for. An unprecedented cheer from the
fans preceded the opening notes of hit-single Storytime, and the switching on of the lights to fully reveal the
presence of the quintet.
Storytime is one
of my least favourite Nightwish songs, it’s not that I dislike it, it’s just
that Tuomas’ other compositions are far better in comparison. I find it too repetitive and predictable, and of course I have the bad memories of all the death threats I received because of my piss-taking remix. The heavy
chugging got everyone headbanging, and the catchy vocals had everyone singing
along. From this first performance it was clear that all of the members were on
top form, and that Floor was beyond capable of filling Anette’s boots.
After a quick and well received “Hello London” from Floor,
the second song of the set Dark Chest of
Wonders was played. Now, this is a
much better song than Storytime, and one that was originally performed by Tarja.
As much as I like Anette, let’s face it, most of the time she totally failed at
singing the old-era songs. Tarja, probably one of the most overrated singers
ever wasn’t that good live either, let’s be honest. By the second song on the
set, Floor had proved she can cover the territories of the two ex-Nightwish
singers, and what’s more, better than they could themselves.
Third and fourth on the set were I Wish I Had an Angel and Amaranth,
two of Nightwish’ biggest hits. Nice all round catchy songs, and not too
complex. On the third song was Marco’s first vocal performance of the evening,
and he seemed on top form too. A modified version of Amaranth was performed, with an extended thrash interlude that I
thought would never end.
Oh yes, now we’re at one of the big ones I was waiting for
(albeit with Anette), and the masterpiece of Imaginaerum, Scaretale. The choirs are epic, the orchestras are bombastic, the guitars are brutal and the twisted circus like nature is something else. Though I already said Floor was more than
capable of filling Anette’s boots, this is the one exception. Covered by Floor
adequately, this was the song I was truly looking forward to hearing with
Anette. She put so much energy into it and gave it such an edge. It was the
song where she proved her worth as a singer; even the Anette haters couldn’t deny
how well she sang it. In comparison it would be impossible for Floor to be anything more that adequate. Marco really shines here, and a totally new character in his
voice can be heard. Despite moments of wishing for Anette, this is still one
hell of a song, and it sounded excellent live.
Slow Love Slow, Nightwish
does jazz. I won’t even tell you what I thought when I read the track
description prior to the release of Imaginaerum,
and I can’t say I enjoyed it much when I actually got to hear it either. The
live performance created a mellow, sensual and intimate atmosphere, and surprisingly
I saw the song in a new light, maybe I even enjoyed it a little bit. I probably
still won’t listen to it at home, though.
Pipe player, Troy made his first appearance of the night on I Want My Tears Back, one of the band’s
folkier numbers. Wow, this one really got the crowd going. A surge of energy just
filled the hall; absolutely everyone went wild, I accidently wacked someone in
the face, somebody re-broke my toe, even those that had been standing passively
for the duration of the concert went wild. Troy was great on the pipes live,
and he is a great addition to the group’s live line-up.
Because of the wild energy that was built up in the previous
song, wisely the band chose to break things up with an acoustic folk ballad, or
things could have got very dangerous. This was in the form of The Islander. This is one of those songs
that holds a place deep in people’s hearts. Marco instructed the crowd to raise
their lighters, torches, camera screens or whatever was available because “it
would look really good in the photos.” It certainly did look good, and yet
again another intense atmosphere was created. The softer side of Marco’s voice
that comes out in this song, combined with soft backing by Floor created
something very magical.
As if Nemo wasn’t
touching enough already, the acoustic rendition of this song is on another
level. I really love acoustic covers of metal songs, but when it’s done by the
band itself it’s something even better. Nemo
had a place in the hearts of many fans already, this could have only
renewed it or made it deeper.
To eliminate the melancholy induced by the two acoustic
songs, Last of the Wilds was played
next. Yes, it’s another folky one with epic pipes from Troy. Yes, everyone went
even wilder that I want my Tears Back. This
is definitely one of my favourite Nightwish songs of all time, and from the
reception it got I can safely say the same goes for other fans. This is a
purely instrumental song, so Floor wasn’t present for it. The guys all rocked,
Emppu’s guitar work gets more of a chance to shine here. I feel ecstatic when I
listen to this on my iPod, so words can’t describe the feeling I got from
hearing it live.
Up next was Planet
Hell, an excellent piece of music combining many of the best elements of
Nightwish. Heavy guitar riffing, cinematic orchestras, choirs and the beauty and the beast duet. I didn’t think much of Tarja singing it live, and despite being out
of tune sometimes, I loved Anette’s expression in this song. However Floor
totally nailed it, her expression was amazing and she hit all the right notes. Ghost River followed giving Emppu
another little chance to shine with the intro. Marco and Floor did a great duet
on this song with the harshness of Marco contrasting the ethereal qualities of
Floor.
Ever Dream is one
of the best ever songs by Nightwish, if not one of the best songs in the world.
This is the opinion of many, and deservedly so. This was one of the songs I had been
waiting to hear live for years and years. This performance totally blew me
away. Floor was flawless. The duration of this song is something that will live
on in my memory forever, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.
The epic cover of Over
the Hills and Far Away by Gary Moore came next. Again, Floor is more
capable of singing it than either Tarja or Anette. All the members of Nightwish
performed this song extremely well, making it much better than the original.
At last the ultimate Nightwish masterpiece, Ghost Love Score. Sheer symphonic excess, driven by the power of metal to create an emotional thriller. This was the one song we had all
been hoping to hear. As soon as the
first notes were played, there was something greater in the air. Pure passion
was exhibited from both the audience and the band creating something
unforgettable. A tear came to my eye, looking around me I was not the only one.
How a song can have such emotional power is beyond me, Tuomas is a genius.
Floor’s performance of Ghost Love Score was
sensational. She brought to it a whole new level of passion; she has an edge
that Tarja just didn’t have. Without exaggerating, this was one of the
highlights of my life and as I’ve been told by many others, they feel the same.
The final song was Last
Ride of the Day. This song is a melodic triumph, and the ever energetic
crowd continued to unleash even more energy. As throughout the keyboards by
Tuomas, guitars by Emppu, drums by Jukka and bass by Marco were performed to the
same high standard as the studio album.
The only downside to this Nightwish concert was that there
was no live orchestra, you can tell the orchestra is not being played live and
this has a slightly detrimental effect on the overall sound. Despite this,
Nightwish certainly put on a show to remember, one that will be in the memories
of everybody lucky enough to be present, forever.
As the members expressed, the atmosphere that night was the
greatest they have ever experienced out of all the shows they have done. It
wasn’t just the talent of Nightwish that made this an excellent night, but also
the passion of every fan that attended.