Nightwish, Romexpo, 10.12.15

Oh wow! Last night was amazing, it was one of those rare shows were everything was just right, the artists’ attitude, the music, the atmosphere, the crowd, my viewing angle (that one is indeed very very rare at 1.6 m height, especially when among metalheads who are abnormally tall, for some reason), even the freaking temperature and the fast moving lines and the fact that people actually didn’t smoke inside. The stars apparently aligned for Nightwish, and in the end even my husband who…uhm…doesn’t share my enthusiasm for this band, to put it mildly, had to admit that it was a very good show and that he enjoyed it. But let’s start with the beginning.

The night was opened by Amorphis which was… well, pretty dull. It wasn’t bad or anything, it’s just that I’m really not a fan of this new direction of theirs and for some reason, live it sounds even less appealing. It started great with my favourite song from Under the red cloud, Death of a king, but then it kinda mellowed down and it all sounded the same, and Tomi was very un-engaging and it was all generally insipid. Also I get that Tomi has a worked-out body and nice tattoos and lots of muscles and he’s proud of them, but seriously, I got the feeling I was looking at a metal Mr. January, with all of his clothes (even the pants) chosen to show off every single curve. I guess some ladies find it sexy. Meh… Still, in the end it was so short that it doesn’t put a dent into an otherwise beautiful night.

Then Alissa amazed and enchanted me in a preview of what kick-ass woman can do while fronting a band. Yes, Alissa enchanted me, not Arch Enemy, as she was the indisputable star of the show. The woman is completely badass! First of all, her vocal talents are undeniable. The grunts were clean, clear, you could understand everything she was saying and when you know she can effortlessly take up the part of Simone Simons in Kamelot, it all becomes even more impressive. Also, she’s a tiny ball of energy. It’s easy to forget how small she really is when listening to her rawring her lungs out, but it’s such a huge contrast between her fragile appearance and what she’s able to pull out of her. And she’s absolutely FULL of vitality, jumping, getting up on the sound monitors, waving flags and always always trying to involve the audience and encouraging us to clap, chant and sing. I’m sorry, I don’t have anything else to say about the rest of the band, about the setlist, about anything other than Alissa, I was just mesmerised with her, she’s awesome!

Funny thing: I really appreciate it when artists visiting us take the time to learn a few words in our language, it’s a very nice gesture. Usually everyone learns how to say „I love you” or „thank you”, stuff like that, but not Alissa. Alissa has her priorities in order and learned the words for „louder” and „more” :))

And then, finally, Nightwish. I came in completely focused on Floor (I love the band, but seriously…. Floor! I’m such a huge fangirl!), but in the end everything was top notch. I even payed attention to the background projections, I can’t remember the last time I did that (actually I do, it was at Roger Water’s The Wall, so they’re in good company).

First, to get this out of the way: I was very close to not coming to the show because of some very unfortunate comments made by the band management concerning the fire and deaths at Colectiv. The aftermath was so bad that they felt the need to underline repeatedly that the comment was made by the management and the band had nothing to do with it, though that doesn’t really impress me, as the people you surround yourself with are a reflection of the kind of person you are. Anyway, I decided to get over it (mostly for selfish reasons and in the end I’m very glad I did), but I was a bit worried they were going to make some corny speeches about the accident, especially since Tuomas said this will be a special show in the memory of the victims. Thankfully, nothing was said about it, because it would’ve felt forced and out of place given the joyful and relaxed atmosphere, they just projected 60 candles for the 60 victims during the instrumental part of Ghost love score, so I appreciated how tastefully they handled this.

Ok, now back to the happy stuff. I loved the setlist, it was really well chosen, with songs from each of their eras, but carefully selected to fit into a larger theme. Basically, they decided to completely forget they had an age of depression and focused on the lively and positive songs, with an emphasis on Endless forms most beautiful, of course, which is full of life and enthusiasm, condimented with fantasy tracks like Stargazers and Wishmaster from their beloved early works. This is where Troy’s influence is clearly visible. He, or rather using him and his instruments (as I imagine it was mostly Tuomas’ creative input) breathed fresh air into a band that in my opinion was growing stale with Dark Passion Play. In fact, the most un-engaging moment of the show last night was (for me) 7 Days to the wolves. One of the best songs from DPP, actually (and more so, in a clearly superior interpretation from Floor), when put between all the other awesome songs they played, it reminded me how loud and obnoxious and boring DPP really was. I guess one less than exciting song out of seventeen is a very good record! I even enjoyed Storytime this time! Because Floor 😛

I was also surprised by how happy I was to hear Nemo, it almost made me nostalgic for their older works, until I realised there was a time when Nemo was considered new and made me nostalgic for Wishmaster. It made me feel old :))

The top moments for me were by far While your lips are still red (which is such a gorgeous song and one I badly wanted them to play, but wasn’t sure they’ll do so since it wasn’t present on all setlists) and of course Ghost love score, one of my all-time favourites, interpreted absolutely magistrally by Floor. Don’t think I haven’t noticed that somehow all topics lead to Floor. The thing is, she deserves it, she is just brilliant. On a stage with my beloved Marco, with awesome Troy that plays all those lovely celtic-influenced passages and yes, even with Tuomas (whom I don’t really like that much, but can’t ignore that Nightwish wouldn’t exist without him), Floor was still the best thing. She’s so positive and sweet and full of energy and oh my god her voice! Starting with grunts in Yours is an empty hope, ending with operatics in Stargazers and going through basically everything else in between, soft, aggressive, happy, emotional, everything that came out of her mouth was top notch. And trust me, I was paying attention, there were moments when I couldn’t even sing along because I wanted to take in every inflexion of her voice and not miss a single note. Me, who I’m so incapable of not singing along during a concert that I was watching bands I wasn’t familiar with and was just mumbling unknown words because of the enthusiasm and because I *had* to sing something!

Funny moment: at the end of the show, Kai was handed a flag from the Bulgarian fans. This being the only show in Eastern Europe, it was full of people from neighbouring countries, so heh, they were more prepared, they gave him their flag and we didn’t, good for them. Kai however thought it was our flag and he raised it up proudly thinking it would make us happy. The reaction was… awkward :)) We realised he meant good and wanted to cheer simply for his gesture, but at the same time… you know, it wasn’t our flag to cheer for. I don’t think anyone took it to heart, though, it was just funny.

It was really really awesome, like I said in the beginning, one of those rare occasion where everything is perfect. I screamed, I cheered, I clapped, I headbanged, I even danced… I had TONS of fun. And you could tell everyone else was having just as much fun, both the band and the audience, it was such a pleasant atmosphere, I loved it.