Now that I've once again poured most of the fangirl feelings, induced by Nightwish, out of my system through posting that rather incoherent account on the previous weekend's happenings, it is time for some even more incoherent self-reflection.
And if that beast of a beginning statement wasn't enough to convince you to close this tab as fast as you can - - - well, frankly, to stay is entirely your own decision, and I'm not making any promises on the quality of the babble that is about to follow.
As I'm not aware of having any main point or plot today, I'm just going to shoot it.
Being a sensitive and temperamental individual I am pretty used to turbulent mood swings and very powerful emotional responses. The smallest of things may shake the ground under my feet, but I also recover quite fast from the initial shock. Something that I'm not used to, however, is a prolonged apathy. I don't remember how long there has been some sort of a melancholic undercurrent flowing within me, and because there have always been other things capable of arousing strong feelings - positive and negative, I have mostly just elected to ignore the whole sensation. However, nowadays it occasionally feels as if something is slowly masking all kinds of small things that I'm supposed to enjoy and get excited about so that I can't see them properly any more.
Actually the ongoing summer serves as a rather fitting, concrete example of my conflicted mood at the moment: It has been almost two full months that I've spent on a holiday in Finland now, and the only things I can recall doing with utmost clarity are all the events related to Nightwish (yup, here we go again). I really have to wreck my brain in order to resurrect any other memories from the June-July period, and even when I succeed, everything outside the realm of Nightwishdom seems lightyears away and heavily blurred.
Luckily though, said Nightwishdom includes not only the four mind-blowing live performances that I've witnessed this summer, but also all the people that I've spent time with on those occasions, all the plans made and put into practice before and after shows, travellings between venues, all other musical experiences that I've gained as an extra treat (or plain annoyance) while waiting for the grand finales, basically every single moment with my best friend (because let's be honest, when was the last time we spoke of something other than the band in question) and just anything even remotely related to this favourite band of mine. So, there are plenty of great things there, and what's most important about it all, is that regardless of the apathetic undertone that sometimes frightens me when I start thinking about it, Nightwish is a thing that always makes me feel. And even though the lack of coolness that I excel at displaying when at a talking distance from my idols occasionally frustrates me, I still find being giddy and slightly hysterical preferable to total indifference.
In fact, the simple existence of the band already makes me so happy that if you were one of the people whom I associate with the band you wouldn't be able to tell that there was anything wrong with me because I'd be really bright and shiny around you all the time as well. I'm even typing considerably faster now that I'm talking about Nightwish than I was in the beginning.
The only problem is that anything that isn't Nightwish doesn't really give me the kicks at all right now. Or I just don't have patience for setting my mind to anything else than certain YouTube videos, or my own daydreams. Which makes attending to preparations of the final year of university a pure agony.
Ok, one other thing that I do enjoy doing, and couldn't live without is exercising but even at the gym I'm mostly just going through the motions and letting my mind wonder into whichever funny Nightwish-moment comes to mind. So there.
In general, it is really a challenge to get me to engage in a conversation that doesn't involve Nightwish in some form or another. Mind you, if it doesn't by default, I will make a random side note about them anyway.
I'm not even too worried about their break in touring because I can always use a few other bands as substitutes (as long as they come to London) - and there really isn't a limit for my daydreaming abilities. What does get me a little bit concerned is how to find meaningfulness and motivation for anything beside the band and their music.
Right now, that I've been writing about the topic I'm feeling better and more energetic in comparison with the mood that I started with, and so I'm once again getting dubious as to whether there actually is something wrong or if I'm just being ridiculous and lazy in terms of studying and other responsibilities. The last year of uni with its final exhibition and dissertation of 10 000 words seems so daunting that I feel pretty much paralysed at this point. I'm also aware that I probably should have started working on something ages ago, but as I had more instantaneously rewarding activities to opt for, I've merely been telling myself that there is still plenty of time for work hence the endless procrastination.
The truth still is that I am not doomed and there indeed is time to get stuff done - just not forever.
The thing is though, that before the holiday I felt genuine gratification over my artistic and academic work. I could have kept on working and working on both areas even as the term ended. Since the holidays began, I've felt nothing but revulsion towards cameras and art theory. Now I have managed to get slightly back into reading but with the practical, creative work I am completely stuck. My head is a blur and I don't seem to have anything to give. I know I ought simply to start doing something, anything - but time only seems to be speeding up past me as I sit staring blankly at nothing. I know what they call it: an artistic block. But tragically, giving it a name doesn't make handling it any easier.
sigh
Overall what I'm experiencing currently is quite bizarre; like pushing and pulling and trying to stay still at the same time. I know staying at my parents' is somewhat a de-activating factor in my case hence going back to UK will most likely set me back on full-time study mode. On the other hand, going back means I might slip back into some "bad" habits that I seem to have developed over there, such as emotional over-eating and getting lazy with exercise.
