Nightwish took the stage to "Noise," a song from their newest album Human. :II: Nature. From the start, the benefit of seeing them on the arena stage was evident. As drummer Kai Hahto launched into his opening fills they were accentuated with pyrotechnics. Huge video screens enveloped the stage with animated backgrounds. The energy emanating from the crowd was considerable.
I found it refreshing that the set list had been completely revised from the earlier leg of the tour, allowing the order of songs to be a surprise to me. It was clear that Jansen was reveling in being in front of a crowd again after her health scare. If she really was not feeling like she was at 100% I could not tell from the strength of her voice or the way she commanded the stage.
While keyboardist and songwriter Tuomas Holopainen is the leader of Nightwish, the focus of the spotlight on stage is Jansen. This seems to be recognized by the band with Holopainen's abandonment of his usual spot at the front of the stage. Instead, he joined Hahto and multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley on the back riser. Founding guitarist Emppu Vuorinen and the band's newest member, Jukka Koskinen, joined Jansen at the front of the stage but mainly stayed in the background.
As the set neared its conclusion, the band revved up the crowd to new heights with opening percussive notes of "Ghost Love Score." Jansen soared through the ten-minute-long opus punctuated by fireballs that were launched in synch with the music being produced on stage. The crowd was urged on and performed their parts with enthusiasm. As Queen does with the operatic part of Bohemium Rhapsody, the band walked off stage as the pre-recorded orchestral part played. They returned for the finish to the song that includes what I call "The Note," which Jansen executed flawlessly, followed by her congratulatory fistbump from Vuorinen. Now, having seen the band four times, I am still amazed how a note sung without lyrics can make eyes well up with tears.
The final song of the night was "The Greatest Show On Earth," another opus that logs in at nearly twenty minutes. It is based on the writings of evolutionary biologist and renowned atheist Richard Dawkins and speaks to the limited time man has spent on Earth compared to its vast history. Its theme of appreciation for the time that we have been given was acknowledged by Jansen in a speech within the song that referenced both the pandemic and her health scare. I thought of my wife at home who was supposed to be by my side but how lucky I was to be sharing the moment with my mother. Hansen urged the crowd to make the most of every moment that we have been given and then launched into the closing refrain of "We were here."
The band took their bows as the prerecorded closing of the song still played. Jansen then stepped into the spotlight to provide one last round of vocalizations. They stepped off the stage and the house lights were brought up. There was no cliched pre-planned encore, though the crowd would have been happy to have the band continue to play on.
After waiting for so long to finally see the show it almost seems surreal that it is now in my rearview mirror. The performance exceeded my expectations and was definitely worth the 5,000+ miles to get there. Now I cannot help but wonder what is it like to see the band in front of 82,000 fans at a festival. Another wish for another night.
Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for students with special education needs and public education. He was elected to the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and is the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.
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