The Greatest Show On Earth: Една незабравима нощ заедно с NIGHTWISH, ARCH ENEMY и AMORPHIS
The Greatest Show On Earth: One unforgetable night with NIGHTWISH, ARCH ENEMY and AMORPHIS
The biggest fans came to the venue three or four hours before the doors opened. Even though it was cold, everyone who came, managed to wait long enough for the doors to open exactly at 5PM. Slowly, but steadily, more and more fans came to “Romexpo“. Everyone found the perfect spot for themselves and started waiting for what could turn out to be one of the greatest nights in their life.
Just a couple of minutes before 6:50PM, the main lights in the venue were turned out and we bathed in a bright dark blue light, which then turned out to red and on the stage came AMORPHIS. They started playing “Death of a King“ – a song that brings so much feelings and emotions. Just like any other song of theirs. It all looks like the sound engineers did their job perfectly, because from the very beginning, the sound was crystal clear. The storm they bring continues with “Sacrifice“ and we can already see that some of the fans are familiar with their new album’s lyrics. We travel back in time, but just a little bit, with the dark and lyrical “Hopeless Days“ which switches between gentle and heavy parts. For a moment, we go under the red cloud once again with “Bad Blood“. It relies on Tomi‘s growls in the epic chorus and on the catchy riffs. Next are two of their mightiest songs – “The Smoke“ and everyone’s favourite “Silver Bride“. It is unnecessary and impossible to describe what I feel, because you have to be there for yourself, so you can feel the atmopshere and the emotions floating in the air. The pentultimate song in AMORPHIS‘s setlist is the blackish “The Four Wise Ones“ – one of the heaviest songs they’ve wrote recently. The last one is “House of Sleep“ which will be eternally their final song. On the stage comes Marco Hietala from NIGHTWISH and redounds to this already magical evening.
AMORHIS have always managed to make me feel like I’m part of the stories featured in the finnish work of epic poetry “Kalevala“. I can’t resist mentioning that Tomi Joutsen‘s vocals always amaze me. The way he manages to combine his cleans and giving you goosebumps while growling like a badass who can scare the mightiest warrior is magnificent. Ofcourse, the other band members are just as good as him at their instruments. AMORPHIS‘s setlist consisted of only songs from their new era – the one with Tomi, focusing mainly on their new album “Under The Red Cloud“. I strongly advise you to go and check them out as a headliner on their “Under The Red Cloud“ tour next year.
AMORPHIS‘ setlist:
01. Death of a King
02. Sacrifice
03. Hopeless Days
04. Bad Blood
05. The Smoke
06. Silver Bride
07. The Four Wise Ones
08. House of Sleep ft. Marco Hietala
15 minutes have passed and we hear the intro “Khaos Overture“. One of the best choices for a intro a band can have. You can already feel the adrenalin building up, the energy pumping through your veins and in this exact moment, ARCH ENEMY blast you off with “Yesterday Is Dead and Gone“. Next is the epic “War Eternal“ during which you can’t just stand there, slowly nodding your head. “THIS IS FUCKING WAR!“ screams the blueheaded beast, while Michael Amott and Jeff Loomis play some stunning solos. Eventually, Alissa tells us the story of how the first metal album she ever got was “Wages of Sin“ and ARCH ENEMY dive right into it with “Ravenous“. Then we go on a little adventure through their latest album with “Stolen Life“ and “You Will Know My Name“. Once again – people jumping and banging their heads is what you can see in the crowd. Bloody epic! The time comes for us to march under the black flags and give everything we have. After that, we continue with “Avalanche“, which was greeted with a loud clapping, followed by some badass hairy windmills. The penultimate song ARCH ENEMY played was “No Gods, No Masters“ during which Alissa told the crowd to jump along with the beat and the chorus. The end comes with one of our favourite hymns by them – “Nemesis“. With every little ounce of energy left, we go wild as never before. After that the outro “Enter the Machine“ starts playing and a big black curtain falls over the stage, foreshadowing what is yet to happen.
The energy surging from ARCH ENEMY during their live concerts is something which makes you lose your mind and be as wild as you can be. The energy pumping through your veins fills you up with adrenaline and you feel the chills running down your spine. The guitar duets between the masters Michael Amott and Jeff Loomis, Alissa never staying in the same place and going wilder than you, the mighty bassist Sharlee and the shining drummer Daniel are something everyone must see and experience. No matter how you feel, the moment they start playing, you start jumping and banging your head along them. Better than ever, ARCH ENEMY are crushingly leading the Khaos Legions into the eternal war!
