Saw Nightwish Last Night - Spoilers

**SteveSly** · 03-29-2018

I caught Nightwish on their “Decades” tour last night at The State Theater in Kalamazoo MI. Nightwish has been around for 22 years now, and although they have never been as popular here in the U.S. as in Europe, and other parts of the world, they still managed to come close to selling out The State on a weeknight. This only my 2nd time seeing the band and the first since Floor Jansen took over the lead vocal duties 5 years ago. Floor had previously been a member of After Forever and has appeared on numerous Aryeon albums and is truly one of the great female voices in metal today. Her amazing vocal range and effortless stage presence make it all look easy, but there are few out there these days at her level of talent. Multi-instrumentalist Troy Doneckly was added to the lineup about 10 years ago after a long career with Iona. His use of traditional Celtic instrumentation brings a completely different element to the prog metal formula of most bands of this genre, and he shined with multiple solos throughout the night. The long time core members of the band were all in top form as well with plenty of instrumental fireworks throughout the evening. Without a new album to promote this tour is basically a trip through time and hit on tracks from all of the band’s albums. As a nice bonus each fan was given a free copy of their new 2 CD compilation “Decades” upon entrance to the theater. The band had a nice light show and production featuring a big screen that featured films and animation that enhanced many of the tracks. My only slight gripe was the sound, which was a bit on the muddy side most of the night. Floor’s vocals seemed a bit buried in the mix at times as well. There was no opening act and Nightwish played for a little over 2 hours. All in all it was a great show and the tour is well worth catching if you are a fan of the band or prog metal in general. Here is the set list:

END OF ALL HOPE
WISH I HAD AN ANGEL
10TH MAN DOWN
COME COVER ME
GETHSEMANE
ELAN
SACRAMENT OF WILDERNESS
DEEP SILENT COMPLETE
DEAD BOY’S POEM
ELEVENJIG
ELVENPATH
I WANT MY TEARS BACK
THE CARPENTER
THE KINSLYER
DEVIL AND THE DEEP DARK OCEAN
NEMO
SLAYING THE DREAMER
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH
GHOST LOVE SCORE
THE GREATES SHOW ON EARTH FINALE

**Steve983** · 03-30-2018

I find Nightwish interesting but not enough to buy any of their albums, glad you enjoyed the show!

**Sordel** · 03-30-2018

I love Nightwish more than is strictly healthy, but I’m too old to be part of a Nightwish audience which always appears to be a headbanger crowd. Their music has an appeal way beyond Metal but they have a soft Metal image and that's the fan base they seem comfortable with.

**tallliman** · 03-30-2018

Going to see them for the first time since Tarja departed in December. Looks a solid setlist, doubt we'll get cds in London!

**SteveSly** · 03-30-2018

Originally Posted by Steve983

I find Nightwish interesting but not enough to buy any of their albums, glad you enjoyed the show!

I get that. I find a lot of their albums to be very hit and miss. The only one I really like from start to finish is "Imaginarium" with Annette on vocals.

**SteveSly** · 03-30-2018

Originally Posted by tallliman

Going to see them for the first time since Tarja departed in December. Looks a solid setlist, doubt we'll get cds in London!

Floor totally nails the Tarja stuff. The CD thing was a really nice bonus, although my sister had already purchased it, so now has two copies.

**SteveSly** · 03-30-2018

Originally Posted by Sordel

I love Nightwish more than is strictly healthy, but I’m too old to be part of a Nightwish audience which always appears to be a headbanger crowd. Their music has an appeal way beyond Metal but they have a soft Metal image and that's the fan base they seem comfortable with.

I am 56 and did not feel out of place at all. In fact the audience was all over the place with people older than me and people much younger than me. They had reserved seating for about 2/3rds of the venue and a standing "pit" in front of the stage, so it was really a perfect set up as you could have it however you wanted it. I guess I would call it a metal crowd, but I saw a lot of prog t-shirts as well. Everyone was very well behaved and I saw no incidents.

**JKL2000** · 03-30-2018

Originally Posted by tallliman

Going to see them for the first time since Tarja departed in December. Looks a solid setlist, doubt we'll get cds in London!

Hadn’t she split long before that? Did she return?

**SteveSly** · 03-30-2018

Originally Posted by JKL2000

Hadn’t she split long before that? Did she return?

I think he means he is going to see them in December, not that Tarja departed in December. She was ousted from the band in 2005.

