Nightwish @ HQ (28/01/08)

Sun 3rd Feb, 2008 in Gig Reviews

This Nightwish show was the first time the Finnish band had played in Adelaide, and it seemed that HQ would probably turn out to be a good venue for this. The line-up to get inside stretched, as usual, up the road and way around to the side of the building, and it took forever to get inside. By the time we did get inside, we barely had time to head up the back and grab a beer before the first band hit the stage for the evening.

The first band was Eyefear, a classic/power metal outfit from Melbourne, whose vocalist had the longest hair I think I have ever seen in my life. It was literally sweeping the floor – and it didn’t look like hair extensions, either! Eyefear hadn’t been to Adelaide before, though some people were clearly big fans of the band. I hadn’t heard them before, so it was a new experience for me. If you can imagine the vocal styles of Silvio from Vanishing Point blended with Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) then you’ve probably got a bit of an idea of what it was like. It took a while for the crowd to warm up to Eyefear, which didn’t surprise me a great deal: people were still coming in and catching up with friends, and the band – or the vocalist at least – seemed to think that we would all be hanging with tongues out waiting for what they’d play next. Perhaps the most surprising thing about this band was the apparent dynamics on stage. I saw at least one instance where the vocalist appeared to put the bassist back in his place next to their keyboard player, with a stern face. Foss, who was with me, turned and said, ‘What the fuck was that about?’ Good question! Still, they played a good set and I wouldn’t mind seeing them again, maybe on their home turf.

The break between Eyefear and Nightwish was almost tedious, and it felt like an hour between bands. In between times, the venue had steadily filled up until I reckon there would have been 400+ people at this show. The punters were mainly goth types, but there were a few classic metal geeks around, and one really old bloke whom I reckon would’ve been at least 65 – and who surprised me by banging his head! How cool!

Finally, Nightfear came up on stage to an excited uproar. I think this is the only show that I’ve ever been to where absolutely everybody in the venue was excited to the point of ecstasy. Especially the blokes – all of whom adored vocalist Anette beyond measure. The band soared through its set, which included a swathe of past material, but also a lot from their most recent release Dark Passion Play; one of the earliest tracks in the set was the band’s most recent single Bye Bye Beautiful. The band’s instrumental tracks were brilliant, their ballads and softer tracks beautifully executed, and the sound was great. Their couple of encores were screamingly received, too, but one got the sense that the punters had barely had their fill of this show. HQ did a great job on this show’s sound, and they ought to be congratulated for it.

Nightwish are a brilliant band to see live: Anette clearly adored being on stage, and to say that the crowd adored her would be the understatement of the year. All of the band members obviously had a ball being on stage, and their audience-interaction was effortless, casual, and conversational: they even had the wherewithal to hang shit on each other, which was great to see. At one point the old ‘Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!’ chant went up – to be recalled again not much further on, at Anette’s request. At one point Anette was even handed a small poster, adorned with a heart and the words ‘Marry Me Anette’, by a bloke up the front. Gracious as ever, she grinned, thanked the giver, and became self-conscious for the next few tracks until she loosened up into the fun of it again.

But while Anette was truly the star of the show, keyboardist Tuomas was perhaps the hardest working of all the band members, as his work was very nearly constant throughout the entire set. The guitarists Emppu and Marco were dynamic and great to watch, and poor old Julius (drummer) was nearly knackered by the end of the show.

It is rare to be able to go to a show and simply get caught up in the enthusiasm, but even if you’d not been into Nightwish before this show, chances are you would’ve been by the end of it. If any other international gig this year is half as good as this one, 2008 promises to be a fantastic year for live music in Adelaide.

Here’s to Nightwish – a great show, a great band, a great crowd. Let’s hope they come back and do it again soon!