Nightwish, Romexpo, 17.08.2018

So freaking tired! Everything hurts, which by now you must know is the trademark of a great live show for me. I think I was even bouncier than usual, and I already am crazily bouncy to begin with. I’ve been waiting for this for months now, fretting with anticipation, avoiding “spoilers” regarding the setlist and generally being highly excited. And last night it paid off, in a really awesome evening, with a really awesome band. 

I’ve taken a lot of shit for being a Nightwish fan, first from my non-metalhead high school friends who used to call it Shitwish just to piss me off (because I was a teenager and easily pissed off if someone said anything about “my band”, especially if they hadn’t even listened to it). Then from metalheads that called it a shit band, with arguments this time, invoking Anette, the stolen Stratovarius riffs and Tuomas’ humongous ego. I endured it all like the truest of fans (yes, this is sarcasm), until Anette and the aforementioned ego kind of killed the appeal of the band for me and I started drifting away towards other things. But when the wonderful, badass, mega-talented Floor Jansen joined the band, for me it was a match made in heaven. My still kind of favourite band, with my favourite singer, there was no way this could go wrong. And it didn’t. Endless forms most beautiful was a really cool album, Floor is amazing in everything she does and most of all, I feel like the band has gotten their joy and mojo back. 

And this is where last night’s show comes in. I thought that last time they filled the setlist with fantasy-like and jollier tracks to match the mood of EFMB, but I guess this is their general state now, to be positive and content and let me say I love it. I suppose I’ve grown together with the band, because I don’t really care for the angsty “nobody gets me, I’m so alone” vibe of Century child and Once anymore and instead I’ve come to appreciate the livelier tracks. I think the rest of the audience was like-minded, because the cheer of excitement for Elan was something I never expected from the Nightwish fanbase, judging by all the flack this single received when it first came out. But in the atmosphere of the show, it was perfect, because everyone was having a lot of fun. And I’m quite happy for them (and myself as a fan, consequently), because they hit a rough patch a few years back where they all seemed so miserable and bored and like I said, it put me off the band for a while. They didn’t enjoy playing anymore, you could hear it in their music as well and I didn’t enjoy listening to them or watching them either. So glad that’s over with!

Emppu has returned to being his regular bundle-of-joy self, Troy seems to be the chillest and happiest dude on earth, even Tuomas has given up his sulky over the top attitude and seems to have fun. Marco doesn’t do cheerfullness, he’s just badass, but he was a rather happy badass (and the fact he does those cool harmonies in the background for most tracks was awesome). I couldn’t really see Kai, but apparently he was throwing drum sticks in the air and failing to catch them, so I guess he was enjoying himself too. Floor was bouncing around animating the crowd and always talking to us and telling us how great we are (I know they say it everywhere they go, but I still get naively thrilled when I hear it from an artist that actually seems to believe it) and the crowd was full of excitement, headbanging, singing along, jumping and even dancing during the jiggier bits. And speaking of Floor bouncing around, I used to be in love with Tarja’s dramatic and elegant appearance and thought that Nightwish could never be played/ listened to with a smile on one’s face, but let me tell you that Floor (and probably also age) have shown me that it’s better not to take things too seriously. And before anyone starts complaining that Anette was judged for being too happy for Nightwish, I must mention that while Floor was very joyful and was making jokes with “this is just a short break, here we go again” during instrumentals, she also knew when to tone things down, be serious, emotional or aggressive. Dead boy’s poem and Come cover me literally gave me goosebumps, Deep silent complete was otherworldly, and don’t even get me started on the amazingness of Ghost love score (I will never get tired of that song). 

While on the subject of the tracks, the setlist was great as well. As a huge fan of the first three albums and with some less than usual tastes compared to the rest of the fanbase (meaning I love Lappi, Nymphomaniac fantasia and Once upon a troubadour, which are generally considered some of their worst pieces), it was pretty clear I wasn’t going to have all my favourites played, especially since there were other “eras” to worry about. But I have to say they came pretty close, with those first three albums represented each by three tracks, while the later records had only one-two songs each played. My greatest joy was that they don’t seem to like the Anette era either (or know that we don’t like it), because Imaginaerum and Dark passion play only had one representative each. Also, aside from the classics that everyone expected to hear, there were some welcome surprises, such as Devil and the deep dark ocean (simply eargasmic), Deep silent complete or The carpenter. 

And what would be anything Nightwish related without a debate regarding Tarja and whoever dares step in her shoes? Yes, it’s coming, especially since this trip-down-memory-lane type show invites comparisons. After Tarja left, I thought the band would never be the same. And it wasn’t, but not necessarily in the sense that I expected at that time. Floor has been such a great addition and in her boatload of talent, she found resources to do a Decades tour with some of the most iconic tracks of the band and sound impeccable. It’s clear that her area of comfort lies elsewhere, and this was most visible when she was singing Slaying the dreamer and screaming at the crowd with her real raspy voice, but she’s done a great job of taking the older tracks, making them her own and at the same time keeping the spirit of those songs alive. Her operatic voice will never sound like Tarja’s, but let’s be real here, Tarja’s operatic voice doesn’t sound like Tarja anymore either. And Floor is excellent being her own self. I’m a huge fan of what she’s done to the older tracks, the gentleness she’s brought to Dead boy’s poem, the small moments of aggressiveness she’s inserting here and there and Ghost love score is just amazing in her interpretation (I never thought I would say this, but I love it more than the original, that ending is insane). Also her stage presence is very compelling. She is such a force of nature, but at the same time she’s really warm and sweet and she made us feel involved and joyful. What can I say, I’m a giant fan of her, she commands respect and appreciation with everything she does, and as unusual as it may sound, Nightwish is the least impressive part of her career so far. 

Getting back to the show, I loved that in tune with the “return to the past” theme of the tour, the band urged us during the intro to forget about cell phones, about filming and taking pictures, and just enjoy the show and have a great experience unaltered by external distractions. It was a bit ironic hearing them say that as there were hundreds of cell phones lit up in the air, but people seemed to take it to heart, as a lot of them started shutting down and I think there was less filming than there usually is. 

On the same note, I appreciate very much the “yeah, life sometimes sucks and people are generally shitty, but at least we got to live” outlook on life and in the context of a very lively and intense show, the “we were here” part resonated even more. It definitely helps that The greatest show on earth has become one of my favourites, but the energy and enthusiasm that were pouring from the stage to the audience and back made it such a powerful moment. I still have the sound of “we were here” in my ears, it was probably the most memorable moment of the night and it summed up the vibe of the evening. We were there, living, having fun and enjoying music and each other. It was perfect!