**tallliman** · 03-31-2018

Yep, that's right! I saw them last in 2005. Didn't like Annettes vocals and so ignored em for a bit.

**SteveSly** · 03-31-2018

Originally Posted by tallliman

Yep, that's right! I saw them last in 2005. Didn't like Annettes vocals and so ignored em for a bit.

For me it is kind of weird in that I like Annette's albums the best of the three, but live I think Floor is the Queen. I was a bit underwhelmed when I saw Annette live, but Floor will blow you away. She is one of the most effortless big voiced vocalists that I have ever seen.

**tallliman** · 04-01-2018

I think imaginaerium is a really good album but the vocals, for me, need to be more powerful and less affected by the poppy double tracking. However, I don't know if that was purely Annette or the band's decision.

**prog57** · 04-01-2018

Saw the Show in Kalamazoo too. Took my wife who really isn’t into them but she enjoyed it. Saw the band with Annette 4 times who I think was fine on the albums she did with then but live she was a not the most powerful performer . I always felt the bands power overwhelmed her. And she couldn’t do slot of the Tarja material. Floor is the perfect fit . Great vocalist who can cover all eras and her stage presence takes the band to another level.Also I’m 61 and felt right at home lol

**Sordel** · 04-03-2018

Originally Posted by prog57

Floor is the perfect fit. Great vocalist who can cover all eras and her stage presence takes the band to another level. Also I’m 61 and felt right at home lol

I agree about Floor: her live version of “Ever Dream” is to my taste better than the original and on my favourite Nightwish song (“Ghost Love Score”) she is good enough that I can listen to her version alongside Tarja's more or less equally. I wonder what effect having a child will have on her voice.

**tallliman** · 04-03-2018

I prefer Floor on Ghost Love Score than Tarja. Different approaches but Floor singing in the higher register (I think) just pushes the song more.

**SteveSly** · 04-03-2018

Originally Posted by Sordel

I agree about Floor: her live version of “Ever Dream” is to my taste better than the original and on my favourite Nightwish song (“Ghost Love Score”) she is good enough that I can listen to her version alongside Tarja's more or less equally. I wonder what effect having a child will have on her voice.

Her child was born about 3 weeks ago. I can attest that she still sounds fantastic! Not a bum note the whole night. She is really one of the most amazing female vocalists I have ever witnessed.

**SteveSly** · 04-03-2018

Originally Posted by tallliman

I prefer Floor on Ghost Love Score than Tarja. Different approaches but Floor singing in the higher register (I think) just pushes the song more.

I have to agree with you on that. Although the original is a classic, Floor's voice just fits the song perfectly.

**SteveSly** · 04-03-2018

I had a chance to listen to the "Decades" double CD, that they handed out at the show, for the first time today. I am not always big on compilation albums, but this one is a really really nice selection of songs from the band's entire career. The album goes backwards starting with the most recent stuff (the 20 minute "Greatest Show On Earth") and ends all the way back at the beginning with the original demo for "Nightwish". This collection really does represent the band's best stuff. It is also interesting to contrast the different vocal styles of Tarja, Annette, and Floor. They all bring something unique to the mix. If you are a newbie looking to get into them, or just looking for a good collection, this one is well worth picking up.

**JKL2000** · 04-04-2018

God DAMN it! I was very close to unloading all my B&B metal albums and this thread is going to make me start listening to them again!

**viukkis** · 04-04-2018

Originally Posted by SteveSly

If you are a newbie looking to get into them, or just looking for a good collection, this one is well worth picking up.

I've seen several comments around the net that unlike the actual Nightwish albums that tend to be quite brickwalled, this compilation is mastered very dynamically and the music breathes much better as a result.

**Jerjo** · 04-04-2018

What, no "Over the Hills and Far Away"? Tarja was stunning on the live version of that.

**SteveSly** · 04-04-2018

Originally Posted by viukkis

I've seen several comments around the net that unlike the actual Nightwish albums that tend to be quite brickwalled, this compilation is mastered very dynamically and the music breathes much better as a result.

Yes, the comp sounds really good.

**SteveSly** · 04-04-2018

Originally Posted by Jerjo

What, no "Over the Hills and Far Away"? Tarja was stunning on the live version of that.

There are definitely some omissions that could have been on there such as this song, but overall I think it is a pretty good representation of the various eras of the band. I have seen some Nightwish fans complain that they included the 20 minute plus "Greatest Show On Earth" instead of 4 or 5 shorter songs, but I think GSOE is a great track, so I am cool with it.