ARCH ENEMY‘s setlist:
Intro: Khaos Overture
01. Yesterday Is Dead and Gone
02. War Eternal
03. Ravenous
04. Stolen Life
05. You Will Know My Name
06. As the Pages Burn
07. Under Black Flags We March
08. Avalanche
09. No Gods, No Masters
10. Nemesis
Outro: Enter the Machine
The long awaited moment has come. A dream came true. The lights go out, the curtain falls down and the crowd starts screaming. The finnish symphonic gods NIGHTWISH are on stage and begin with “Shudder Before The Beautiful“ and suddenly it’s all like a fairytale around you, wondering if you’re dreaming or not. Next is the heavier “Yours Is an Empty Hope“ in the middle of which Floor Jansen starts singing like she’s a siren and we are the sailors she wants to charm. We bathe in a bright blue-purple light and maestro Tuomas Holopainen starts playing “Ever Dream“. The first tears for NIGHTWISH‘s set can be seen in the crowd. The fans, having goosebumps sing along with Floor and the finnish viking Marco Hietala as loud as they can. The time has come. One of the most memorable moments is here. The intro “Master! Apprentice!“ starts playing and everyone goes wild. If you haven’t sang as loud as you can yet, now was your time. You know what I’m talking about, right? After “Wishmaster“ ends, we say hello to Troy Donockley and once again dive into the magic that is NIGHTWISH. Troy joining the band is one of the greatest things that happened to them in the past few years. His uillean pipes, low whistles, bodhran, bouzoki and even sometimes vocals and guitar playing are a big plus for NIGHTWISH. They start playing the gleeful “My Walden“, during which you feel like you are in one of those taverns where people dance and sing ’til the sun comes up. Once again, we start crying as “While Your Lips Are Still Red“ is next. This song teaches us that we must cherrish every moment with our loved ones. One of my favourites.
Flying high in the clouds because of what’s happening around us, we continue dancing with the cheerfully melodic “Élan“ while singing along with the band. The lights are off and we hear a narration from professor Richard Dawkins and after a short improvised intro, NIGHTWISH start playing “Weak Fantasy“. After another dream came true, another fairytale real, we hear the familiar drums and keys of “7 Days to the Wolves“ and once again we can see why they are one of the biggest metal acts out there. The magical evening continues with “Alpenglow“ which is one of the coolest songs on their latest record. It makes you feel good and gives you goosebumps. It makes you happy. After that, it’s time for a little story with “Storytime“ during which Floor shows us what is a real “metal windmill“.
On the huge display behind them we see their huge logo and NIGHTWISH and the crowd scream together “I WANT MY TEARS BACK!“. I think you know about which diamond from their previous album I’m talking about. Dancing and singing a favourite chorus is what makes the moment once again. Next is one of our favourites – “Nemo“. Once more, having goosebumps and happier than ever before, we sing along with our favourite band. Then we go way back to the “Oceanborn“ album with “Stargazers“. For a moment there, while listening to this particular part of the song – “Oracle of the Delphian Domine, Witness of Adam’s frailty…“, we feel a little bit nostalgic. We continue with “Ghost Love Score“ and at the end of that song, Floor Jansen‘s voice gives you goosebumps all over your body and makes you wanna jump around, while crying your eyes out of happiness. Few are the bands that can make you feel like this. The penultimate fairytale from NIGHTWISH‘s Carnival of Life is the “Last Ride of the Day“. Even though we don’t want it, we feel the end is near and we are already dreaming about seeing NIGHTWISH again. The icing of the cake, the ecstatic end, the epic last one is “The Greatest Show on Earth“.
Everything has its end. Every book – its last page, every experience – last moments and every concert – last seconds. All the letters, all the words on this world won’t be enough for me to describe the ecstatic beauty, the astonishing magic show, the feeling, the experience NIGHTWISH bring with them. It’s like they transport me to some other plane of existence where I surf the clouds and race the dark while having goosebumps all over my body and tears from happiness in my eyes (Yeah, I’m saying that again and again but what is true is true!). NIGHTWISH are the embodiment of the most epic, the most beautiful fairytale out there. They are a dream come true. Believe me or not, but the emotions I felt during this live concert… I have felt never before in my life!
Twenty years, eight albums and a couple of new members later, NIGHTWISH are biggest and greatest than they’ve ever been before. And not only because of the huge production, the countless shivering lights, the huge display behind them. NIGHTWISH are the magic that Floor and Marco‘s duets bring, the genius mastermind maestro Tuomas Holopainen is, the happy Emppu who goes and jumps all over the stage like a bunny, while playing some amazing riffs and solos, the drumgod Kai Hahto is and the talented instrumentalist Troy is. NIGHTWISH is love, NIGHTWISH is life.
WE WERE HERE!
Author’s note – I would like to thank personally ARTmania for the amazing experience and for the dreams they made true on this day, for the fairytales that became real. Huge respect for that!
NIGHTWISH‘s setlist:
01. Shudder Before the Beautiful
02. Yours Is an Empty Hope
03. Ever Dream
04. Wishmaster
05. My Walden
06. While Your Lips Are Still Red
07. Élan
Richard Dawkins‘ narration
08. Weak Fantasy
09. 7 Days to the Wolves
10. Alpenglow
11. Storytime
12. I Want My Tears Back
13. Nemo
14. Stargazers
15. Ghost Love Score
16. Last Ride of the Day
17. The Greatest Show on Earth (Chapter I: Four Point Six; Chapter II: Life; Chapter III: The Toolmaker)
Outro: The Greatest Show on Earth (Chapter IV: The Understanding; Chapter V: Sea-Worn Driftwood)
You can check out the album with our photos from this magical evening on our Facebook page right here.