Written by:	Ivan
Published:	June 01, 2004
Event:	Nightwish
Location:	Von Krahli, Tallinn, Estonia
Galleries:	Nightwish in Tallinn 2004 by Ivan (23)

Oh, wow - how cool is this? Nightwish in Tallinn, TWICE! We are not really spoiled by big metal acts coming to visit us - and Nightwish is one of my favorite bands, so getting tickets for both dates wasn't even a question for me. Well, it really seems people here are quite hungry for such events too, since, as I've heard later, all available tickets have been sold out in a matter of 4 hours (!). Note to myself: never buy tomorrow Nightwish tickets you can buy today!



First night, 19:15 - me and Laura at the Von Krahl doors. It's not yet crowded inside, so the first thing we bump into is Gotterdammerung. Cool Shake his hand and hurry ahead to take a look at the stage. The stage looks disappointingly small, as well as the room itself. Wtf? How is it supposed to fit 400 people?! The mystery is solved a bit later when we find out there's a bigger hall upstairs. Good. Returning to Gott, I find him already with destroyah - erm, I probably simply didn't notice him the first time (sorry, dude!). We hang out in the corridor for a while.



20:15 - Whispering Forest go on stage. They're pretty good, but such a slow music (read: doom) bores me quite a bit... Have a couple of beers, take a picture of the band and go to check the second floor, where the main event will be. Damn, people already occupied the entrance to the hall - there goes my front row. Oh, well - I have a second night ahead.



21:30 - Kantor Voy perform on the small stage. They play progressive rock or something like that, and their singer is in a white shirt. Laura said he's pretty handsome and she liked him. What do I care for some dude - I'm here for Tarja! Anyway, by that time I could no longer pretend I have steel nerves and so we moved upstairs to wait there. While waiting we had a nice conversation with two girls who came from Latvia and found out there was actually a whole bus of them! Negaiss should've been somewhere among them too, but this time he was incognito, and denied all similarity when Gott and destroyah asked him if he indeed was him



22:30 - NIGHTWISH!!! Awesome show, new songs, bad sound, really loud drums, TARJA!, nice background picture and lighting, Higher Than Hope!, Marco playing with a sigarette in his mouth again, Tarja takes a break, guys play a Megadeth cover, Emppu is a big show-off, everyone singing Over The Hills And Far Away, my poor ears, Wish I Had An Angel sounds a lot better than on the album... oh no, the end already?!



00:10 - Everyone leaves, we stay at the stage to wait through the cloakroom craze. Wilska appears to check the equipment. For those who don't know who the hell this is (shame on you!), he provided male vocals in Nightwish before Marco and he's also in Sethian and Finntroll, and also Nightwish technician. Anyway, there's a group of swedes near us, who call him, give him a heap of album booklets and posters and ask to get autographs from the band. One of them also asked for Wilska's autograph, which really surprised the big guy - he was so sure no one here knows him. I found his reaction rather amusing

Alright, time to go home.



Second night.

It was my fourth Nightwish concert, but it was definitely the best one. The sound was much better than on Saturday I was there alone and in the front row, right between Tarja and Marco - things just couldn't get better! Though I had to skip both opening acts to get there and missed my chance to talk to Ivor, I don't really regret. Being in the first row is a completely different experience - there's no one between you and performing artists, and you feel the connection a lot stronger, you absorb the music they play, and it fills you with many mixed emotions and great exciment, and you really wish the night to never end. It may sound cheesy, but it's true. If you really love a band, get in the front row!



Tarja's set list lied right in front of me, but taking a picture of it proved unnecessary, since I took home Marco's one. The set was the same for both nights. Here's how it goes:

1. Dark Chest Of Wonders
2. Dead To The World
3. Wishmaster
4. Nemo
5. She Is My Sin
6. Planet Hell
7. Come Cover Me
8. Higher Than Hope
9. Symphony Of Destruction (Megadeth cover)
10. Bless The Child
11. Elvenpath
12. Stargazers
13. Phantom Of The Opera
14. Sleeping Sun
15. Over The Hills And Far Away
16. Dead Boy's Poem
17. Slaying The Dreamer
18. Wish I Had An Angel

5 new tracks, 4 from Century Child, 4 from Wishmaster, 1 from Angels Fall First and 1 from Oceanborn.

The first three and last two songs were pure drive, very energetic. Good for headbanging, too. Dead Boy's Poem was a nice touch, I really love this song. Too bad they cut the second part of it, for some reason... I was also very glad they included Higher Than Hope - absolutely wonderful and majestic piece, it was pure magic to hear it performed live. Megadeth's Symphony Of Destruction was a rather strange (but very cool!) choice for a cover - I guess it was Marco's idea I still wonder why they always play Elvenpath - it's probably my least favorite from Angels Fall First. It would've been so cool if they had played the title track or Astral Romance instead...

What really amazed me (and probably the band too), was that a lot of people already knew lyrics of the new songs, and sang along. The album is not out until June 7th, but I guess everyone already have it in MP3



Nightwish play Wish I Had An Angel. I already know that after that the show is over... The band bows, Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan plays in the background. I get a chance to shake hands with each band member - the least I can do to show my deep appreciation. And by Tuomas' look you can really see how much it means to him that so many people listen to and love his songs - he seems really excited and sincerely grateful. They promise to return as soon as possible and leave the stage.

Well, see you guys at Tuska!




Bonus stuff

Well, I kinda saved the best for last - all the best photos from the concert are actually here. Click on the thumbnails to get a larger picture: