Nightwish – Showtime, Storytime – Nuclear Blast Records
By John Knowles
To be on stage and share the beauty of life – this is the calling of Nightwish, and on their latest live CD/DVD Showtime, Storytime, the band wishes to share this with you. Recorded live at Wacken Open Air, 2013, this live collection captures the band’s main-stage headlining set in front of 85,000 hungry fans. The band and promoters pulled out all the stops for this show, which is jam packed with all the lights, cameras, glitz, and glamour one could hope for in a Nightwish performance. This album does not disappoint!
Nightwish spent over a year and a half promoting their latest release, Imaginaerum, with a world tour that saw the band visiting 34 countries, and 104 shows, which were seen by nearly 1.5 million fans. On top of touring the band put the finishing touches on their very own motion picture based on the album’s story called Imaginaerum by Nightwish. To conclude the massive “Imaginaerum World Tour” the band closed the tour with three festival dates, one of which was at Wacken. This was certainly one of the highlights of the year for metal, and for the band it was the culmination of many, many months of hard work and dedication on the road.
The journey was not easy, and it was weathered by one of the most difficult seasons of the band’s career. The replacement of Anette Olzon midway through the North American leg of the tour was nothing short of remarkable. Leave it to the ever cautious and driven visionary behind the band, Tuomas Holopainen to work towards planning a replacement when things with Olzon began to go south. Accompanying the Wacken Open Air concert is a wonderful documentary entitled, Please Learn the Setlist in 48 hours, which captures the trying departure, and the world tour from its earliest beginnings in Los Angeles California, back in January of 2012. More compelling to fans is the fact that the documentary, which may have been intended to simply be a road documentary, was molded and edited into a stirring portrayal of a band on the brink of collapse, and their subsequent perseverance and amazing success with new front-woman Floor Jansen. Masterfully written, directed and edited by Ville Lipiäinen, the documentary takes viewers into the depth of the chaos that was Olzon’s departure, and the triumph of a band that believed in each other, their music, and their fans to daringly bring on board a new face on short notice, and persevere through another 10 months of rigorous touring, culminating in the Wacken Open Air Festival of 2013. For serious fans, this documentary will be worth the price of the package alone. Tuomas Holopainen states in the documentary that it will serve as a testament that the band managed to change singers, and still finish the tour.
On a few occasions the documentary captures the band huddled together before they hit the stage, chanting together the words of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s classic poem, Prometheus Unbound. "This is to be good, great, joyous, beautiful and free. This is life." "Empire and victory!" - The battle cry of a band ready to present a night of music their fans will never forget. The concert portion of the DVD captures the entire 85-minute performance and showcases the band in top form. “Dark Chest of Wonders,” “Wish I Had An Angel,” and “She Is My Sin” open the show and immediately prove to anyone curious as to how Floor Jansen would do with Nightwish that this woman is perhaps the most perfect fit the band has ever had in a vocalist. Taking on the Traja-era songs first, listeners get a true taste of what Floor is capable of. From a vocal perspective she nails the highest notes of “Wonders” and the intensity of “Wish I Had An Angel.” Floor has her own voice and at no time tries to mimic her predecessors, but in all honesty when she approaches the bridge section of “Wonders” with the same operatic flair of the original its easy to ask the question, “Tarja who?” Her stage presence is clearly noteworthy as well. This is a woman who has the necessary live experience a band like Nightwish needed, and on stage she manages the sexy appeal of any of her peers, while being able to quickly move into a headbanging fury, or scary intensity as on “Storytime.” Floor also tackles the Olzon material such as “Amaranth” with her own flair, adding a bit of heavy rock attitude. To repeat, this woman is the perfect fit for Nightwish, and this concert is proof.
It would be unfair to not mention any of the other members at this point, for these men certainly pull their own weight and more. Ville Lipiäinen, filmed the show with seventeen cameras, allowing the individual talents of each member to be truly showcased. Bandleader and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen plays with a consistent passion and ferocity throughout, managing a wall of keyboards behind a façade of giant organ pipes. Guitarist Emppu Vuorinen expresses his mixture of joy and intensity at all times, with “Ghost River” and “Ghost Love Score” being a couple of his standout performances. Marco Hietala affirms himself as Nightwish’s MVP with incredible live vocal performances, and the ability to rally a crowd. The brutality behind the kit of drummer Jukka Nevalainen is compared in the documentary to the physical impact of 90 minutes of hard manual labor! Long-time collaborator and now new full-time member Troy Donockley shreds on the Uilleann pipes and low whistles through songs like “I Want My Tears Back” and “Nemo.” The stunning camera work, expert direction and editing from Lipiäinen captures the performance in its best light. Epic tracks such as “Bless the Child,” “Ghost Love Score,” and “Song of Myself” round out the set and lead to the bombastic performance of “Last Ride of Day” to end the night.
This is the ultimate concert collection from one of the most important bands in metal. Bonus features include a 16-minute Nightwish Table Hockey Tournament, filmed on tour. There is also a fun song paying tribute to the director written by Marco entitled, “Christmas Song for a Lonely Documentarist.” On top of this there are two music clips: ‘I want my tears back’ (Live at Hartwall Arena) and ‘Ghost Love Score’ (Live in Buenos Aires). This live package is a necessary addition to all new and old fans alike, and a strong testament to a band that is here to stay!
