May 2021 Virtual Shows (was Something unforeseen to lighten up the dark times...)

[whitenoise]

13 minutes ago, Fugazi said:

Yes I do. Not sure if the expense will be worth it, but I guess I can afford to support the band and I'd rather find out who the bassist is before the show! Here in North America we don't get any goodies (t-shirts) with the VIP option.

Which reminds me... I will set up a dedicated topic here for spoilers from the interview, if people would rather not be spoiled before the show.

I was thinking of buying the VIP World ticket because I don't need a T-shirt. On the other hand, I'm not going to wake up at night to watch the other show, and I have other projects this weekend, so two recorded shows are a bit too much.

[Fugazi]

Enjoy the show! 🤘

A few thoughts on the fly:

1. Noise

Floor is in great voice! Troy does a good job on backing vocals.

2. Planet Hell

Hell yeah! 😲 This goes back to 2012 with Floor! And she does both vocal lines!

Wow this is unreal...

[Fugazi]

3. Tribal

Another challenging one!

The virtual sets are rather nice.

Go KAI!

Tasteful backing vocals by Troi. Strong voice performance by Floor 🤘

4. Elan

Nicely done. Some taped backing tracks but that's nothing new.

Jukka seems a bit stiff.

 

[Fugazi]

5. Storytime

Man this was fabulous! Impressive how effortlessly she sings this one now.

6. She Is My Sin

Difficult songs back to back.

We don't see much of Jukka.

7. Harvest

Let's hear Troy now...

Again very tasteful vocal duet...

And the instrumental interlude is fire.

[Fugazi]

8. 7 Days To The Wolves

I'm very curious about this one...

Actually it works well enough with Troy.

I must say that the digital scenery is pretty static... not much in the way of interaction with the music.

Floor delivers beyond expectations.

[Fugazi]

9. I Want My Tears Back

Sounds different without Marko... but it brings some variety for a song that's been perhaps overplayed.

Did Troy forget to sing there? Oops!

10. Bless The Child

Nicely done.

 

[Fugazi]

11. Nemo

They've already played stuff from every album except for Oceanborn and Angels Fall First.

Troy on guitar! 👍

Floor killed it again!

12. How's The Heart (Acoustic)

They caught on how this one was a huge hit on YouTube.

The band is coming back!

Fantastic.

13. Shoemaker

Guitarz!

Goosebumps.

Unbelievable... such stamina.

14. Last Ride Of The Day

Floor is carrying this show on her shoulders more than ever. But solid performance from everyone.

15. Ghost Love Score

No words. Still amazing.

16. The Greatest Show On Earth

Are they really going to play this whole??

E-bow for the win.

Jukka has the stage presence of Sami. But it's not a real stage so I can't imagine anyone being too hyped about performing before a couple of cameras.

I hope we can buy this on DVD with better resolution.

Man, that Ad Astra bit brought me to tears. Totally unexpected. Floor is a beast, it can never be said enough.

So glad they ditched the "We are going to die" speech. 🤣

I still miss Marko, but I think I can get used to Marko-less Nightwish. They won their bet.

[mabla]

Enjoyed it very much. Floor nailed it. How's the Heart and Shoemaker currently the winners for me but have to watch it again.

Unfortunately some connection issues now and then for me .... 🥴

Not coming close to the live vibe but it is what it is for now. Can't wait till the live show's in November 🤗

🤘

[Fugazi]

Loads of songs now being uploaded on YouTube... They will probably be taken down by the label as soon as they notice.

[Fugazi]

Here's a video about the making of the digital world, for those who speak Finnish.

https://www.mtvuutiset.fi/artikkeli/katso-video-nain-nightwishin-jattimaiset-virtuaalikeikat-maailman-reunalla-olevine-tavernoineen-toteutetaan-suomalaisena-tuotantona-tama-on-aivan-historiallinen/8152760#gs.2jvcba

[whitenoise]

14 hours ago, Fugazi said:

Loads of songs now being uploaded on YouTube... They will probably be taken down by the label as soon as they notice.

Plus the fact that there appears a code on the screen from time to time, which is different in the YT uploads I saw from that in my stream. I don't know if they can sue people internationally, but I would be careful in Finland.

[Fugazi]

49 minutes ago, whitenoise said:

Plus the fact that there appears a code on the screen from time to time, which is different in the YT uploads I saw from that in my stream. I don't know if they can sue people internationally, but I would be careful in Finland.

Indeed. They can probably easily void the tickets of the people involved, to prevent further piracy.

Looking forward to any setlist changes tonight. Pan would be interesting to hear live. Procession is probably not a song they will want to play live. And we know that Endlessness is out, so the new album is pretty well covered.

[Fugazi]

Good, I'm ready for more! Even if it's more of the same..  😆

Let's see if they have a different pre-show interview today, maybe some feedback on the first performance?

Another nice capture:

[Fugazi]

Same VIP session as yesterday.

All right, if you're not watching the second stream live, you can skip this thread until you have watched it for yourself! Spoilers ahead! 😉

[Fugazi]

Let's go! 🤘

1. Noise

New outfit for Floor!

