Fugazi

"Winner" live from Amsterdam is up! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-OVZvQrvik This was one of the performances I loved on Beste Zangers, very uplifting song. The Amsterdam recording is maybe not quite as powerful, while the vocal performance is top notch again I feel there's something odd with the mix, perhaps the drums are too prominent in the mix but to me it doesn't sound just as good as the BZ version. Nevertheless, I'm glad that we get this new version. Next week, we're likely going back to a Nightwish "cover"! 🤘

Tarja answers fan questions in the latest issue of Metal Hammer magazine (#358). The article is not available online, so I'm sharing some of the highlights. Have you ever shattered a wine glass with your voice, deliberately or accidentally? “I did it with a lamp. I was in a music high school, and I was vocalising in the rehearsal room. There was a light that had a problem; when I’d hit certain frequencies it started [makes a high buzzing noise]. I started playing around with it, going up and down at a very loud volume, and it just popped. I was so happy I ran down the stairs and screamed to my friends, ‘Oh my God! I just broke a light with my voice! Come and see, it doesn’t work any longer!’” If you could give someone one album that best demonstrates Tarja Turunen, what would it be? “I’d go with my last album [2019’s In The Raw]. That tells you who I am at the moment. Right after the stroke, I started writing the lyrics for the album and that is the reason I am choosing this album -it is absolutely raw. The whole process was very therapeutic, I thought I was not able to do it. When I sat down with my computer for the first time, it was just a blank screen in front of me. I had all the doubts in the world, but I managed.” On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you want to sing at the Eurovision song contest finals? “If one is not at all, and 10 is absolutely, I would say less than one. I am not interested at all, and I’ve been asked several times [as a solo artist]. I once took part with Nightwish [in 2000] – it was not my wish, but we did it. We got into the finals in Finland, but the jury voted us out. The song was called Sleepwalker. It was really not something I was dreaming of doing, but it did well for the band. We got the votes from the Finnish audience, they loved us, so the band got good publicity out of it.” What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you onstage? “It happened in Nightwish. Really early, maybe 2000 or something. My pants were this PVC material, not breathable, really horrible. I was sweating like a pig in those pants. The zip completely caught open at the front and I kept on singing like, ‘What do I do, what do I do?’ until the song was finished. I ran backstage to find some gaffer tape – seriously, gaffer tape – to match my shiny PVC pants. It didn’t stick, and I went back to the stage and sang the rest of the concert with a towel in front. My panties were yellow. Like, really? On that day, I needed to put yellow underpants on?” What’s the hardest song to sing live? “Crimson Deep, it has such a wide range, It’s very demanding. I really need to focus when I’m singing that song. It’s been a long time since I sang it – it was in the setlist many years ago. But I should take it on just to see where I’m standing vocally. I kind of enjoy the fact that not everyone can sing my songs!” What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever read about yourself in the press? “There are plenty! The one that most affected me was being named a ‘diva’. I do not feel like I am a diva at all, and people that really know me are hopefully with me on this! Perhaps I was misunderstood.” Hammer: When did you see yourself described that way? “When I got fired from Nightwish, from my old colleagues. I’ve been able to do a lot of TV work in Finland [Tarja is a judge on Finnish version of The Voice] and people have really seen who I am, there is no faking when cameras are all around you all the time.” [Nightwish leader and songwriter] Tuomas Holpainen told Metal Hammer he was grateful to you for emailing him after his father died. Did you exchange Christmas cards this year? “He did say thank you but no, we did not write any Christmas cards…” Hammer: Do you two have a friendly relationship now? “I have been singing with [ex-Nightwish bassist] Marko Hietala for many years and he apologised to me in person. He’s the only one who has done that. We got to clean the table. But with Tuomas, it’s been emailing time to time, but not more than that.”

