Finnish symphonic metal legends Nightwish released their best-of compilation album Decades in March to celebrate more than two decades of their career. To celebrate this milestone the band embarked on an extensive world tour, which arrived in the UK on Saturday night at Wembley Arena in London and sees the band also play Birmingham and Manchester. As well as being a celebratory tour, this was also the first time the band have toured in the UK since 2012, so it promised to be a very special evening indeed!
First on stage were Beast In Black; a heavy metal band from Helsinki formed by ex-Battle Beast guitarist Anton Kabanen and featuring the mighty power-house Yannis Papadopoulos on vocals. The band played a fantastically energetic set featuring tracks from their debut album Berserker (2017) as well as from their upcoming album From Hell With Love, which will be released in February 2019. Their performance was really engaging and each member of the band looked like they were having a fantastic time; Yannis bounded around the stage, guitarists Anton and Kasperi plus bassist Mate Molnaron struck a whole range of epic poses for the photographers, and drummer Atte Palokangas regularly flung his drumsticks into the air to catch them spectacularly and continue to play all within a fraction of a second. Beast In Black were the perfect choice of support for this tour and got the crowd thoroughly in the mood for tonight’s headliners.
Shortly before 9 pm the undisputed pioneers of symphonic metal Nightwish took to the stage. I have to confess this was my first time seeing Nightwish but there was an electric atmosphere in the room and I was excited to see what they had in store. Us photographers were not allowed into the photo pit for the first three songs for health and safety reasons due to the huge range of pyrotechnics, but we huddled around a small opening in a side-door and watched the crowd roar with delight as plumes of flames blasted from all corners of the stage. As we were ushered into place it was clear to see what a huge production was involved in this show; there were enormous video screens towards the back of the stage, raised platforms, and an array of pyrotechnics lined up along the front of the stage as well as towards the back. Vocalist Floor Jansen looked more magnificent and powerful in person than I had imagined, and her vocals were incredible – I was captivated right from the start!
Floor told the crowd that this show was a celebration of the band’s history and invited us all to come along on a journey through the past. The band played a humongous two-hour long set featuring songs from their extensive back-catalogue including “Gethsemane” from their 1998 album Oceanborn, and “The Greatest Show On Earth” from their 2015 album Endless Forms Most Beautiful. Nightwish’s performance was glorious and breath-taking. If you haven’t experienced the band live then you can watch the monumental live video for their song “Ghost Love Score” which is taken from the re-issue of End Of An Era, which was released on 7th December.
Beast In Black: Official / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
Nightwish: Official / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
Nightwish Set-List:
- Intro +Swanheart
- Dark Chest ofWonders
- Wish I Had AnAngel
- 10th Man Down
- Come Cover Me
- Gethsemane
- Elan
- Sacrament of Wilderness
- Dead Boys Poem
- Elvenjig &Elvenpath
- I Want MyTears Back
- Last Ride of the Day
- The Carpenter
- The Kinslayer
- Devil &The Deep Dark Ocean
- Nemo
- Slaying TheDreamer
- The GreatestShow On Earth
- Ghost LoveScore
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All Photos © Katie Frost Photography
Nightwish
Beast In Black
