Nightwish in Helsinki Ice Hall, March 10, 2012

Imaginaerum Tour 2012

Let me start by describing the microclimate in our Sector E4, as it was probably where the funniest events took place throughout. Sector E4 included various types of people: me and Jan; a few middle-aged men and women (who "are keeping it real", as Jan said); a few Teenagers on my left hand; an Emotionless Lady on Jan's right hand; a Proper Metal Dude With Very Long Hair (I shall call him just Proper Metal Dude hereon) and his Crew sitting in the first row of Sector E4, two rows ahead of us; a Semi-Eager Security Dude, plus Extras.

You could tell whether there was a good song or a bad song performed on stage based on the actions of the Proper Metal Dude and his Crew. When song was not so good (read: slow, more experimental), parts of the Crew, or the whole Crew, left their seats. Luckily, there were more good than poor songs. During the good songs, the Metal Dude did a lot of hair tossing and headbanging (even though often off rhythm :) ). The Crew consisted also of two ladies and two other guys (with short hair). Let's call one of the guys the Conductor. Occasionally, he approached his fellow Crew Members, pointed finger at them and (I think) yelled them what to do: how to toss hair, how to headbang, what to do with hands and fingers, which kind of body movement to use. It was a very funny show to watch! :)

On the photo below, in the left lower corner, you can see some of the Proper Metal Dude's hair in movement:)

The Teenagers on my left seemed a bit shy, so all they managed to do was pointing fingers at the rest of the Sector E4, commenting and laughing at their actions. I hope their next gigs will be more interesting! I could not but to observe the Emotionless Lady sitting next to Jan and I swear, not a muscle on her face or in her whole body moved throughout the approximate 1.5 hours :) I hope she enjoyed the show at least a bit. The Semi-Eager Security Dude occasionally patted someone on the shoulder and reminded that it is not allowed to take photos with your telephone/camera. Nevermind the fact that in the 3-meter radius there were at the same moment at least five other people doing exactly the same :p

Alright, enough of gossip now, moving on to

The Goods:
The sound was really really good to my ears, even to the distance that we were at.
The show was great (I had no doubts it would be). There was a big screen displaying different images, colours and moods; there was plenty of pyrotechnics shot off the stage. At first I wondered what those funny pipes were doing around Tuomas's keyboard set, but the answer came in the form of fire shooting off from there as well.
The vocals were surprisingly good! Anette Olzon has grown a lot of confidence on her since their Dark Passion Play Tour some years back. She is very good at singing the stuff that is actually written for her voice (namely the latest record, which I am not a hardcore fan of). Mr Hietala held to his own, expectedly high standards.
Starting on time. The band was supposed to come on stage and that they did, even a minute earlier, perhaps. Coming from a long history of gigs, where you can go 20 minutes after the artist's announced time and still having to wait for half an hour, it is a bit strange getting used to Finns' punctuality :) (I don't usually go to opening acts.)
Lots of powerful vibe coming from the stage. That, of course, is the combination of well-picked songs, very good sound and vocals, and communication with the audience. In that sense, the second half of the show was much better than the first (which is better than having it the other way around).
Troy Donockley, for giving lots of folksy vibe on his Irish bagpipes (uillean pipes).
Sector E4. I haven't laughed that much in a long time :)

The Bads:

Having the seats. In my world, having seats at such gigs is a small kind of a sin to commit. But there was nothing to do, by the time I got to the shop, the whole floor had been sold out.
The "pop-songs" and overall composition of the setlist. The pop-songs contribute zero to the whole gig. Namely "Wish I Had an Angel", "Amaranth" and "Nemo". They all rank amongst the worst NW songs I think. And "Nemo" in acoustic version??? I mean the song itself is so plain, the least you could do for the crowd is to have some beat behind it. I almost fell asleep there. This song is not written for Anette Olzon and there are songs she can do better. "Over the Hills and Far Away" sounded mediocre, but the fact that its fast and generally a good song saved it, compared to "Nemo". The surprising "The Siren", for example, has enough character that she could make it her own and it sounded really good. I'd prefer all these three taken off the setlist and add "Rest Calm", which is one of the best songs from "Imaginaerum". And do both "The Siren" and "The Poet and the Pendulum", not just replace one with the other :) /rant off
The crowd. It was the first time for me to observe the crowd on the floor from up high, and I was a bit disappointed, as about 10-20 first rows of people were really jumping and throwing fingers, but the rest was pretty much motionless. Maybe it would have felt great seen from down there, I don't know, but I suspect it has something to do with Finns' kind-of-cold nature and reservedness.

The Questionabilities that Remain:
I have only one thing that left me pondering. If a live show sounds so much better than the record it is representing, what the h... is it that would make me pick up the record, one so inconsistent as "Imaginaerum", and play it over and over? :)

The Regrets:
That the Proper Metal Dude and his Crew were not able to get floor tickets :( They seemed so restricted there in Sector E4 that I really felt sorry for them.
That I was not able to get floor tickets :p Felt sorry for myself as well.

Setlist:

1. Taikatalvi (Imaginaerum, 2012)
2. Storytime (Imaginaerum)
3. Wish I Had an Angel (Once, 2004)
4. Amaranth (Dark Passion Play, 2007)
5. Scaretale (Imaginaerum)
6. The Siren (Once)
7. Slow, Love, Slow (Imaginaerum)
8. I Want My Tears Back (Imaginaerum)
9. The Crow, the Owl and the Dove (Imaginaerum)
10. The Islander (DPP)
11. Nemo (Once)
12. Last of the Wilds (DPP)
13. Planet Hell (Once)
14. Ghost River (Imaginaerum)
15. Dead to the World (Century Child, 2002)
16. Over the Hills and Far Away (Gary Moore cover)

Encore:
17. Finlandia (a wonderful piece composed by Jean Sibelius back in 1899)
18. Song of Myself (Imaginaerum)
19. Last Ride of the Day (Imaginaerum)

Jan's favourite of the evening: Finlandia, Scaretale
My favourites of the evening: Finlandia, Planet Hell
Photos taken with Nokia N8.