Article by Nudger
Before last year, Nightwish had never been to the UK . Nightwish weren't really heard of in the UK. After their two shows last year, however, news started to spread about a unique operatic metal band. By the 16th of July 2004, Nightwish were becoming a phenomenon. Hundreds of people had turned up to the London Astoria to see the last of Nightwish's three UK shows.
By the time I got there, the line spiralled right around to the back of the Astoria. I myself was pleasantly surprised to see so many Nightwish shirts and fans. It looked like the ripple of energy released at Bloodstock last year had finally turned into a tidal wave. The London Astoria was going to be sold out by the Finnish Metallers, something nobody saw coming a year ago.
As I was getting towards the front of the line, I heard the first few chords of Brainstorm, the support band for Nightwish, through the walls of the Astoria. Obviously it's not really fair to review those, as they were being heard through bricks. I got inside to hear the last two of Brainstorm's songs, and from the back of the room, most of the sound had been garbled by the croud and by the Astoria's infamous sound systems. But from what I saw, they seemed to really be putting their hearts into their performance, and the front of the croud really seemed to love it. The next time Brainstorm comes to the UK, don't be surprised to see them selling out the Astoria on their own.
After too long a time, most of which was spent battling my way through to find a good place in the croud, the temperature of the Astoria must have hit sauna levels. Eventually the introduction to Dark Chest of Wonders started, and one by one the Finnish five some marched on stage to huge cheers from the anxious croud.
Dark Chest of Wonders is an astounding song, and anyone who has heard it will tell you that it would start off a gig in a brilliant manner, and to a certain extent it did. The croud all knew the words, and an air of excitement filled the Astoria. This really is Nightwish! But unfortunately, the Astoria's poor sound reared its ugly head and, despite guitarist Emppu Vuorinen's best efforts, all the croud could really hear was drumming and bassist Marco Hietala's booming baseline. Even Tarja's vocals were hard to hear during the song. Despite this, the song was still loved by the audience, and made a brilliant start to the evening. After no more than a breather, Nightwish's second song Planet Hell began, and once again the croud went crazy when they realised what song it was.
By this time the Astoria's sound was still playing tricks on the band, and the temperature was reaching fainting height. But our brave warriors battled on through the song and, despite sounding somewhat like a four-minute bass solo, it was well received by everyone and impressed most of us. The energy that I saw from Emppu, Marco and drummer Jukka Nevalainen was very impressive. Not to say Tarja and keyboard player Tuomas Holopainen weren't giving it they're all, but they weren't really making the impression on stage that the other three were.
It wasn't until She is my Sin that the Astoria's sound systems were really sorted. But no sooner was one problem fixed that another one became immanent. Half of the croud had only heard Nightwish's newest album, and therefore didn't sing along to She is my Sin. From where I was standing, about half the croud were valiantly trying to sing back the words whilst the other half were trying to learn them. Regardless, the band still battled on and delivered this song excellently; Tarja especially was on top form during this song. Up next was Lloyd-Webber cover Phantom of the Opera , which was, in my opinion, put far too early on the bill. The audience knew this song much better, but all the energy from the first three songs was killed instantly during this song, and for this reason Everdream suffered. Again, too old for some of the croud, everyone including the band seemed to be a bit tired. It wasn't until Nemo that things really got going again. Everyone in the whole audience knew this song, and even though it's not the best of Nightwish songs, it made an impression that night that not many other songs made. A special mention must be made to the inflatable Nemo fish (from Finding Nemo , film) that made its way on stage and proceeded to irritate Tuomas during the song. Still, this was received very well and made up for the travesty of Phantom of the Opera.
Another song that looked like an energy killer was slow ballad Sleeping Sun. But Nightwish had an ace up their sleeve here, because no sooner had the calm introduction started, than Emppu and Jukka stepped the whole song up a notch and the croud snapped back into life. A brilliant little twist to an otherwise unsuitable song, Nightwish captured even the hardest critic's hearts with this song. As usual, Tarja wandered off stage for a breather and a costume change while Marco led the croud through Megadeth's Symphony of Destruction . A brilliant song, which I felt, Marco didn't quite do justice to, which is a shame because he's proven before that he can sing and deliver very good cover songs. Unfortunately, Nightwish are always roped in with bands like HIM, Evanescence and Lacuna Coil, so half of the croud had never heard Megadeth before that, and for some reason I don't think they're going to become avid fans of them anytime soon.
Soon enough Tarja was back for Bless the Child , and this was when it really was obvious who did and who didn't have a decent knowledge of the Nightwish back catalogue. Those who did sang their hearts out and knew all the words, those who didn't sang along to the chorus, and both groups loved it. This was one of the best songs of the evening, not because the song was the best one played, but because it was played with such devotion that everyone in the croud really could feel the energy the band was putting into the song. Higher than Hope followed, and this quite simply was the worst song of the evening. This stopped all the celebration dead and I seemed to be the only person singing along, and even I was embarrassed to do so. This song is poor by Nightwish standards anyway, and should be replaced by any number of songs; my suggestion would be Romanticide, or going back a bit, Stargazers. Normally a fan favourite, Wishmaster, with it's singalong chorus, wasn't known by half the croud, and I think by this point even the band knew that they needed more new material on their playlist. Still, singalong Over the Hills and Far away made a great impression, most of the croud knew the catchy chorus by the second verse and arms were waving.
After a quick dash on and off stage, Dead Boy's Poem began to rapturous applause, but this song was cut short for Slaying the Dreamer . Despite not knowing the song, this was the best song of the evening because everyone simply went mad for it. The chorus was a huge singalong, and every knowledgeable Nightwish fan screaming the lyrics back accompanied Marco's vocals. Finally, Wish I had an Angel was brilliant because nobody made a mistake and everyone, croud and band, gave it their all. Everyone knew the words, everyone knew the song, and everyone knew what to do. An astounding final song that never missed a beat, Nightwish have won more than a few hearts with this song.
Overall, despite a few problems and a less than avid croud, Nightwish won the evening over. Relying somewhat on their vast back catalogue, Tarja, Marco, Emmpu, Jukka and Tuomas all delivered and even from half way back, the immense amount of love for what they do was evident. Nightwish are climbing out of tiny cult status and really embracing the UK audience. Now they're off to conquer the rest of Europe and America, it looks like the wheels really are in motion on the Nightwish machine.
