Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - Nightwish

Details: Written by: Carsten Leopold; Published: 21 March 2008

Westfalenhalle 1, Dortmund, Germany
19th March 2008
Nightwish, Pain & Krieger

On Wednesday the 19th March we went to Dortmund to enjoy NIGHTWISH at their current tour, which is the first tour with the new singer and I was very anxious to her and the new show. We had just arrived at the venue - a half hour before the announced starting time - when already the lights went out and the first support band KRIEGER entered the stage.

Krieger

KRIEGER is a German band from Dresden and consists of Thomas Baumgärtel (vocals, guitar), Rajko Gohlke (bass), Andre Toth (guitar) and Johannes Baumgärtel (drums). Their self-titled debut album was released in autumn 2007. http://www.krieger.eu/ / http://www.myspace.com/kriegermusik

Music & Performance
The music of KRIEGER was simply German rock and remembered me to bands like SILLY or PHUDYS. The set started with ‘Krieger’ - the song which is called like the band and their first album. Sound and light were good, the venue was well-filled already but the spirit didn't go over and the audience was not really excited. After about 30 minutes the show finished with ‘Heimat’ and the “warriors” left the stage.

Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 7
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 7

Pain

After 15 minutes changeover the lights went out for the second time and PAIN, an industrial metal band from Sweden, entered the stage. The band started out as a hobby project for front man Peter Tägtgren, whose idea was to fuse metal with techno influences. Tägtgren, who is also the vocalist/guitarist of HYPOCRISY and producer of his own The Abyss studios, is the only current member. PAIN's self titled debut was released in 1997, and since then PAIN has released four more albums, and a DVD. On this tour Peter was supported on stage by David Wallin (drums), Johan Husgafvel (bass) and Rene Sebastian (guitar) who substituted Marcus Jidell at the current part of the tour.

Earlier during this tour singer Peter Tägtgren, drummer David Wallin and bassist Johan Husgafvel were assaulted by a gang in Leipzig. Peter had 10 stitches in his face, David suffered concussion and Johan had his nose broken. So, we were quite lucky that we could enjoy this band on stage in Dortmund. http://www.pain.cd/ / http://www.myspace.com/officialpain

Music & Performance
The light went out, PAIN entered the dark stage and the show began. The set consisted of 7 songs starting with ‘Same old Song’ and finishing with ‘Shut your mouth’. Right from the start, PAIN warmed up the crowd with their powerful and rousing performance and realized the promise of the singer "We want kick your ass and wake you up". The crowd was livened up and responded the animation with clapping hands and dancing feeds. After about 30 minutes PAIN left the stage and gave away the stage for the headliner of the evening.

Setlist
01. Same old Song
02. End of the line
03. Zombie slam
04. Nailed to the ground
05. Just hate me
06. On & On
07. Shut your mouth

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: 8
Total: 8.5

Nightwish

NIGHTWISH is a Finnish symphonic/power metal band, formed in 1996 in the town of Kitee, Finland. Although the band has been prominent in their home country since the release of their first single, ‘The Carpenter’ (1997) and debut album ‘Angels Fall First’, they did not achieve worldwide fame until the release of the albums ‘Oceanborn’ and ‘Wishmaster’, which were released in 1998 and 2000 respectively. Their 2004 album, ‘Once’, led to NIGHTWISH video clips being shown on MTV in the United States and inclusion of their music in U.S. movie soundtracks. Their biggest U.S. hit single, ‘Wish I Had an Angel’ (2004), made it onto three U.S. film soundtracks as a means to promote their North American tour.

After the recording of the live DVD ‘End of an Era’ in Helsinki on 21 October 2005, the four other members of NIGHTWISH decided that it was best to continue NIGHTWISH without Tarja Turunen, a feeling they expressed through an open letter which was given to Turunen by Tuomas Holopainen after the concert, and afterwards posted on the band's website. In May 2007, Anette Olzon was revealed as Tarja Turunen's replacement, and in the autumn, the band released a new album ‘Dark Passion Play’ for which the band is currently touring. Current members are Anette Olzon (vocals), Tuomas Holopainen (keyboards, vocals), Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen (lead guitar), Marko "Marco" Hietala (bass, vocals) and Jukka "Julius" Nevalainen (drums). http://www.nightwish.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/nightwish

Music & Performance
At a quarter past 9 pm the light went down for the 3rd and last time this evening in the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund. During the long instrumental intro the musicians entered the stage and an impressive rousing show began. Powerful metal riffs, virtuous keyboard elements and a charming voice bewitched the crowd about 85 minutes. The new female singer Anette matches perfect to the band and the performance seemed more natural and authentic than in past. The set started with ‘Bye Bye Beautiful’ - the fourth single from the current album ‘Dark Passion Play’, followed by the older ‘Dark Chest Of Wonder’ and ‘Whoever Brings the Night’, another new song. Right from the start the crowd was dancing, clapping and singing along, infected by the impressive performance which was perfected by an excellent lightshow, selective fireworks – fitting very well to the music and show effects like snow or confetti.

After ‘The Siren’ and ‘Amaranth’ - another single from the current album - ‘The Islander’ followed performed acoustic and sung by Marco alone. The show went on with ‘The Poet and the Pendulum’, ‘Sacrament of Wilderness’, ‘Last of the Wilds’ and ‘Sahara’ before (after about 65) minutes Anette announced the last song ‘Nemo’. Of course the crowd requested an encore which was given with ‘Wishmaster’ and ‘Wish I had an Angel’. Altogether it was a great concert with dedicated musicians, an excellent sound, a bewitching lightshow, impressive fireworks and show effects and a convincing new singer. I didn't miss Tarja on stage at all.

Setlist
00. Intro
01. Bye bye Beautiful
02. Dark Chest of Wonders
03. Whoever brings the night
04. The Siren
05. Amaranth
06. The Islander
07. The Poet and the Pendulum
08. Sacrament of Wilderness
09. Last of the Wilds
10. Sahara
11. Nemo (Snow)
---
12. Wishmaster
13. Wish I had an Angel
---
14. Outro

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: 10
Total: 9