So much energy!

And there's Marko doing a cameo.  😁

2. Planet Hell

Fire!

3. Alpenglow

Hell yes! My guilty pleasure! 👍

Dancing skeletons? They're using visuals from yesterday's Tribal... 🤔 Mistake, or last minute decision to swap songs?

4. Élan

Didn't notice the flying owl yesterday...

Troy's voice is a bit muffled in the background.

5. Storytime

Perfect again.

Floor appears to be returning to a straighter delivery style, like at Wacken 2013.

6. How's The Heart

Full band this time!

Well done, so good to have both versions!

7. Harvest

Love Floor's harmonies here.

Troy shines on this one.

Kai looks sleepy 😆

8. Dark Chest Of Wonders

Glad to have this back!

9. I Want My Tears Back

Troy kinda fudged this one ! (again)

10. Ever Dream

[edit: Tuomas skipped the piano teaser.]

Two guitars!

Fabulous Floor!

11. Nemo

👍

12. Sleeping Sun

Wow! Welcome back!

I couldn't figure out what the song was from the introduction.

Guitar duet again!

Never noticed Troy singing on this one before, although we're hearing him well. [edit: he's not usually on stage for this song, and Marko was not doing backing vocals]

13. Pan

They just had to!

Another difficult song for Floor, but she nailed it!

[edit: I'm surprised Troy is absent, he could have backed during the chorus]

Emppu!

14. Last Ride Of The Day

15. Ghost Love Score

16. The Greatest Show On Earth

and Ad Astra 🤘

I think the band was even better tonight, despite the late hour (for them). And nice selection of alternate songs.

Crossing fingers for an official release.

Hey it's already Troy's birthday in Europe! Nice way to celebrate!

[whitenoise]

5 hours ago, Fugazi said:

I think the band was even better tonight, despite the late hour (for them).

From 3 to 5 AM, more like the early hours! I guess they have recorded both shows in advance. Still a first time experience for the audience.

[mabla]

Haven't seen the second show for myself... @Fugazi thanks for sharing the details 🤗

First show I have seen multiple times now, but not in one straight watch. 

During the re-watch I went straight for the highlights for me ... Noise (killer), How's the Heart (wow), Shoemaker (amazing) and the impressive ending of TGSOE that is new for me. The Marko parts in TGSOE were surprisingly well done by Floor and Troy together, I liked that very much. Planet Hell was done well by Floor, but I missed Marko on that one, same for LROTD. 

Virtual imaging was impressive. I was waiting/hoping that the virtual tree was growing or moving during the show for extra interaction, but it stays a bit static after a few times watching ☺️ Is just a minor remark and only a wish of my thoughts, so forget it 🥴

I hope they share the numbers of the amount of people that watched the shows. It shouldn't surprise me when it were several of hundreds of thousands genders in total 😎

🤘

Edited May 30, 2021 by mabla
small spelling thingies

[Fugazi]

8 hours ago, whitenoise said:

From 3 to 5 AM, more like the early hours! I guess they have recorded both shows in advance. Still a first time experience for the audience.

I don'k know, they made a big deal about this being a live experience. Perhaps they allowed a short delay for potential major technical issues but I doubt that they pre-recorded everything.

 

5 hours ago, mabla said:

I hope they share the numbers of the amount of people that watched the shows. It shouldn't surprise me when it were several of hundreds of thousands genders in total 😎

🤘

Here's what I found so far:

https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/culture/19316-nightwish-s-virtual-concert-broke-records.html

"Set in a 3D-world, ‘An Evening With Nightwish in a Virtual World’ gathered 150 000 viewers on the first night. The highest number of visitors came from Europe and North America, but fans joined in from across the globe as tickets had been sold to 108 countries prior to the second show."

I hope to have time to watch again today before I comment some more.

 

Oh and here's a more detailed look at the virtual environment created for the show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgjGRB87Qro

I wonder if the original plan was to have virtual show-goers looking on in the tavern...

Looking back on the performance, I must say that I like the virtual design choices. The settings and scenery were beautiful, without being too intrusive -- the band performance wasn't dominated in any way by the digital settings. It ended up being an intimate performance in a pleasant, surreal environment. Streaming quality was very good on my side, and is even better on replay. I'm hoping for a high resolution DVD-BR release to immortalize this once in a lifetime experience.

Looks like Kai is also testing the waters:

"What do you think? Would it be worth to release these 2 shows we just did as a dvd/blu-ray release? We just heard that our stream was viewed in over 100 countries. Wow!!"

(from his FB page)

[Fugazi]

Streaming is down for now on the concert page but issues are being fixed.

[Aphasia]

Hi! I'm new to the forum, but been into Nightwish for 20 years, saw them live first with Tarja in 2005. 

These two shows... wow.. 

My highlights were

Tribal - I haven't appreciated it enough on the album, but now I will play the hell out of it (when the concerts are unavailable to me, not before!) The intro is just EPIC, and this really shows how tight and skilled these guys are. 

