Nightwish...

[cramx3]

They just released Stargazers.

Floor is badass as usual, but Tuomas keyboard lead tone.

Yea Im not a fan of his tone on these videos.  I dont understand.  Also, Floor nails Stargazers. 

[Cyclopssss]

Yeah, that crowd in Tampere doesn't seem to be miked very well. Seems tame.

[ErHaO]

People have told me that is just the Finnish way of going to concerts, so I am not surprised. On a sidenote, I think that is also the show where a Dutch tv host and Floor's parents where present. The tv show barely featured any footage of the concert though, aside from showing that a Dutch singer is big in Finland.

[Grappler]

Watched the full Wembley show today - what an amazing performance.  I saw them for the first time in Chicago on the EFMB tour, so this is a very cool release to have as a nice retrospective of that tour.  Two great shows and plenty of bonus footage.

One thing I noticed in The Greatest Show on Earth is that there is a small segment that goes through the evolution of music - I was watching the live performance and heard the Enter Sandman riff and had to rewind it and then do some googling to see if anyone else had caught that.  It's in the studio version as well, so it was definitely designed to be part of the song, and not just some live embellishment.  Very cool! 

[Grappler]

Watched the full Wembley show today - what an amazing performance.  I saw them for the first time in Chicago on the EFMB tour, so this is a very cool release to have as a nice retrospective of that tour.  Two great shows and plenty of bonus footage.  Also, Marco is a fucking beast.  I love that guy.

One thing I noticed in The Greatest Show on Earth is that there is a small segment that goes through the evolution of music - I was watching the live performance and heard the Enter Sandman riff and had to rewind it and then do some googling to see if anyone else had caught that.  It's in the studio version as well, so it was definitely designed to be part of the song, and not just some live embellishment.  Very cool!

[cramx3]

I got my blu-ray last weekend and watched both concerts.  The Wembley show is really good.  I think the picture quality is a bit poor for a blu-ray, but that's really where my negative criticism ends.  Definitely a better concert than Wacken.  I think Floor performs VERY well and I really like what Troy brings to the band.  I don't think I notice his work when listneing to the album as much as I do when I see him on stage with the pipes and the guitar.  While Your Lips Are Red was an AWESOME performance.  I was never really into that track before, I remember when I saw it live last year that I really thought it was a nice performance and a renewed interest in the song, but I never really went back and listened until the Wembley show. 

Also, Tampere is clearly not the better show of the two.  I find the atmosphere to be odd being that it's light out during the outdoor show and it's such a huge venue that there's lots of empty seats.  However, the full song performance of The Greatest Show on Earth plus the different tracks from the Wembley show are really awesome.

Haven't checked out the bonus songs yet or listened to the CD.

[Grappler]

What's most notable, perhaps (and as we saw hinted at times on Showtime, Storytime, like Ghost River), is that she is basically directly challenging Marco over the aggressive parts. Marco was able to push around Anette vocally, but he can't do that with Floor, because she pushes back hard. She's just as powerful as he is, which I think is pretty cool.

Going back to the EMFB album release - this is a FANTASTIC observation.  I noticed during the chorus of Yours is an Empty Hope in the Wembley show that Floor was actually growling the phrase and Marco was the one singing it. 

I remember Tuomas stating that Marco didn't have as many lead vocal spots on EMFB, but he was all over every song in the backing vocal department, which is fine with me.  If you have Floor Jansen as your singer, you want to feature her as much as possible on her first album with the band.

[ErHaO]

It is a great package (also physically). I have watched both concerts last week. The sound is clear on my (relatively cheap) set and the band performs greatly. Especially Marco sounds a lot better than during Wacken, where his vocals were often a bit forced/shouted. The video quality in Wembley is indeed quite bad for a BR, not sure why that is. While I also prefer Wembley, I had a great time watching Tampere despite the less atmospheric location. In my opinion, it was filmed better overall and I prefer some of the performances. Would've been better if it was darker outside. Crowd was fine though, I was expecting it to be way worse based on some things I have read.