Here's a current list of upcoming Floor solo shows: Netherlands-Rotterdam-Beste Zangers Live-May 10, 2024 Netherlands-Eindhoven-Bridge Guitar Festival-June 1, 2024 Netherlands-Soestdijk-Royal Park Live-July 4, 2024 (🎟️ sold out) Netherlands- Bloemendaal-Caprera-July 6, 2024 (15:30, 🎟️ sold out) Netherlands- Bloemendaal-Caprera-July 6, 2024 (20:30, 🎟️ sold out) Netherlands-Den Haag-Zuiderpark Live-September 7, 2024 Past solo shows: Netherlands-Amsterdam-Paradiso-April 11, 2023 (🎟️ sold out) Netherlands-Tilburg-Poppodium 013-April 12, 2023 (🎟️ sold out) Netherlands-Utrecht-TivoliVredenburg-April 13, 2023 (🎟️ sold out) Netherlands-Den Haag-Paard-April 16, 2023 (🎟️ sold out) Netherlands-Groningen-Oosterpoort-April 17, 2023 (🎟️ sold out) With Anneke Van Giersbergen: Germany-Oberhausen-Turbinenhalle 2-May 7, 2023 Switzerland-Zürich-X-TRA-May 9, 2023 Germany-Munich-Backstage Werk-May 10, 2023 Austria-Vienna-Simm City-May 11, 2023 Germany-Leipzig-Haus Auensee-May 13, 2023 Germany-Neu-Isenburg-Hugenhottenhalle-May 14, 2023 Germany-Cologne-E-Werk-May 15, 2023 Germany-Stuttgart-LKA Longhorn-May 17, 2023 Germany-Berlin-Huxley's Neue Welt-May 18, 2023 Germany-Hamburg-Sporthalle-May 19, 2023 Festivals: Netherlands-Soestdijk-Royal Park Live-July 6, 2023 (cancelled) Solo: Netherlands-Amsterdam-AFAS Live-December 8, 2023

😪 Ok this was lots of fun, thanks for your enormous work (300-something questions?) and maybe down the road you can pick it up again... 😁 Still hoping for some members to try out the quizzes, now or later. This one was pretty hard! 😄

An amazing picture from "the summer where Nightwish took turns performing with cows", a/k/a Summer 1999. This Kimmo Kirves picture posted on FloorWorld was taken at the Silva Forest Fair in Joensuu, May 29th 1999. As you can see the mosh pit was the place to be at this crowded gig. 😁 Google translation: "The gig of the band Nightwish was not very crowded in 1999, but there was a magazine photographer Kimmo Kirves." Silly people, jumping around and enjoying themselves instead of recording the show... 😋 Oh and nothing says "power metal" like nice flowers lining the stage. 🤣🌻

Remember Sam Hardwick, the boy speaking on Dead's Boy Poem, then on Bless The Child? He used to have a blog, and at some point mentioned his experience recording for Nightwish. http://hardwick.fi/blog/?p=3005

For the record: a project Floor took part in back in 2014 along with many other known Dutch metal artists... Countermove: The Power of Love Posted on November 26, 2014 by Metal-Exposure https://metal-exposure.com/countermove-power-love/ The holiday season: celebrations, family and friends and those same old Christmas tunes on the radio. Mariah Carey, Band Aid, Wham.. need we say more? The Dutch project Countermove offers you an alternative. Many artists of the Dutch metal scene: musicians of Epica, Nightwish/ReVamp, Delain, Within Temptation, Stream of Passion, Xandria, Textures and many more, have collaborated on a track with the aim to raise money for a charity. The project is linked to 3FM’s Serious Request 2014, a massive Dutch charity event that is organised every year by one of Netherland’s biggest radio stations. The raised funds will go to the Red Cross. From the 8th of December onwards, fans can donate and download the Power of Love (originally performed by Frankie Goes to Hollywood) and a video will be released for the song as well.

It's been a slow growth, but I trust that with the tour really picking up this spring, there will be more traffic and people signing up. I've noticed the visitor stats really jumping when there are shows or major events, which is only natural.

Thanks for the walk-through! There are a number of intriguing entries that I know nothing about, and will have to check out when time allows! Marko in particular has been quite prolific, and continues to be despite being on a 'sabbatical'. 😮

