NIGHTWISH
Bercy - Paris, France
April 17 2012

Nightwish released in 2011 their most ambitious album to date, Imaginaerum.
The tour had to match the expectations from the fans, so it had to be something to remember. For the first time, Nightwish scheduled a show at the huge Bercy Arena of Paris. This was the normal following step after sellling out the Zénith twice on their previous tour.

Well, Bercy wasn't sold out but there was a lot of people anyway. That's a huge milestone for ant metal band!
Think it this way: more or less 15 years ago, there was a revival in power / symphonic metal and several young metal bands came up: Rhapsody, Edguy, Hammerfall, Angra...
The one that plays the largest veues today is Nightwish, and it's also the band with the most uncommon style.

Even if they've had ups and downs during their career, Nightwish has accomplished what every metal band only dream of.

For many bands, changing a charismatic singer means a downsize, but for Nightwish, replacing Tarja Turunen just meant the end of an era.
The album Iaginaerum, its movie and this tour, are the proof that hard work, with a bit of luck, can make everything possible.

Before the show started, the stage was covered with a scratched curtain. Some will said it looked like toilet paper but that certainly wasn't the band's intention ;-)

As the we heard the Taikatalvi intro, only the silhouette of Anette Olzon was visible. Then the curtain fell down so the Storytime could beging!
The whole band was finally in front of us, they had a clear sound and they brought a huge light show.

Imaginaerum is a complex album, and of course it's difficult to reproduce the stories and emotions on stage. That's why they made a movie. Nevertheless, Nightwsh took care of every detail of the show, so we could live the dream they've created for us.

Tuomas' keyboard was adorned with pipes, making it look like the organ every church in Neverland would dream about.
Also, there was a giant screen showing images according to the atmosphere of the songs.

A special guest came on stage during I Want My Tears Back: Troy Donockley! He has worked with Nightwish since the album Dark Passion Play.
Tonight, he brought his Uilleann pipes, a rare instrument, especially for a metal band.

He played for more than half of the show, giving a unique and delicate atmosphere to songs like The Islander, Last of the Wilds; Over the Hills and Far Away, and beautiful acoustic version of Nemo.

To enjoy this show, it was highly recommended to know the Imaginaerum album, as most of its songs were played.

Nevertheless, we had a decent dose of classics. Songs like Sleeping Sun or She Is My Sin didn't make it into the setlist, but for example Planet Hell included some parts of Stargazers, Gethsemane and The Wayfarer

Anette Olzon tried to please the French audience by singing in their langage. Last time a the Zénith she did great with Frère Jacques, a song for kids that everyone knows. This time she tried something romantic, and started sing a line with the words "chanson d'amour"... but no one sang as no one knew this song! Probably it was a big french hit aborad, but I didn't recognize it, and I wasn't the only one... Well, at least this anecdote made the show unique!

Nightwish performed an exceptional concert tonight at Bercy, it was an evening that the fans of the band will never forget. It's hard to wonder what could be the next step for the band, I think the highest point of their career is right now.

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Setlist Nightwish – Bercy Arena – Paris, France – April 17 2012

Nightwish Links:
Nightwish Website
Nightwish CDs on play.com
Nightwish CDs at Amazon.com
Nightwish iTunes downloads
Nightwish on Flickr

Nightwish Line-up: