NIGHTWISH – Frankfurt (05-12-2018)
After two decades active, NIGHTWISH is one of the most successful metal bands in our time and one with the most epic songs, too. Every one of us knows at least one song by NIGHTWISH. For some of us, NIGHTWISH has been our favorite band at some point or another. The spectrum of different styles and sounds convince listeners in every genre and every age, even though many of us were little kids or not even born, yet, when NIGHTWISH started back in 1996. Now their successful “Decades”-tour is over. We were lucky to see the show in Frankfurt.
From the first minute of BEAST IN BLACK’s set until the end there was a very special atmosphere at the Festhalle in Frankfurt.
NIGHTWISH is one of the most successful metal bands in our time, so no wonder that they want to share the stage with a band which is as powerful as themselves and knows how to rock and how to make the audience go crazy. With BEAST IN BLACK they had the perfect band for this! The Finnish band formed in 2015 and are known for their mix of Power Metal and Heavy Metal. The most striking element is the voice of frontman Yannis. Sometimes you start to look for the female singer in a song, but then you realize that Yannis’ voice is so trained that he can sing high notes and also deep notes without any problem. This is so amazing!
Many people came early to see the opener and you could see that the concertgoers already know BEAST IN BLACK. No wonder; this band rocks! From the first minute of their set until the end there was a very special atmosphere at the Festhalle in Frankfurt. It was magical and so powerful. From the audience’s reactions, you couldn’t see that this was the opening act. You could see, they love what they do and during the whole set, every band member was smiling. A great performance is nice but seeing the band has fun on stage is so much more important! The time went by too fast. Standing ovations at the end of the show. Surely a band we will see again very soon in also well-filled venues. And now, here is some great news for everyone who likes BEAST IN BLACK as much as I do: BEAST IN BLACK will go on a big tour in 2019! I’m sure there is at least one venue close to your hometown. To find all tour dates, please check BEAST IN BLACK’s webpage!
NIGHTWISH showed that not only RAMMSTEIN can have a stunning show!
For sure, NIGHTWISH has one of the most spectacular shows in the business. But how spectacular it really is, you have to see with your own eyes. The show started with all kinds of pyro. RAMMSTEIN is pretty hot, but with this show, NIGHTWISH showed that not only RAMMSTEIN can have a stunning one! So everything started hot and the crowd was about to go crazy! A great start into an unforgettable evening!
In these two decades, NIGHTWISH has had three amazing singers. Starting with TARJA, who is still very successful in the music business and performs all over the world. The band is currently very happy with frontwoman Floor Jansen, who can sing both, the more classical songs, which were written with and for TARJA and the more musical-like songs, which Tuomas Holopainen wrote for and with ex-singer Anette Olzon. With each of these singers, NIGHTWISH could beat their own previous success and continue their story.
After two decades of amazing music, epic shows, and unique voices, NIGHTWISH celebrated their career with stunning light and pyro-show and a huge LED-Screen with the perfect film for every song.
Sometimes you forgot about the band on stage because the pictures on that screen were just too beautiful to not watch them. Musically, NIGHTWISH is phenomenal. You can search for some critical points for the show in Frankfurt but you wouldn’t find one. If you prefer Floor as a singer, or TARJA or Anette is a personal taste but Floor can sing pretty well! The performance of the band was on a different level.
It’s also a problem of arenas, but the show felt too much like a rehearsed show with exactly the same moves and words on every show. Not much interaction with the audience. Sure, Floor looked beautiful and her appearance was amazing, but if you have seen a show of this tour before you wouldn’t find significant differences. I attended the show in Oberhausen, too, and it was exactly the same show.
After such a long time NIGHTWISH has a long list of hits and earworms.
They could play for 4 hours and still many great songs would be missing from the setlist. For a 2-hour-set, it was well mixed with some surprises. Biggest one: No “Wishmaster” or “Everdream”. But “The Carpenter”, which NIGHTWISH only have played around 70 times in two decades and for which the male vocals were originally sung by Tuomas on the “Angles Fall First” album. On this tour, it was sung by Troy. Many songs were no surprise. But the fans loved the setlist and with so many great songs, it was a great ride through the band’s career. The last song of the evening was “Ghost Love Score”. I know, many fans love this song and it’s an epic one for sure. But as the last song, as an encore, NIGHTWISH has much better songs to end a show with.
NIGHTWISH is just too professional and perfect and this is why the performance itself wasn’t special.
The whole evening was nice! BEAST IN BLACK did an amazing job as an opener and for sure they went home with many new fans. The NIGHTWISH show as a whole was not bad. But the performance on stage was not satisfying for such a big band. The light show fit perfectly and again this LED Screen was just too beautiful. Not to forget to mention the pyros and fireworks. This was at a very high level! You can use pyro but NIGHTWISH used it as kind of art. But without the pyro and LED-Screen, you would get bored easily.
Also ending a show with such a long song was not the best thing they could do. Many people left the venue during this song. Maybe NIGHTWISH is just too professional and perfect and this is why the performance itself wasn’t special. Maybe because of their perfection they forgot interaction with the audience. To say some sentences between the songs is something that makes a show individual. It was more like a movie: every day you can watch exactly the same. That’s not good for a concert. With NIGHTWISH, you got an average nice show. But for a band like NIGHTWISH, the average is not what you want and expect!
If you want to see all the photos, please visit my Flickr.
Have you been at one of the past NIGHTWISH shows? Did you like this special show? Tell us in the comments!
NIGHTWISH – Setlist Frankfurt ( 05.12.2018)
- Intro (Swanheart performed by Troy Donockley)
- Dark Chest of Wonders
- Wish I Had an Angel
- 10th Man Down
- Come Cover Me
- Gethsemane
- Élan
- Sacrament of Wilderness
- Dead Boy’s Poem
- Elvenjig
- Elvenpath
- I Want My Tears Back
- Last Ride of the Day
- The Carpenter
- The Kinslayer
- Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean
- Nemo
- Slaying the Dreamer
- The Greatest Show on Earth
- Ghost Love Score