Heads-up to all Dutch members, Floor is the Dutch ambassador of Record Store Day this year on April 23rd. 😮 Takeaway from the press release: Floor's first solo single to be given away to a limited number of customers as a special promotional disc in the Netherlands on April 23, 2022. Go get' em! Solo album release is planned for Spring 2023. https://recordstoreday.nl/actueel/floor-jansen-nederlandse-ambassadeur-van-record-store-day-2022/ Floor Jansen is the Dutch ambassador of Record Store Day 2022 Floor Jansen is this year's Dutch ambassador for Record Store Day. A 7 inch single will be released especially for this occasion, which will be available for free and exclusively for the first 5,000 buyers during this day. Record Store Day is celebrated on Saturday 23 April and takes place in more than a hundred independent record stores in the Netherlands. As a Nightwish singer, Floor Jansen is a prominent figure in the international rock and metal scene, a world in which physical media – LPs, CDs, DVDs and box sets – have always remained very important. The singer herself has also regularly indicated that it is very important that the albums in which she is involved are released in this 'tangible' form. Floor is now working on a solo album, the first single of which will be released physically during Record Store Day. Floor about the ambassadorship: “I am very proud to be an ambassador for Record Store Day Netherlands. The record store is the place where you as a music lover can talk about music with other music lovers. The comeback of vinyl proves once again that for many people physical product is very important and we would like to keep it that way, especially as musicians!” Free 7 inch single Floor Jansen's first solo single (title TBA) is on the gold-coloured 7 inch single that was pressed especially for Record Store Day. The first 5,000 customers who make a purchase in one of the participating record stores on Saturday 23 April will receive it home for free. The song can be listened to on all streaming platforms from March 25. Side B features the live version of The Phantom of the Opera, the famous duet with Henk Poort, recorded on September 3, 2021 at the AFAS Live in Amsterdam. About Floor Jansen Floor Jansen is the front singer of the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. She studied at the Rock Academy in Tilburg, with classmates Jacqueline Govaert and Danny Vera, among others. Before graduating, she became the lead singer of the Dutch metal band After Forever. After that she played with her own band ReVamp for a few more years. With her participation in the television program Beste Zangers in 2019, she gained name recognition among an even wider audience. The duet by Floor Jansen and Henk Poort from the musical The Phantom of the Opera has now been viewed more than 17 million times on YouTube. At the beginning of 2020, Floor received the Popprijs 2019. Floor will perform at Pinkpop and in the Ziggo Dome this year, as part of Nightwish's world tour. Her solo album is planned for the spring of 2023. About Record Store Day Record Store Day originated fifteen years ago in the United States. Today, this international record store day takes place in more than 2,000 independent record stores in America, Europe, Australia and Japan. In the Netherlands, the event will be celebrated on Saturday 23 April for the thirteenth time this year. Artists such as Blaudzun, Kensington, Eefje de Visser, De Staat and Spinvis preceded Floor Jansen as Dutch Record Store Day ambassador.

I found this compilation work by (new member!) @Paul Botterell to be a great quick reference for the extensive work of NW band members within and without the band. There's lots of stuff in there I didn't even know about! I guess this begs for a regular feature about some of those releases that may or may not be so well known. Here's the link, and I'm sure Paul would be interested in hearing about additions or corrections! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13a-gQ4eq3Z1RcOc912oqmPDiUDCtKWJxynfIv1UaigY/edit?usp=sharing

Not to be outdone, Backstage Rock Shop just released this DVD bundle, adding a mouse pad in the deal. 🐭 https://www.backstagerockshop.com/collections/nightwish/products/nightwish-virtual-live-show-from-the-islanders-arms-2021-dvd-mouse-pad-bundle

Update from Floor:

That could work, although I learn a lot from your difficult questions! Nightwish is niche interest, and most fans are content with joining a Facebook group and passively receiving band news and pictures in the news feed they check (multiple times) every day anyway. There's nothing wrong with that, but that's not my thing. But it's also not hard to notice that classic forums are dying all around, replaced by more chat-like platforms. Platforms over which members have no control, driven by data collection, profiling and ads. 😐 But honestly I'm not aiming for the thousands of members that FB groups can easily reach... Quality over quantity any day! 🤘

Haha nice! 😈 She seemed way more relaxed during that 2020 show... But then there was no camera crew recording the whole show for posterity! 😁 Also she was dressed more like she would dress for a Nightwish show.

Don't be sorry, it's pretty difficult to reach out to people who aren't online already. I would need to be more active on other platforms and probably create more content too and use Facebook or YouTube to help driving traffic. Lots of work though! 😁

Of course I do! But it would be more fun for you (and me) if there were more contestants. I need to work on promoting the site, but there are so many hours in a day and I'm not sure where to start. 🤔

Time to Face Your Demons! 😈 It's a great performance by Floor, and the band adapted well to a more metal sound. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sg1SVQ_QvQ

Anette's next collaboration is something different, she's singing on this Japanese melodic metal project called Ultima Grace, to be released on March 16, 2022. Details (from https://kings-rock.jp/news/8799)

You deserve a break from all this quizzing, and catch up on your sleeping hours! 🙂 Of course you know I love the quizzes, you get a 10 from me! 🤘

I had to check how big A2 is, even though I lived in Europe for years I couldn't remember! 😆

The Cruellest Goodbye, the second single from Tarja's Outlanders project, is now out there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p-pZXSHtFw Nice guitar work. The chorus is catchy too. Edit: adding the video

An exclusive edition of the DVD with a folded poster is also available from Record Shop X! Anyway, the DVD-level resolution is underwhelming, since the show was streamed in HD. The main draw of this release would be the sound remastering. Edit: And Floor has her outfit from the first show on the cover, which some may find confusing. 🤔