On one hand I continue to be thrilled about everything amazing that this summer has given me; on the other there is the strange, threatening dullness and boredom somewhere inside that I can't seem to wrestle away with pure willpower.
I can't wait to graduate and live my own life, trying to become an independent person; and at the same time I already feel like I will never get through the 3rd year of university in on piece, let alone actually making a living in the real world.
And that's about my cheerful ponderings for today!
Showing posts with label Nightwish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nightwish. Show all posts
2013-07-27
2013-07-23
Weekend of fangirlism
It has been long enough since my previous Nightwish concert babble, so let me tell you about last weekend. Not only was it one of the most epic Nw-trips of my lifetime but also, sadly, the last one for the time being.
First of all, there's a map to illustrate the distance we needed to cover in order to get to the venue, and that is approximately 600km right there. So, we spent long hours in a car with rain pouring down for the most of the journey. Nevertheless, our BMW disco was quite an entertaining way of travelling, and I at least had loads of fun singing along to familiar songs and whatnot.
The event in question was a two-day festival at a hotel car park literally in the middle of nowhere hence we were to stay in the hotel for convenience's sake, and from the courtesy of our parents' wallets. Now the really important thing is that also all of the artists were most likely going to be staying there as well. hehehehehee
Yes, I believe al of us can see the disastrous consequences that such an arrangement is about to have. Brace yourselves.
Oh, one more thing to start off the perfect weekend was the cancellation of one of the bands due to perform on the same day as Nightwish. They were some kind of a reggae-y music group with a few unspeakably annoying radio hits, and nobody was sad to see them replaced by Battle Beast, consequently one of my top favourite bands. Every single time they announced this change at the festival I had to perform some sort of a victory dance just because I was so happy to see them again.
On the Friday which was the first day of the event, we saw such great Finnish metal bands as Turmion Kätilöt, Kotiteollisuus and Amorphis (of which I was particularly glad), and also met our brand new group of friends with whom we'd spent another Nightwish -related day only a week before. Not also to be forgotten how, upon seeing Floor Jansen check in the hotel earlier that day, both of us practically fell down on our knees and had to lean on a couch for a while to be able to walk again. I believe this is a textbook example of what a 'Floorgasm' can be.
Anyhow, the first day was musically a very rewarding experience, even if the weather was awful: the top temperature of the day was something like 13 degrees Celcius with occasional showers and wind. Excuse you, Finnish weather, but this is supposed to be the hottest season of the year.
On Saturday morning, I had my alarm set at 8:15 or something equally ridiculous as I had promised to go check the gates for other enthousiastic Nightwish fans. I only saw some Russian athletes jogging in the woods, and returned to the hotel room.
At breakfast the first people we saw were the two singers of Turmion Kätilöt, one of them still in previous night's gear and all, and I mean look at these guys. Would you not cackle a bit?
I can only imagine what the Russian athletes must have thought.
Just before Nightwish we had Eläkeläiset (The Pensioners), but none of their music really makes sense unless you're Finnish so I'm just going to leave that there. Though apparently they are also really popular in Germany for some unknown reason. But they were great.
And they laughed at us. Like everyone seems to do these days.
Buuuuuut. The most important thing ever in the universe: Nightwish.
I'm not even exaggerating when I say that I nearly started crying during their Intro. It's just so emotional to know that this is it, this is the last time on the current tour - and you will have to wait for the next one for two years. Fortunately, Nightwish has such an energetic and positive show every time that even if I at times felt like crying it soon turned into laughter. When it ended though, that's when I broke down a little.
I was extremely glad that they'd replaced Over the Hills and Far Away with Ghost River and Song of Myself. Otherwise it was the regular setlist that they've been playing throughout the summer.
Easily one of the best things of occupying the front row with a large group of people is the attention you get from the band. And the best thing of all, ever, is when you see that they recognise you. Even though mostly it is highly questionable whether the band members actually remember your face or if it's just your hoping that they do, this time I think, it is safe to say that yes, we were recognised by most of them.
First of all, there's a map to illustrate the distance we needed to cover in order to get to the venue, and that is approximately 600km right there. So, we spent long hours in a car with rain pouring down for the most of the journey. Nevertheless, our BMW disco was quite an entertaining way of travelling, and I at least had loads of fun singing along to familiar songs and whatnot.
