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!

From this point on Marko news should be posted in this new thread in "Former Band Members" 😪

Finland is feeling optimistic, with a new show added on August 15 in Helsinki. 👍

The 150 000 viewer figure is official:

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. 🙂

Here's one review of the virtual show: https://www.loudersound.com/news/an-evening-with-nightwish-in-a-virtual-world-reviewed 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. 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! The interplay between Troy, Emppu and Tuomas in the instrumental section is fire! 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! 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. 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.

Welcome Tone! Nice to have another long-standing fan checking in! Have you got tickets for any of the shows later this year? Saxophone, yes, reminds me of something... 😁

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

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. 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)

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!

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! 😉

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:

From Wintersun's Facebook: We congratulate Jukka Koskinen for getting this opportunity to play bass in Nightwish! Jukka is still of course in Wintersun, so nothing has changed in that department. Wintersun wishes Jukka a great debut show tonight! p.s. Beers on Jukka!

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.

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