Venue: L'amours, Brooklyn, New York   Date: 7th September 2003

Bands: Nightwish and various local bands

Following my trip to Atlanta for the Progpower Festival, I found that I had time to pop up to New York and to meet up with some fellow Nightwish enthusiasts outside this famous, yet rather obscurely located club in the middle of Brooklyn. With street lighting at a minimum and no sign above the club, it would have been extremely difficult to find but for the line of metalheads outside.

Once inside the club, I found that it had two 'rooms' each with its own stage. The smaller bands played in the front room, with a capacity of perhaps 500, while the bigger bands played on the second stage in the back room, where the capacity was a 1000 or so. Since the club has a reputation for putting on the headliners very late in the evening, after a long string of local bands, we knew that we were in for a long night.

Operatika were the first band of the evening to feature a female vocalist and since my friends were primarily there to watch the female-fronted bands on the bill, we skipped the first couple of local bands and only went inside when we heard that Operatika were starting. The vocalist sung in a very 'operatic' style (a la Tarja circa Oceanborn) and their music could be summed up as being like a typical Power Metal band with stick-on female vocalist. The outfit were only playing their 2nd gig, so one had to laugh at the flyers they had produced for the give – seemingly giving them equal-billing with the mighty Finns – Nightwish. I guess I shouldn't be too hard on them, so let's just say that they have some work to do.

When their set ended the whole crowd deserted the front room, the battle for space in the larger room (already quite full) began and by the time everyone had moved through, the crowd were packed like sardines. Next up was Twilight Odyssey - a more conventional Hard Rock/Power Metal band with a petite but powerful female vocalist. Their music was Ok-ish, but the singer's voice was far too high-pitched for my liking. I stayed for about 5 minutes and then retired to relative quiet of the smaller room.

I returned to the second hall for the next band that was called Tenembre. Yet another Power metal band, but this time one with Celtic influences, they featured 3 guitarists, one of whom contributed some growls, and a female singer. Unfortunately they were given no proper sound-check and the on-stage monitors did not appear to be working. This, added to a certain nervousness meant that the set started rather uncertainly, the poor girl vocalist never got it together and she was horribly (and I really mean horribly) out of tune all the way through the first song or two. Sensing a complete train-wreck of a performance, I once again retired to the smaller room.

With Nightwish's performance approaching, I returned to the room to try and find my friends. By this time the audience in the hall was so tightly packed it was almost impossible to move other than to be dragged along by the slow but steady trail of bodies moving to the back of the hall. Eventually I managed to find a vantage point from which to see the band (or at least part of them), but I was not to see my friends again until after the concert ended.

Eventually Nightwish appeared, to the same sort of rapturous reception that they had received in Derby, London and Atlanta during the previous week. Having seen the band play 3 times already that week, I knew the setlist by heart and even the stage banter, so I have to admit that the performance didn't seem exceptional to me - but the American audience loved them and amazed the band with their knowledge of the band's repertoire. Either the band has sold many more records in the USA than they thought or some extensive use has been made of file-sharing software.

They opened, as usual with a double blast of 'Bless The Child ' and 'End of All Hope', which had the audience headbanging and singing along in no time. Clearly taken aback by the enthusiastic response, Tarja spoke for the first time, "Good evening New York. Thank you, thank you very much", then it was straight into 'Come Cover Me' and the slightly controversial 'Kinslayer', which deals with the Columbine school killings. 'Everdream' was a nice surprise, while 'Sleeping Sun' was as gorgeous as ever.

Then came the time for Tarja to take her usual mid-set break, leaving new bassist Marco to lead the band through a roaring version of Ozzy Osbourne's 'Crazy Train', that also proved very popular with the audience. This time keyboard player Tuomas also took a break and was replaced by New York resident and genuine crazy Swede – Mr Jens Johansson of Stratovarius. It was certainly an unusual version of the song with Jens enjoying himself and trying to incorporate a keyboard solo.

Without anyone to contribute growls during the North American dates, the band then played 'Beauty and the Beast' instead of 'The Pharaoh sails to Orion' which we had heard on the UK dates. It was a good choice as the American audience appeared to be more familiar with the bands more recent albums, and this was further evidenced by the way in which the crowd roared along to 'Slaying the Dreamer and to the chorus of the set closer 'Wishmaster'.

After a set of not more much than an hour, it was inevitable that the band would be called back and so we got the usual extras of 'Walking in The Air', with Tarja initially just accompanied by Tuomas's keyboards and then a more rousing set-closer of Gary Moore's 'Over The Hills and Far Away'. The final song was an appropriate number if ever there was one, as the band themselves vanished from the venue as soon as they left the stage, while the audience struggled to exit the venue. Hence more than a few individuals were disappointed at not having had the opportunity to get an autograph.

While a fan might have hoped for a slightly longer set and the inclusion of more of the band's earlier material, the event was nevertheless a total success and I don't think that the band doubt anymore that they have a serious following in the USA. Hopefully now, their record company is of the same opinion and the next time they play in the USA it will be in a slightly larger and more dignified venue.

NIGHTWISH Setlist:
Bless the Child
End of All Hope
Come Cover Me
The Kinslayer
Dead To The World
Everdream
Sleeping Sun
Crazytrain
Beauty and the Beast
She is my Sin
Slaying the Dreamer
Wishmaster

Encores:
Walking in the Air
Over The Hills And Far Away

Charlie 23rd November 2003