Official Nightwish Website
BUY Showtime, Storytime on CD/Blu-ray here
YouTube clip – Storytime
YouTube clip – Ghost Love Score
By John Knowles
To be on stage and share the beauty of life – this is the calling of Nightwish, and on their latest live CD/DVD Showtime, Storytime, the band wishes to share this with you. Recorded live at Wacken Open Air, 2013, this live collection captures the band’s main-stage headlining set in front of 85,000 hungry fans. The band and promoters pulled out all the stops for this show, which is jam packed with all the lights, cameras, glitz, and glamour one could hope for in a Nightwish performance. This album does not disappoint!
Nightwish spent over a year and a half promoting their latest release, Imaginaerum, with a world tour that saw the band visiting 34 countries, and 104 shows, which were seen by nearly 1.5 million fans. On top of touring the band put the finishing touches on their very own motion picture based on the album’s story called Imaginaerum by Nightwish. To conclude the massive “Imaginaerum World Tour” the band closed the tour with three festival dates, one of which was at Wacken. This was certainly one of the highlights of the year for metal, and for the band it was the culmination of many, many months of hard work and dedication on the road.
The journey was not easy, and it was weathered by one of the most difficult seasons of the band’s career. The replacement of Anette Olzon midway through the North American leg of the tour was nothing short of remarkable. Leave it to the ever cautious and driven visionary behind the band, Tuomas Holopainen to work towards planning a replacement when things with Olzon began to go south. Accompanying the Wacken Open Air concert is a wonderful documentary entitled, Please Learn the Setlist in 48 hours, which captures the trying departure, and the world tour from its earliest beginnings in Los Angeles California, back in January of 2012. More compelling to fans is the fact that the documentary, which may have been intended to simply be a road documentary, was molded and edited into a stirring portrayal of a band on the brink of collapse, and their subsequent perseverance and amazing success with new front-woman Floor Jansen. Masterfully written, directed and edited by Ville Lipiäinen, the documentary takes viewers into the depth of the chaos that was Olzon’s departure, and the triumph of a band that believed in each other, their music, and their fans to daringly bring on board a new face on short notice, and persevere through another 10 months of rigorous touring, culminating in the Wacken Open Air Festival of 2013. For serious fans, this documentary will be worth the price of the package alone. Tuomas Holopainen states in the documentary that it will serve as a testament that the band managed to change singers, and still finish the tour.
On a few occasions the documentary captures the band huddled together before they hit the stage, chanting together the words of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s classic poem, Prometheus Unbound. "This is to be good, great, joyous, beautiful and free. This is life." "Empire and victory!" - The battle cry of a band ready to present a night of music their fans will never forget. The concert portion of the DVD captures the entire 85-minute performance and showcases the band in top form. “Dark Chest of Wonders,” “Wish I Had An Angel,” and “She Is My Sin” open the show and immediately prove to anyone curious as to how Floor Jansen would do with Nightwish that this woman is perhaps the most perfect fit the band has ever had in a vocalist. Taking on the Traja-era songs first, listeners get a true taste of what Floor is capable of. From a vocal perspective she nails the highest notes of “Wonders” and the intensity of “Wish I Had An Angel.” Floor has her own voice and at no time tries to mimic her predecessors, but in all honesty when she approaches the bridge section of “Wonders” with the same operatic flair of the original its easy to ask the question, “Tarja who?” Her stage presence is clearly noteworthy as well. This is a woman who has the necessary live experience a band like Nightwish needed, and on stage she manages the sexy appeal of any of her peers, while being able to quickly move into a headbanging fury, or scary intensity as on “Storytime.” Floor also tackles the Olzon material such as “Amaranth” with her own flair, adding a bit of heavy rock attitude. To repeat, this woman is the perfect fit for Nightwish, and this concert is proof.
It would be unfair to not mention any of the other members at this point, for these men certainly pull their own weight and more. Ville Lipiäinen, filmed the show with seventeen cameras, allowing the individual talents of each member to be truly showcased. Bandleader and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen plays with a consistent passion and ferocity throughout, managing a wall of keyboards behind a façade of giant organ pipes. Guitarist Emppu Vuorinen expresses his mixture of joy and intensity at all times, with “Ghost River” and “Ghost Love Score” being a couple of his standout performances. Marco Hietala affirms himself as Nightwish’s MVP with incredible live vocal performances, and the ability to rally a crowd. The brutality behind the kit of drummer Jukka Nevalainen is compared in the documentary to the physical impact of 90 minutes of hard manual labor! Long-time collaborator and now new full-time member Troy Donockley shreds on the Uilleann pipes and low whistles through songs like “I Want My Tears Back” and “Nemo.” The stunning camera work, expert direction and editing from Lipiäinen captures the performance in its best light. Epic tracks such as “Bless the Child,” “Ghost Love Score,” and “Song of Myself” round out the set and lead to the bombastic performance of “Last Ride of Day” to end the night.
This is the ultimate concert collection from one of the most important bands in metal. Bonus features include a 16-minute Nightwish Table Hockey Tournament, filmed on tour. There is also a fun song paying tribute to the director written by Marco entitled, “Christmas Song for a Lonely Documentarist.” On top of this there are two music clips: ‘I want my tears back’ (Live at Hartwall Arena) and ‘Ghost Love Score’ (Live in Buenos Aires). This live package is a necessary addition to all new and old fans alike, and a strong testament to a band that is here to stay!
Official Nightwish Website
BUY Showtime, Storytime on CD/Blu-ray here
YouTube clip – Storytime
YouTube clip – Ghost Love Score