Location: Pordenone / Palasport / Italy
Date: March 31, 2009
Pordenone or Zagreb? Does it matter? Nope. As long as they’re close! Nightwish – Finnish symphonic metallers! This time the Nightwish show went down at the Palasport hall, which holds roughly 4,000 people. When we got to the venue at 5 PM, a pretty decent bunch of fans were already waiting at the entrance to claim the front lines for partying with their metal gods. Still, the show was nowhere near sold out. Only around 2,000 people showed up. Doors were supposed to open at 7 PM, but because of technical problems with one of the support acts, they didn’t open until 8 PM. Three openers warmed up the crowd before Nightwish: Indica, Pain and Volbeat.
| INDICA: |
This band from Finland, formed in 2002, is made up of five charming ladies: lead vocalist Jonsu, who besides singing also plays guitar and violin, Heini on vocals and bass, Sirrku on vocals and keyboards, Jenny on guitar and Laura on drums. The girls play a light version of seductively melodic hard rock that likes to flirt with a pop vibe. For the opening warm-up they gave us five tracks from their fresh album “Valoissa”, which is already their fourth overall. The crowd welcomed the band with open arms, especially the stronger sex. Sadly, I have to point out that the vocal delivery doesn’t live up to the looks and falls a bit short of everything else about Indica, and the “cover” of Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush really knocked the bottom out of the barrel, a song Jonsu should not have gone near under any circumstances!
| PAIN: |
The Swedish industrial metallers, formed in 1996 under the command of mastermind and ideological leader Peter Tägtgren, a musical visionary and mentor to many Scandinavian bands across the different genres of heavy metal, took the stage second in the lineup. Before Pain, Peter led the death metallers Hypocrisy, which he left that same year to found Pain, a band he himself once called: “The biggest fucking band in the genre!” The main reason for leaving Hypocrisy was that he wanted to experiment with other genres on the metal scene. The other members of Pain, besides the vocally “irritable” Peter, are David Wallin (drums), Michael Bohlin (guitar) and Johan Husgafvel (bass). At last night’s show they served up a setlist of seven songs from their latest album “Cynic Paradise”, plus a few older tracks from earlier records. The crowd got properly fired up and gave them a great reception. Despite the fact that in February they were terrorizing Europe on a headlining tour (with Brother Firetribe in support, the band of Nightwish guitarist Emppu Vuorinen), after a performance like that you can’t help drooling and actually wishing to see Pain again as soon as possible at a headlining show of their own!!!
| VOLBEAT: |
Volbeat are a sort of mix of fusion, heavy metal and rockabilly from Denmark. They formed in 2001. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Michael Poulsen, guitarist Thomas Bredahl, bassist Anders Kjolholm and Jon Larsen on drums. So far the band has put out three studio albums and the DVD Sold Out. At last night’s show they brought a real dose of energy that took the crowd almost to the peak, because the actual peak was reserved for Nightwish that day. Volbeat, who happened to be out on their own headlining tour at the same time as Nightwish in Italy, took on the support role for just two shows (Pordenone, Mantova), following a prior agreement between the two bands’ managements. The band, which is promoting its studio album “Guitar Gangsters And Cadillac Blood”, released last year, gave us six songs in total along with some lovely memories of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, so thanks to them for that.
| NIGHTWISH: |
What is there even left to write about one of the most popular, if not the most popular, bands in symphonic gothic power metal, other than that Tarja Turunen is the past and Anette Olzon is the bright future of Nightwish. And I mean that literally! Anyone who truly loves Nightwish, led by the fantastic Tuomas, with virtuosos Emppu on guitar and Marco on bass and the excellent Jukka on drums, could settle in without reservations on the cushions of a proper musical and visual party! That eternally whiny bunch of polarized “fans” with their doubts about what Nightwish are without Tarja? Who cares about them? They simply stayed home where it’s warm and once again missed out big time. With their enormous popularity and “The Dark Passion Play” tour, which has been running for more than two years and has no plans to stop any time soon since it faithfully brings in the cash, Nightwish today are a kind of “gods” on the throne of the entire gothic power metal world.
The Nightwish show consisted of fifteen songs in total, plus of course an intro and an outro. The duo opening is especially fantastic, where Tuomas on keyboards and Nightwish’s special tour guest, Scottish musician Troy Donockley (whistle, pipes), conjure up a magical pulse in an instant. The latter joined the band on stage again once it had fought its way through to The Islander and Last of the Wilds.
The show kicks off with two energetic tracks, 7 Days to the wolves and Dead to the world. The fans are in a delirium and merge with the band, the hall sings along, and Nightwish simply carry us away with songs like Nemo, Sahara and Dark Chest of Wonders, which is where the first part of the show ends. The coquettish princess Anette came across vocally as haughty, confident and firmly commanding. Interestingly, though, throughout the show she never tried to cast herself in a role that would pull all the attention onto her, but came across the whole time as in sync and an equal part of the Nightwish quintet. Good thing she didn’t let herself try anything like that, because the wounds Tarja left in the band are obviously still far too fresh.
Tuomas, who was set up on stage in an improvised boat for the occasion, which ties in with the theme of the “Dark Passion Play” record, visibly sweated buckets from all the headbanging and stubbornly leaning on the keyboards, while Marco and Emppu pulled off some energetic swings from left to right and, with cheeky grins flashing their pearly whites, fired up the crowd like devils all night long. The band won us over with a high level of professionalism and incredible stage chemistry and tightness, with which on the current marathon-long tour they can practically read each other with their eyes closed. With Dark Chest Of Wonders the regular part of the set somehow passed too quickly and darkness fell over the hall.
Loud shouts from the crowd follow, and Nightwish come back with two more songs. Ghost Love Score, and then for the grand finale the obligatory Wish I Had An Angel, which set the Palasport hall on fire and sent it sky-high for good. And that’s how an unforgettable 1 hour 40 minute evening with Nightwish wrapped up, the kind we want a lot more of! Which left us with just one parting thought: “Zagreb, here we come!”
author: Robert Lipej Samarin
photos: Jure Frelih
photos (last three in the gallery): Robert Lipej Samarin
Setlist:
INDICA:
1. Intro
2. Elä
3. Siren Song
4. Ikuinen virta
5. Wuthering Heights
6. Pahinta tänään
PAIN:
1. I’m Going In
2. Zombie Slam
3. End Of The Line
4. Just Hate Me
5. Same Old Song
6. Follow Me
7. Shout Your Mouth
NIGHTWISH:
1. Intro
2. 7 Days To The Wolves
3. Dead To The World
4. The Siren
5. Amaranth
6. Romanticide
7. Dead Boys Poem
8. The Poet And The Pendulum
9. Nemo
10. Sahara
11. The Islander
12. Last Of The Wilds
13. The Escapist
14. Dark Chest Of Wonders
—encore—
15. Ghost Love Score
16. Wish I Had An Angel
17. Outro
