Nightwish – March 15th – Colorado Springs City Auditorium

Photos by John Vinson

The Scene: For a concert that was three bands of European Symphonic Metal, it was only fitting that it was at the old Colorado Springs City Auditorium, a historic venue that is nearly 100 years old!   As the goth style crowd assembled outside, my walk around brought back many memories from concerts there back in high school with eighties metal bands, but that seems like a lifetime ago…

Opener: Delain.  The first band on the boards (literally…old wood stage!) was the Dutch band Delain from Zwolle, Netherlands.  Vocalist Charlotte Wessels got the crowd’s attention from the start and guitarists Timo Sommers and Merel Bechtold worked well together through a seven song set that was very enjoyable and for an opener; very good sound quality with a vibe that set the tone for the evening.

Opener: Sonata Arctica.  Next up on deck was Sonata Arctica, a Finnish Power Metal band from Kemi, Finland.  Like headliners Nightwish, these guys have been around for 20 years.  While they have the Symphonic Metal thing going on, there was also a lot of progressive work in this set as well, especially guitartist Elias Viljanen who has been schooled by the likes of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.  Their set was well received and raised things another notch for the headliners.

Nightwish:  Nightwish is a symphonic metal band from Kitee, Finland.  They were formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen and guitarist Emppu Vuorinen.  The band soon acquired drummer Jukka Nevalainen and after that bassist Marco Hietala.  With their latest project, Endless Forms Most Beautiful, Nightwish have showcased Dutch vocalist Floor Jansen as well as instrumentalist Troy Donockley who plays Uilleann pipes, Bouzouki, as well as singing backing vocals.  He reminded me of Ian Anderson in a way which was very interesting indeed!

Like most progressive bands, what they lack in stage presence is far more than made up for in musicianship as all members are on top of their game.  Floor Jansen had this way of swaying to the music that was like a hypnotic gypsy, but most of all her vocals were very commanding and fitting of the band’s musical direction.   The vocals were very clean in the sound mix, and you could hear all of the instruments quite well which was a treat.  Lighting was very nice too with nice mixes of aqua and purple/magenta colors which always seem to create good atmosphere for this type of music.  The use of standard backdrops and no video screens really gave the gig an “old school” vibe.  Those factors, combined with the ambiance of the venue and the fact that the audience was really really into the show, gave the night the feel of a show in Europe.  Nightwish are no strangers to crazy audiences as they have been performing at concert festivals in Europe for years, and the band’s energy feeds off of the crowd.

Energy: A
Musicianship: A
Sound: A-
Lights: B+
Set/Lights: B

Overall: A-