Article by Rebecca Snaith
The ensnaring, charismatic, spell-binding sound of the band's current masterpiece, ‘Once' seemed to amplify my eager anticipation of the performance on Tuesday night. Heightening my expectations, and predestining my suspense. However; having never experienced the ‘live' sound of Nightwish , nothing could have prepared me for their performance....
Tuesday 13th July - ‘Bradford Rio' - Standing in the queue seemed to be taking its toll on many fan's suspense thresholds. After the kindling of elation a fortnight ago when my friends and I purchased our tickets, I'd expected my excitable feelings to escalate to the point of no return. How right I was. But to my great relief, my friends and many other eager Nightwish fans seemed to have the same zestful feelings, and expectedly enough; the contagious zeal spread and multiplied the longer the opening of the venue was delayed. After an hours delay of the noted opening time, suspense among fans rose to a crescendo of uneasy murmur...but.......Finally, we were permitted entry into the ‘ Rio '. At this point anticipation among fans subsided slightly, although not alongside excitement.
Bradford Rio : A relatively small venue - surprising that over 800 zealous Nightwish fans filled the small space to its seams! Tightly crammed bodies swayed to the incestuous buzz of up-tempo metal, as others shouted to one-another over the din. The temperature rising to an inferno of body heat as more fans joined the crowd and the ‘die-harders' beginning to chant caused the cumulative anticipation and excitement of the fans to dilate to a maximum...P
...the familiar sound of the signature sound track began to rumble rapturously through the man sized stage speakers to raucous cheering, thundering stomps and applauds.... That is, until a familiar silhouetted figure appeared through the stage fog; Tuomas, followed swiftly by Jukka, Marco and Emppu - all taking up their usual stage positions with their famed instruments, ready to take on the ravenous, seemingly rock-starved crowd. At this point, the small ‘Rio' seemed to buzz with the ecstasy of hundreds of manic fans - the result for some; a rush from seeing their idols in the flesh for the very first time, for others, the pure bewitching feeling, stimulated by the power of ‘live' experience, but for the majority, the sheer admiration for a band named Nightwish! Tuned in, turned on - Enter Tarja, to the introduction of ‘Dark Chest Of wonders'
...“Once, I had a dream.... - the place erupted with cacophonous, supporting cheers as the explosive riffs, played by Emppu rumbled through the monstrous Marshall stage amps; the immaculate melodic pieces played by Tuomas complimented the cumulative performance of all the band members; the bass playing of Marco rip-roared through the place like some kind of metal-god tidal wave, and the vociferous, monstrous beats of Jukka echoed in the contagious, rhythmic, pounding motion of the crowd responding ardently to the magic, metal music! An awesome opening crowd-pleaser, and I also add - an immaculate performance!...
...Carried on into ‘Planet Hell' - One of the more predominantly up-tempo tracks of ‘Once'. Marco's first singing solo, shockingly matching the impeccable “growly” tone applied to the album track, adding a well placed masculine quality to the song, particularly in contrast with the softer substance of Tarja's voice. Whilst continuing on the bass? Oh, yes - with perfection! Following ‘Planet Hell'; a Nightwish classic, ‘She Is My Sin'. The enthusiasm volume of the crowd seemed to crank itself up a couple of notches as the familiar thundering drum intro coursed through the audience causing an obedient wave of simultaneous head-banging and po-go jumping. The high-light of this song, being the tortuously, intricate, spine-tingling solo fingered out spotlessly by Emppu - well received by the crowd with a tremendous amount of air-guitar playing. Next up; ‘The Phantom Of The Opera' - Admittedly, not a personal favourite of mine, but after hearing the covered Lloyd-Webber piece live ‘n' loud, and witnessing the explosive reaction of the crowd, I can happily admit to submitting and being reeled in by the infectious response of the crowd and the bewitching ‘live' sound of Nightwish (Trust me, Its contagious!). Following this came ‘End Of all Hope', ‘Nemo' (An awesome crowd response for the third ‘Once' track of the night) and 'Sleeping Sun'; at which point, the pitch of the atmosphere lowered to an audible buzz of people swaying, waving lighters and singing in time with Tarja. Although graduating to a slower tempo, the crowd still remained a hot, sticky pit of bustling bodies, swaying, tapping and moving to the beat. The next performance of a so-far-so-cool gig was the guy's cover of Megadeth's ‘Symphony Of Destruction' - What seemed to be a heavier, ‘bassier' version. Only two words for it really - Awesome cover!
As Tarja made a fresh entrance, in another cool, new gothic-chic outfit to a tremendous greeting from the crowd; the soft, slow introduction of ‘Bless The Child' played enticingly into the room, drawing the attention of the crowd, eagerly awaiting the fresh, tremulous sound of Emppu on lead and the catchy beats of Jukka to begin another po-go –fest. Following this was ‘EverDream', again explosive and crowd pleasing.P
After a tremendous volume of encore requests, the band made a final appearance. Their captivation of the audience caused a raucous greeting on their reappearance. The encore set began with ‘Dead Boy's Poem'. At this stage, the audience seemed cooled and mellower than earlier, but still fully charged and hyped up...until encore track 2#; the raw, metallic, introductory riffs of ‘Slaying The Dreamer' coursed through the amps with a thundering roar! The atmosphere of the place metamorphosed from hot, hoarse, happy and hyped, to a passionate, pulsing, wave of contentment and bodies moving in time to the powerful metal. Any of those in the crowd who'd been inactive for most of the night (although a very sparse few!) would have been infected by the sequential head-banging of the crowd. No member of the mass stood still, the majority; throwing their hearts and souls into head-banging...in the most dedicated and professional sense. A good 4-5 minutes of serious head-banging, the heat was incalculable, and the elevated feelings of excitement made many people in the crowd seem as though they needed one, final Nightwish ‘fix'. That, they got. “I wish I had an angel......................
With one incredible surge, the crowd seemed to lurch towards the stage with tremendous force. So much so, that momentarily, my feet left the ground (Being very near to the front of the stage at this point, is not advisable for those individuals who are particularly small or claustrophobic). The crowd's reaction to Marco's first line was overwhelming! Probably the biggest, most lively ‘po-go fest' of the night. Regretful to say; I missed the majority of ‘Wish I had an angel'; blacking out for a bit - missing a final glimpse of the band and possibly the best song of the evening (although all of it was amazing!). I can say that every other part of the show has embedded itself in my memory, and will remain there fondly. From the beginning of the show, I didn't comprehend that the band could get any better, but their performance and crowd-pleasing ability increased as the night drew on whilst maintaining an immaculate standard of exhibiting their musical abilities. This was all evident in the colossally appreciative and illimitably, emphatic reception of the ‘ Rio ' crowd.
The Bradford Rio gig: a great venue in terms of atmosphere and crowd; a sublime, impeccable, electrifying performance and a fantastically friendly band. In a matter of hours, I'd been bewitched by the enchanting lyrics and spellbinding music of Nightwish. Now, a fully fledged Nightwish fan.... (I didn't think it was possible for them to become any greater until I heard them live); I intend to make as many other people conscious of them as possible, and to make everyone aware of just how amazingly Fantasmic Nightwish really are!