Bonus is nice but I wish they just gave a bonus disc with a couple of small miniconcerts (a few songs from Rio, Vancouver etc.) rather than a collection of separate songs only accessible from a menu.

What's most notable, perhaps (and as we saw hinted at times on Showtime, Storytime, like Ghost River), is that she is basically directly challenging Marco over the aggressive parts. Marco was able to push around Anette vocally, but he can't do that with Floor, because she pushes back hard. She's just as powerful as he is, which I think is pretty cool.

Going back to the EMFB album release - this is a FANTASTIC observation.  I noticed during the chorus of Yours is an Empty Hope in the Wembley show that Floor was actually growling the phrase and Marco was the one singing it. 

I remember Tuomas stating that Marco didn't have as many lead vocal spots on EMFB, but he was all over every song in the backing vocal department, which is fine with me.  If you have Floor Jansen as your singer, you want to feature her as much as possible on her first album with the band.

I still would've preffered a bit more Marco due to his unique voice (thankfully Avantasia gave me a Nightwish-esque fix with Marco). But when Floor is singing I obviously can't complain  But yes, Floor is very versatile, so Marco isn't necessary to spice things up anymore. Whereas in case of Tarja and Annete the vocals could become a bit sameish at times in my opinion, especially on their live releases/footage.

[Adami]

Totally forgot this was released. Just ordered it, should be here Saturday. Looking forward to it!

[cramx3]

I want to also add that maybe one of my favorite tracks from the live release is My Walden.  Just a really cool performance with the whole band, Marco switching between the bass and acoustic necks of his double guitar, Troy switching pipes midway through the instrumental ending, Floor dominating.... just awesome. 

And yea, while the video quality isn't the best (it's not bad, just not blu-ray standard IMO) the audio is very good and clear.  I have a cheap 5.1 system, and it totally rocks my basement. 

And what a package indeed.  for 18 dollars got two full concerts on video with surround sound, a full concert on CD, and lots of bonus songs.  Great buy.

[Grappler]

I want to also add that maybe one of my favorite tracks from the live release is My Walden.  Just a really cool performance with the whole band, Marco switching between the bass and acoustic necks of his double guitar, Troy switching pipes midway through the instrumental ending, Floor dominating.... just awesome. 

I love when that song changes gears.  When I saw them and they hit that spot of the song, I just lost my shit and started jamming.   

[Adami]

Watching the Wembley show now.

Yea, the video is a bit off, but I'm cool. The Audio is great.


Also, I think from now on they should just let Troy do the talking between songs. Between this and Showtime Storytime, Floor and Marco are just super awkward when they talk between songs. Amazing frontpeople in every other way, but I cringe when they start talking, especially Floor. Then Troy just comes out with how he's seeing so many great things but none of it compares to this and it was just so authentic and wonderful.


Also, dude....Troy's singing, playing pipes, weird stringed stuff, acoustic guitar AND electric guitar? So happy they found him.

[CrimsonSunrise]

I'll echo what most are saying.  First thing I notice is the poor blu Ray quality on the Wembley show.  Not sure how that happened.  Also, to me...Floor sounds a little tired to me during this performance.  Come to find out this is the last show of that tour leg.  She sounds a LOT more energetic at the Tempere show, and even the Mexico City show.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think she sounds bad, just think she's sounded better on other recordings.  In a perfect world, I would take the Mexico city Poet and the Pendulum vocals and pair it with the visual and music from the Wembley version.  The Tempere version of Ghost Love Score IMHO gives the Argentina version a run for it's money, as far as Floor's performance.

[Grappler]

Also, I think from now on they should just let Troy do the talking between songs. Between this and Showtime Storytime, Floor and Marco are just super awkward when they talk between songs. Amazing frontpeople in every other way, but I cringe when they start talking, especially Floor. Then Troy just comes out with how he's seeing so many great things but none of it compares to this and it was just so authentic and wonderful.


Also, dude....Troy's singing, playing pipes, weird stringed stuff, acoustic guitar AND electric guitar? So happy they found him.

Just read an interview with Troy where stated that he joined the band because Nightwish wasn't going to use him for his pipe playing alone, and going forward, he'll have more opportunity to sing, play guitar and other instruments.  I like that idea, letting him beef up the sound with a second guitar on some songs.

