Soundi 12/2007
Перевод на английский сделан
Afrodite.
Nightwish touring the North
Hullabaloo in Copenhagen, soot noses in Goteborg, nightmares in Oslo
28.11 KB HALLEN, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
Tuomas Holopainen stands in the third terminal of the gigantic Kastrup airport. He's wearing a reddish leather jacket and jeans and looks cheerful and perky.
- I went straight to Kitee after the American tour. That returned my feet back on the ground. Plenty of sleep, healthy food and sheer peace, Tuomas starts and continues laughing:
- Then the situation changed a little. First Alexi Laiho showed up and the next day the guys from Kotiteollisuus came for a visit. So much for the peace.
Tuomas', guitarist Emppu Vuorinen's, bass player Marco Hietala's, drummer Jukka Nevalainen's and manager Ewo Pohjola's baggage soon glides through the assembly line. Suprisingly no one's things have dissappeared between Helsinki and Copenhagen. The driver waiting in the lubby gestures the quintet (vocalist Anette Olzon arrives on her own since she lives only 100 kilometres away in Sweden) to come closer and soon the two-storey bus is heading towards the centrum of Copenhagen. Tonight's show is happening in the sold-out KB Hallen that fits about 3500 people. It's a great number since Copenhagen isn't considered a 'metal city' eventhough Metallica's Lars Ulrich and Mercyful Fate are region's own boys.
- The situation in a few other countries suprised us. For example in Switzerland the popularity has grown to considerable proportions. Dark Passion Play went to number one and we're playing in Zürich's Hallenstadion. It holds 12 000 people, Holopainen tells.
The talk moves to the concert in Copenhagen and the excitement of it. You would reason that the band is in the best gig shape after a five week tour in the United States but the 'mood of the day' isn't anything reasonable. Of course there are true excitement elements in the air since the stage show including a lot of pyros in the Nordic countries is in a totally different size group than on the American tour. Pillars of fire and different kind of bombs are familiar to the other members of Nightwish from the past years but Anette hasn't performed in the middle of pyros before.
- I've been thinking if you can loose your playing skill in a week, Tuomas smiles.
- Of course. But there's always room beside the tune (nuotin vierestä = off key lit. beside the tune) and the timing depends on how you count, Emppu jokes.
Copenhagen can only be dimly seen from the horizon and the conversation bounces through bad jokes to the world tour that stretches to the early autumn 2009 ("most of all you wait for the places the band hasn't been in before like China") and even the time after that ("the place for the next album's training has already been decided"). Finally the confabulation returns to the American tour.
- The beginning of the tour went in to getting used to a lot of things like the bus drivers accent. You needed to really listen to him if you wanted to understand at least something, Marco starts.
- White Rabbit in San Antonio was such a dump that we haven't seen another like it. After wondering about the place Anette asked one of the door men if they've ever thought about doing renovations. He didn't seem to get the hint, just looked bewildered, Ewo says with a smile.
- Finally we caught the shower room's biggest cockroach in a glass jar and decided to give it to our American agent and to say 'here lies the promoter from San Antonio, you don't want to book anyone there anymore', Hietala adds.
Tuomas inspires to list the things he remembers from across the puddle.
- A raccoon at the backstage area of the Toronto gig, the happening in Disneyland, the atmosphere of the Universal Studios, Orlando generally and the talk between the vocalist and songwriter in Portland. That is the beginning of the US tour was a little whining about unnecessary things and whipping oneself over something too much. But after the Portland gig we had a practical argument after which the mood of the tour was clearly fresher.
Holopainen, who is known to be a hard Disney fan, takes calmly the fact that Nightwish's gigs in the Disney owned House of Blues turned into completely different halls at the last minute. The change was commented in the news behind the sea as follows: "Cancellation is said to be because of the band citing violent imagery, objectionable fand and seditious lyrics. All other upcoming metal shows will be cancelled too."
