Article by David Carroll
The band arrive at around 6:00pm to supervise the construction of their equipment, and scout out the venue for the last time before the swarms of ecstatic fans are permitted to enter the relatively small Bradford Rio. Not surprisingly, the streets are already beginning to line with hundreds of eager fans, from the days of “Wishmaster” and beyond. Many new fans have also joined this rapidly growing UK fan base since the release of “Once”, impressed and astounded by the meaningful and melodic vocals and music written by Tuomas Holopainen . The powerful yet angelic voice of Tarja Turunen floating on the air; the emotional guitars performed by Emppu Vuorinen, and Marco Hietala , all the while being driven by the energetic drumming of Jukka Nevalainen . For old and new fans alike, this will be a night to remember.
Just before the band leave the venue to rest before the performance begins, they are spotted out in the open by some unbelieving fans, and autographs and photographs are requested. Obviously wanting only to get into the waiting car and leave, you can't help but feel sorry for the Nightwish members. However, undaunted and smiling they accept requests and don't leave until the small crowd has been satisfied, through either signatures or photographs, or even merely handshakes or smiles from a particular favourite member, for many making the night unforgettable. The band finally reaches their vehicle, and drive away, waving and smiling at the people gawping in disbelief before returning to the venue to attempt to please old fans, and win over some new ones.
The time has finally arrived; it is 7:30pm , and time for the doors to open…nothing happens… There appears to be problems inside the Rio . Nobody knows the reason, but these eager fans are being kept standing outside, when all they can think about is the show awaiting them. Some of the crowd become impatient, but keep their cool, while overall the waiting people are still too excited by the upcoming appearance of Nightwish to care much.
Eventually the doors are opened and the crowd rush in, securing desired places in front of the stage. More and more people pile into the enclosed stage area, and it becomes apparent that this is going to be a very packed room. The atmosphere in the crowd is great: full of excitement, wonder, and anticipation. Pre-show music begins to play through the speakers in the absence of a support band, and the feeling of suspense grows until it is almost unbearable. The room meanwhile is still filling up, and growing more and more crowded. However, the atmosphere is still unable to be damaged, and the suspense still continues to rise, as does the temperature... There is no pushing, or jostling: all is still…waiting for the intro tape to begin, signalling the imminent appearance of the band.
After a lengthy wait, fans are brought out onto the stage to give the band temporary relief from the heat, and the intro tape becomes audible over the hushed whispers of the jam-packed crowd. Deafening cheers and whistles fill the room, and you can feel the anticipation around you. Tuomas walks onto the stage and takes his position to an enormous amount of whistling, cheering, and screaming, closely followed by the other members to similar welcomes.
The crowd settles, awaiting the commencement of the show. All is quiet once again, until Tarja arrives onstage to thunderous applause and shouts from all areas of the venue. Smiling, Tarja begins to sing, and the show begins. Dark Chest Of Wonders is blasted into the crowd, performed perfectly by all members, Tarja's vocals harmonious with the expertly played instruments. The stage presence of the band is obvious, and with an excellent opening choice, the crowd are immediately immersed in the music, taking no time at all to loose themselves in the sound, head banging and jumping frantically, arms waving and lips moving to the lyrics. Following on from this, Planet Hell had a similar response, seeing the male members of the crowd yell along in time with Marco's portions of the impressively performed song. Once again, the song was perfectly carried out, even better than the album copy!
Immediately after She Is My Sin began playing, it became obvious that there were many old time fans making up the audience, as the response from the crowd was just as deafening as with the previous two songs, both of which making up “Once ” material. Even such songs as The Phantom Of The Opera, and Higher Than Hope, the seemingly least popular of tonight's choices, received an explosive response, and were extremely well received by all.
As is fast becoming a tradition of the band, Tarja was allowed a break mid-performance, and a cover of Megadeath's Symphony Of Destruction was performed, with Marco rising to the challenge, and stepping up to fill Tarja's shoes as lead vocalist, while continuing his duties on the bass.
As usual, Bless The Child was received brilliantly, and following on from this, Ever Dream saw both swaying and head banging from the crowd. Now came a chance for the audience to have a short rest: Sleeping Sun resulted in the harmonious swaying and arm – waving of the crowd, taken in by the beautiful voice of Tarja, which seemed to float on the air, and fill every corner of the room. The rest did not last however, and old favourites got the crowd jumping once again: Wishmaster, and Over The Hills And Far Away brought about thunderous applause, and had been frequently shouted for and requested throughout the evening.
Following a mercifully short interval, another old favourite, Dead Boy's Poem plucks at the heartstrings of the audience. This sees many full-grown men on the brink of tears, showing the power of both Tuomas' song-writing, and Tarja's voice.
Suddenly, Slaying The Dreamer commences, and the eyes of every single member of the audience light up . They go wild. Head banging, jumping, thrashing…everyone is at it. As Marco steps up and begins his rage, the crowd almost drown out the huge speakers projecting Marco's voice into the room. It is clear that this is undisputed crowd favourite when it comes to head banging. There was not a single member of the crowd able to stay calm: everyone just let go, and was taken in. As Wish I Had An Angel begins, the cheers really go up, with the entire assembly of people singing along, and the whole floor jumping with the music during the chorus.
Throughout the performance, each band member seemed to attempt to make eye contact with as many of the audience as possible. While a small touch to the show, this tiny addition can add a great deal of enjoyment, as even just a glance and a smile from a member of the band during a performance makes that particular song unforgettable, and leads to even more enthusiastic cheers and waves.
Coming to a close, Nightwish were a huge hit with this audience, and they knew it. The band gave each and every song their all, giving an enthusiastic and impressive performance throughout. Undoubtedly old time fans were sealed for life, and countless new fans have been won over, and captivated by Nightwish. This experience was without a doubt worth the three and a half hour drive to Bradford, and I personally would not hesitate to do it all again. If you think Nightwish are great on their DVDs End Of Innocence and From Wishes To Eternity , just wait until you see them live; it is a better performance than you could ever imagine.
The possible February return will be eagerly awaited…
(Hopefully to Newcastle …?)