7 Days to the Wolves -  I haven't heard this live since 2007, and the intro with Troy was again SO atmospheric. 

Harvest - This is a song I really LOVE on the album, so I already knew it was gonna be speciall

Shoemaker - Same as Harvest. Tear-provoking, the way Floor closed the song with the opera. 

Ghost Love Score - How does this song get even better, after all these years? I wasn't surprised to find myself tearing up during the instrumental buld-up. 

Greatest Show on Earh w. All the Works pt.7 .... This song keeps growing on me, still. And these performances helped sement that!

Edited May 30, 2021 by Aphasia

[Fugazi]

Here's one review of the virtual show:

https://www.loudersound.com/news/an-evening-with-nightwish-in-a-virtual-world-reviewed

 

4 hours ago, Aphasia said:

Tribal - I haven't appreciated it enough on the album, but now I will play the hell out of it (when the concerts are unavailable to me, not before!) The intro is just EPIC, and this really shows how tight and skilled these guys are. 

I love Tribal, short but punchy and gives Kai a chance to show what he's got! And I love the arabic-sounding melismas Floor is doing there, reminds me somehow of the ending of Sahara.

4 hours ago, Aphasia said:

7 Days to the Wolves -  I haven't heard this live since 2007, and the intro with Troy was again SO atmospheric.

I loved it. Also one of my favourites. I liked Marko's bass more (or was it because Jukka's bass was not prominent enough in the mix?) but I think they pulled it off nicely considering Troy had also to replace Marko on vocals. I didn't expect this one to make the set list so it was a real delight to hear a new version!

4 hours ago, Aphasia said:

Harvest - This is a song I really LOVE on the album, so I already knew it was gonna be special!

The interplay between Troy, Emppu and Tuomas in the instrumental section is fire!

4 hours ago, Aphasia said:

Shoemaker - Same as Harvest. Tear-provoking, the way Floor closed the song with the opera. 

I'm so happy Floor dared to perform this one live, at least once! I'm not sure she can play it night after night during a regular tour, so this might be a rare occasion to hear her live. It was also one of the rare instances of the virtual scenery "reacting" to the music, with the dome glass shattering.

Also I'm happy for every chance to have Troy on guitars!

4 hours ago, Aphasia said:

Ghost Love Score - How does this song get even better, after all these years? I wasn't surprised to find myself tearing up during the instrumental buld-up.

It's a rush of emotion every time! Interestingly, Floor chose to belt a long long straight note this time as her finale, reminding me of her early GLS versions in 2012 rather than the more and more complex versions of later years. She made a similar choice at the end of Nemo, going for the simpler vocals.

4 hours ago, Aphasia said:

Greatest Show on Earh w. All the Works pt.7 .... This song keeps growing on me, still. And these performances helped sement that!

I'm happy they managed to make this work without Marko, I wasn't sure how it would turn out. It's crazy to think that on top of singing this long set full of challenging songs, Floor also needs to fill in for Marko whenever he sang solo. And a few weeks after going trough surgery. She's a rare treasure.

[Fugazi]

I read people on social media being off-put by the awkward silent pauses between the songs... I don't know, having watched a couple of live streamed shows during this pandemic, I'm getting used to it and I haven't seen anyone offer a better solution. Perhaps hearing the waterfalls roaring or other natural sounds could have worked in this setting?

NW deliberately dropped any pretense of interacting with an invisible crowd, and I'm fine with that. Perhaps they could have interacted a bit more (verbally) among themselves, to give some context to their presence in this end-of-the-world tavern? They did attempt a few cues here and there ("Winter's coming"... what?) but overall I felt that the music and the band's presence were a bit disconnected from the visuals.

Don't take me wrong, I loved the shows and I hope it's obvious by now, and I loved the virtual setting, but I would have liked a bit more of a story linking the two. At first I thought the steampunk zeppelin was intended to bring a virtual crowd to see this show in a faraway tavern-lighthouse, but in hindsight I think it's probably the band themselves flying to the tavern for a drink and a little singing on their way to somewhere else, like the Edema Ruh they are. Or maybe I'm all wrong, it's all very mysterious in the end. So I might have liked a bit of context for the fantastic setting. 🙂

[Fugazi]

The 150 000 viewer figure is official:

 

[Spartanguy83]

Thank you for your write-up. I am so happy that I purchased both nights. I am sort of new to Nightwish. I've been aware of them from afar for years. But never really listened to them until about 3 years ago recovering from a couple major surgeries. What an eye opening experience. I though both shows were very well done. I can imagine them improving on the virtual production aspects. The concept is so new to everyone. In fact, I am treating myself to the concert in New York. Talked a friend into going. Hopefully, these two 56 year old dudes can hang! 😉

[Fugazi]

Welcome to the forum, Spartanguy! 👍

Yes, pulling of this kind of virtual live performance is probably more technically challenging than we can imagine, so I'm impressed with what we got. It can probably be improved upon but I think this will be a unique experiment for the band and I doubt they will return to the format unless they're forced to!

I hope the North American tour goes as planned. I have tickets for Boston but the border has to reopen before I can travel. There's still time left though!