- It's a comical thing indeed.. Let's think that Disneyland has a rollercoaster named after Aerosmith. Those guys have never done anything that might stain Disney's reputation! Furthermore the company's latest biggest hits are the Pirates Of The Caribbean movies. Pirates are indeed exemplary people! This made-up ban towards heavy bands tells something about the lack of consideration and double standard of the decision-makers.
KB Hallen is located 15 minutes away from Nightwish's hotel but the driver decides to show the town to the band. Though even he doesn't know it yet. Anette has gone to school in Copenhagen a while back and knows the area tolerably and after a few weird crossroads really begins to wonder the route choises. Shortly the driver pulls at the side of the road and starts to examine his maps. The weirdest thing is that the car isn't equipped with a gps-system. After many phonecalls and even more pointless turns the situation isn't funny anymore since the soundcheck time is approaching. Finally we stumble upon the right street after about an hour and a half of adventure. Nightwish's crew has been working on the concert place since morning and the band showing up causes some 'you finally showed up' remarks.
The Copenhagen concert is ecpecially meaningful for Anette because besides her son and mother also her longtime singing teacher and brother and his wife will be in the audience.
- The actual show isn't making me more nervous than usual. Introducing my relatives to the band was a much more exciting situation, Olzon laughs.
After Nightwish's soundcheck the warm-up act for the Nordic countries tour Indica takes the stage. The band getting ready for a sound pressure check decorates the stage in a familiar 'fairy style'.
- Asking Indica to be the tour's second band came to mind when we were at the Abbey Road studios for the first time working on Dark Passion Play. We only had the condition that they would perform in English. I've liked Indica since their first album and I'm sure they could achieve popularity in foreign countries too, Tuomas thinks.
Indica's Jonsu sings also on Nightwish's new Erämaan Viimeinen-single. The song was originally released on Dark Passion Play as an instrumental with the name Last Of The Wilds.
- We called Last Of The Wilds even on the demo stage the indica-song for it moves pretty much in the same landspace of the soul, Holopainen begins.
- I then met Jonsu after their Tavastia gig sometime on 2006 and went in a little state of drunkenness to say that I have this idea will you do it. Jonsu said yes and sang the song at Petrax in 2007.
After a few hours both Indica and Nightwish camps are nervous. How will the warm-up acts first gig go? How will the audince take the strange band? The answer is gotten as soon as the lights go out. An encouraging shout goes around the hall and the mood doesn't start to go down at any point. The band is smiling after the show.
- If I think about the shows in Finland of course I'm nervous for those too. Before the show my heart beats like ten extra times but now it's at least a hundred beats. And then we get such a great response. An amazing feeling, Jonsu says emotionally.
The mood at Nightwish's backstage is electrified about an half an hour before the show when the band members start their own preparation rituals. Tuomas withdraws to himself for a while, Jukka plays the airdrums and does ab crunches and Marco opens his voice, without sparing the volume. Anette is caught in the crossfire of a few local newspaper photographers but also has time for Emppu's language lesson. The before learned sentences "sorry I'm Swedish" and "I can't sing I have a hangover" are rehearsed.
- From the comparison of adjectives we're still working on 'nice, nicer, testicle', the guitarist adds.
The setlist planned by Tuomas and Anette is 'not the hardest possible' type.
- It's nicer to start the tour with a little easier setting. And we always adapt the repertoire to Anette's feeling. For example She Is My Sin requires a pretty good mood and for instance instead of Eva we can do Higher Than Hope, Tuomas tells and continues:
- We can variate the setlist quite a lot. Besides the mandatory we can have Whoever Brings The Night, Sacrament Of Wilderness, Sleeping Sun, The Siren and Dead To The World. Slaying The Dreamer for one has been put on a break for a while.
Последний раз редактировалось: Nia (26 фев 2008, 19:54); всего редактировалось: 1 раз
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Надо же, звезда! Интересно, какая? Но это наверное, неофициально.
*мечтательно*
Ура