Also, he was hilarious when he introduced My Walden in Chicago in 2015.  He told this story about the last time he was in Chicago and how he plays the Uillean pipes, but when he was hanging out at the bar, he overheard two guys talking about how great Nightwish was, saying "and there's the guitarist, the vocalist, and then a guy that plays the ovarian pipes."   

I'll echo what most are saying.  First thing I notice is the poor blu Ray quality on the Wembley show.  Not sure how that happened.  Also, to me...Floor sounds a little tired to me during this performance.  Come to find out this is the last show of that tour leg.  She sounds a LOT more energetic at the Tempere show, and even the Mexico City show.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think she sounds bad, just think she's sounded better on other recordings.  In a perfect world, I would take the Mexico city Poet and the Pendulum vocals and pair it with the visual and music from the Wembley version.  The Tempere version of Ghost Love Score IMHO gives the Argentina version a run for it's money, as far as Floor's performance.

I like that Floor DIDN'T nail Ghost Love Score in the Wembley Show like she has in other recordings.  She makes singing look so easy, and it's a cool reminder that we're all human and it's live music - sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not.  She still sounded amazing throughout the show.

[cramx3]

Watching the Wembley show now.

Yea, the video is a bit off, but I'm cool. The Audio is great.


Also, I think from now on they should just let Troy do the talking between songs. Between this and Showtime Storytime, Floor and Marco are just super awkward when they talk between songs. Amazing frontpeople in every other way, but I cringe when they start talking, especially Floor. Then Troy just comes out with how he's seeing so many great things but none of it compares to this and it was just so authentic and wonderful.


Also, dude....Troy's singing, playing pipes, weird stringed stuff, acoustic guitar AND electric guitar? So happy they found him.

I agree with all of this.  I love what Troy says before My Walden, something about "let's take a trip to the woods with " and names a bunch of authors. 

I like that Floor DIDN'T nail Ghost Love Score in the Wembley Show like she has in other recordings.  She makes singing look so easy, and it's a cool reminder that we're all human and it's live music - sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not.  She still sounded amazing throughout the show.

When I saw them in Connecticut, Floor did not nail this part, but she managed to belt it out anyway and it was actually really really cool.  If curious, I caught it on video: https://youtu.be/dAc4nQ3-9Sk?t=8m46s

[ErHaO]

I agree Floor sounds a bit less energetic on the Wembley show than on some of the other recordings. Subtle and not really a problem since she sounds great anyways, but I did notice it.

Also, after listening to End of An Era and Made in Hong Kong yesterday, I greatly prefer any pro recording with Floor. A big difference in terms of music is that these older live releases rely heavily on symphonic (choir) keys and (vocal) backing tracks during the choruses to give that epic sound, whereas in the latest live releases, the vocal melodies are really carried by just Floor for the most part (and by Marco, offcourse), with mostly only subtle backing tracks to the live vocals.

I am a big fan of Annette's studio performances but she just doesn't bring that sense of melody and emotion to a live setting. Not so big on that release. And on End of and Era, Tarja sounds a bit worn out (and slowish at times) and has a particularly wide vibrato (compare it to the older live release, for example). Tarja does have a very characterisic voice that fits these songs though, so I do really enjoy End of an Era. On the older live release From Wishes to Eternity, Tarja performed much better.

[Cyclopssss]

Tarja was a bit of Diva.... If you notice, even the mic changes color with her dresses..... 

[cramx3]

On the older live release From Wishes to Eternity, Tarja performed much better.

I love this DVD.

What's crazy about the new DVD, is the Wembley and Tampere shows are HUGE.  Big crowds.  When I saw them in Connecticut, the venue was smaller than the one they performed in From Wishes to Eternity.  It just makes me think how crazy it is that a band on the same tour could play such varying sized venues.  However, I also saw them in NYC where they played a good sized spot (same place DT had played  around the same time).

[CrimsonSunrise]

I would like to ask Floor if she will marry me 

Outside of that perhaps what Floor will be doing during the "year off".............side projects, ReVamp etc...?

