When Nightwish announced last year that they were touring Australia, they had released the incredible Imaginaerum to favourable reviews and were fronted by Swedish vocalist, Anette Olzen. Come October and Olzen has been outed from the group and a replacement is quickly brought in.
To change vocalists and retain your popularity is hard enough but Nightwish are now on their third vocalist and seem to be getting bigger and bigger. Two sold out shows at The Palace is a good indication that their fans aren’t going anywhere.
Melbourne’s own Eyefear took to the stage first and got the show on the road, bashing out their epic metal to an enthusiastic crowd.
Vocalist Danny Cecati not only has impressive flowing locks but he is also armed with one hell of a powerful voice as he wails from song to song. A great band to kick off the night’s proceedings.
Sabaton really raised the bar for tonight’s show and took to the stage holding nothing back. They came out swinging with such high energy that it was exhausting just watching them run all over the stage.
Decked out in camo pants and faux bulletproof vests, they really knew how to get the crowd fired up and gave them something to write home about. Whilst they were plagued with drum problems, they didn’t let it stop them from being highly entertaining and delivering a spectacular performance, delivering riff after riff with precision and without missing a single beat. Impressive!
As the crowd prepared themselves for Nightwish, there was definitely a buzz of mystery and excitement in the air. The sold-out crowd were ready to experience the Imaginaerum and once the lights dimmed, the place erupted as keyboardist and key songwriter, Tuomas Holopainen appeared on stage with his fellow band mates.
They looked just as happy to be there as the audience was to see them. The band tore straight into ‘Storytime’ and new stand-in vocalist, Floor Jansen, came on stage to a thunderous applause.
For someone who had joined the band in an emergency, the only thing noticeably different was the looks. Towering at around six feet tall, you could tell that Floor was more than confident with her place in the band as she moved gracefully around the stage delivering every song with ease.
It was as if she had been a part of the group for years, not a few short months as was actually the case. If there was ever any doubt as to whether she could hold her own against the likes of original vocalist Tarja Turunen, or the recently departed Olzen, they were quickly dissolved as Floor’s voice was – excuse the obvious pun – flawless.
The group delivered classic after classic with ‘Dark Chest of Wonders’, ‘Wish I Had An Angel’, and ‘Amaranth’, before diving in to ‘Scaretale’ off their latest album.
They brought things down a notch with the soulful ‘Slow Love Slow’, which sounded incredible as the band pulled up stools, dimmed the lights, and give the audience a taste of Nightwish unplugged.
Just when you thought the band couldn’t possibly sound any better, English composer Troy Donockley joined them on stage with his uillean pipes for an explosive version of ‘I Want My Tears Back’; a crowd favourite, but still second to ‘Nemo’ which followed giving the crowd reason enough to go crazy.
Finishing with ‘Last Ride of the Day’, Nightwish clocked in a 90 minute set showing no signs of fatigue but all signs of appreciation. This was their night and they had everything to be proud of.
