02.06.2018 Nightwish

FortaRock

Goffertpark Nijmegen (Netherlands)

Slowly but surely this year’s FortaRock is coming to its end but not before the big headliner Nightwish had played. This band got meanwhile multinational and is currently on their Decades festival tour on which they play a best-of just like on the belonging album with remastered songs of their numerous albums. Front woman Floor Jansen had a home match and due to that of course a special bonus of sympathy.
She already had passed a marathon as in the afternoon she first was giving answers to the audience at the Theatre Stage for half an hour. After that she was rewarded with the Buma ROCKS! Export Award for her success as Dutch person abroad and fulfilled many wishes for autographs together with her band members during a signing session. But that did not count anymore when a huge clock on the big screen at the back of the stage was counting down a countdown at which end “End Of All Hope” from the 2002 released album “Century Child” was played supported by much pyrotechnic. The audience was simmering with excitement to this moment just like the band was as directly from the start it was loudly cheered, clapped and sung along.
During the whole show videos were played on the entire stage and again and again supported by flames and pyros. Mainly singer Floor Jansen was the center of attention on and on supported vocally by her male counterpart bassist Marco Hietala. The other band members stood more or less on the sideline. Only guitarist Emppu Vuorinen came to the front of the stage for his solos. Traditionally the mood of the band was excellent. But for the interaction with the audience only Floor was responsible (with one exception where Marco explicitly mentions Floors award and told her that due to this she could go to keyboarder Tuomas Holopainen to get a wine from him). As usual she is a real stage hog talking all the time to the audience and animated them to dance or clap along. Very nice from my point of view was, that there were also songs of the very rarely played album “Oceanborn”. There were among others “Gethsemane” and “Devil & The Deep Dark Ocean”. Also “10th Man Down” I had never heard before. It was of the 2001 released EP “Over The Hills And Far Away”. Only of Nightwish’s debut album “Angels Fall First” there were no songs played at all.
The 90 minutes taking set was very varied and offering a lot. The big surprise was the end. As there was not only played chapter II and III of the big epos “The Greatest Show On Earth” which is already taking roughly 10 minutes but directly afterwards also the goose bumps generating “Ghost Love Score” which is nearly just as long. At the end the band left the stage and surrounded by wonderful video pictures chapter IV and V of “The Greatest Show On Earth” was played from tape.<br/

Setlist:

End Of All Hope
Wish I Had An Angel
10th Man Down
Come Cover Me
Gethsemane
Élan
Sacrament Of Wilderness
Amaranth
I Want My Tears Back
Devil & The Deep Dark Ocean
Nemo
Slaying The Dreamer
The Greatest Show On Earth (Chapter II: Life, Chapter III: The Toolmaker)
Ghost Love Score
The Greatest Show On Earth (Chapter IV: The Understanding, Chapter V: Sea-Worn Driftwood)