Turns out she decided to pop out a Baby....

Hadn't heard that until yesterday.  She must be due pretty soon.

[Grappler]

I would like to ask Floor if she will marry me 

Outside of that perhaps what Floor will be doing during the "year off".............side projects, ReVamp etc...?

Turns out she decided to pop out a Baby....

Hadn't heard that until yesterday.  She must be due pretty soon.

Any day now. 

Revamp has been officially disbanded, since Nightwish is her priority and she can't give two bands her full attention.  She has stated recently that she recorded an album with Jorn Viggo Lofstad (guitarist of Pagan's Mind) several years ago and that they both have time available this year to try and get it released.  Aside from that, Floor's going to be busy enough for the next year, as any new parent can attest.   

[Adami]

I would love an album by Floor and the Pagan's Mind dude.

[cramx3]

Yea, I love the guitarist of Pagan's Mind. 

[Ben_Jamin]

I actually prefer the Tampere show over Wembley. Floor sounds so much better and the energy in her voice is strong there. Plus, the band is enjoying it immensely.

That should've been the CD. One song in point is Alpenglow...Floor really nails it in Tampere during the pre-chorus.

[ErHaO]

I actually prefer the Tampere show over Wembley. Floor sounds so much better and the energy in her voice is strong there. Plus, the band is enjoying it immensely.

That should've been the CD. One song in point is Alpenglow...Floor really nails it in Tampere during the pre-chorus.

Yes, I agree. I have an audio rip of both shows on my phone and prefer Tampere.

But the official CD is a compilation, no?

[Grappler]

I actually prefer the Tampere show over Wembley. Floor sounds so much better and the energy in her voice is strong there. Plus, the band is enjoying it immensely.

That should've been the CD. One song in point is Alpenglow...Floor really nails it in Tampere during the pre-chorus.

Yes, I agree. I have an audio rip of both shows on my phone and prefer Tampere.

But the official CD is a compilation, no?

The official CD release is the full Wembley show.

[cramx3]

Wow, this sounds epic:

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/nightwish-to-launch-nine-month-decades-world-tour-next-march-in-north-america/

In March 2018, symphonic metal legends NIGHTWISH will begin their nine-month-long "Decades: World Tour 2018" starting with 34 shows in North America.

The band will have a very special setlist for the tour, featuring rarely heard material from the earlier era, and excitingly for both band and fans, they will revisit the old songs with some new twists.

This setlist will be a "one-off" and only performed on this "Decades: World Tour 2018".

To accompany the tour, Nuclear Blast will release a 2CD compilation, "Decades", on March 9.

I will be at the NYC show 

[jingle.boy]

Yeah, got that update from Enterthevault this morning.  Sad to see that they aren't stopping by Toronto, but the Niagara Falls show is only 90 minutes from me, and on a Friday night, that would be ok.

[MirrorMask]

I wonder how "early" the era will be... until Wishmaster? Until Century Child? hearing Elvenpath, Astral Romance, Angels Fall First, Stargazer, She is My Sin and maybe some deep cuts from Wishmaster like Crownless would be quite good! 

[cramx3]

Yea, considering NW didn't tour the US during those early years, it'll be a treat to get to see some of those old gems.

[Ben_Jamin]

I'll be at either the Denver show or Tempe. The time to play Gethsemane again is now.

[Grappler]

I would love to see this, but I don't think it's in the cards for me next year.  Budget constraints suck.

[kaos2900]

Holy crap an Omaha date! First time they'll play here. Can't Wait!

[bosk1]

No dates near me.  I'll pick up the live release (depending on the set) and leave it at that.

[Adami]

Totally going to that Anaheim show. That sounds super awesome!

[MirrorMask]

They have to bring this to Europe, I wonder if I'll be able to see them.

They visited Italy thrice on the last cycle:
- First time, it's on my very birthday, but in another town on a monday night and I couldn't take hours / day off from work;
- Second time, halfway across the country at a festival on again a working day;
- Third time, the day I was heading back home from the holidays and the town was not on the way back.

Alright Nightwish, if you hate me, just say so