The event in question was a two-day festival at a hotel car park literally in the middle of nowhere hence we were to stay in the hotel for convenience's sake, and from the courtesy of our parents' wallets. Now the really important thing is that also all of the artists were most likely going to be staying there as well. hehehehehee
Yes, I believe al of us can see the disastrous consequences that such an arrangement is about to have. Brace yourselves.
Oh, one more thing to start off the perfect weekend was the cancellation of one of the bands due to perform on the same day as Nightwish. They were some kind of a reggae-y music group with a few unspeakably annoying radio hits, and nobody was sad to see them replaced by Battle Beast, consequently one of my top favourite bands. Every single time they announced this change at the festival I had to perform some sort of a victory dance just because I was so happy to see them again.
On the Friday which was the first day of the event, we saw such great Finnish metal bands as Turmion Kätilöt, Kotiteollisuus and Amorphis (of which I was particularly glad), and also met our brand new group of friends with whom we'd spent another Nightwish -related day only a week before. Not also to be forgotten how, upon seeing Floor Jansen check in the hotel earlier that day, both of us practically fell down on our knees and had to lean on a couch for a while to be able to walk again. I believe this is a textbook example of what a 'Floorgasm' can be.
Anyhow, the first day was musically a very rewarding experience, even if the weather was awful: the top temperature of the day was something like 13 degrees Celcius with occasional showers and wind. Excuse you, Finnish weather, but this is supposed to be the hottest season of the year.
On Saturday morning, I had my alarm set at 8:15 or something equally ridiculous as I had promised to go check the gates for other enthousiastic Nightwish fans. I only saw some Russian athletes jogging in the woods, and returned to the hotel room.
At breakfast the first people we saw were the two singers of Turmion Kätilöt, one of them still in previous night's gear and all, and I mean look at these guys. Would you not cackle a bit?
I can only imagine what the Russian athletes must have thought.
Past ten in the morning we sat down in front of the gates to secure the front row, but we really could have slept at least three hours longer and still gotten there before anyone else. Personally, I don't mind queuing especially in good company so I think it was quite a nice day to spend the day until they opened the gates and we got in the festival area. However, it was really cold again, and I ended up wearing two pairs of stockings, skiing socks, multiple shirts, a scarf and a leather jacket and even then my fingers were freezing cold.
But then again, had it not been as cold as it was I wouldn't had visited our hotel room as often as I did, and then I wouldn't had seen Floor on a treadmill at the gym, Troy at the hotel's reception or Tuomas going down to a restaurant with his girlfriend. So yeah, I'm not complaining.
In the end, we didn't even have to run for the main stage because there was practically no competition at the gates, and thus it became a very relaxed day. Later on, when other people started pouring in the area you could see from a lot of people's faces that they'd thought they could just walk in and get in the front row - but darlings, that's not how it works with Nightwish fans. Not even when you're that high up North. We are fucking crazy.
The first band played random FinnHit covers - stuff that my parents would've enjoyed. But then we had Battle Beast who rocked like hell, and can I just say how freaking awesome they are. And I could also point out how lucky I was to see all of my three favourites on the same weekend: Amorphis, Battle Beast and Nightwish (but we're still getting to that).
The next artist was Johanna Kurkela whose ballad-centred music genre was kind of out of place amongst all of that rock and metal but I don't even care because she is such an adorable fairy lady, and I completely fell in love with her.
And she's so prettyyyyy.
 |
| by Samu Puuronen |
And they laughed at us. Like everyone seems to do these days.
Buuuuuut. The most important thing ever in the universe: Nightwish.
I'm not even exaggerating when I say that I nearly started crying during their Intro. It's just so emotional to know that this is it, this is the last time on the current tour - and you will have to wait for the next one for two years. Fortunately, Nightwish has such an energetic and positive show every time that even if I at times felt like crying it soon turned into laughter. When it ended though, that's when I broke down a little.
I was extremely glad that they'd replaced Over the Hills and Far Away with Ghost River and Song of Myself. Otherwise it was the regular setlist that they've been playing throughout the summer.
Intro: Crimson Tide
*
1. Dark Chest Of Wonders
2. Wish I Had An Angel
3. She Is My Sin
4. Ghost River
5. Ever Dream
6. Storytime
7. I Want My Tears Back
8. Nemo
9. Last Of The Wilds
10. Bless The Child
11. Romanticide
12. Amaranth
13. Ghost Love Score
14. Song Of Myself
15. Last Ride Of The Day
*
Outro: Imaginaerum
I don't actually remember much details; it all went so fast. I just let every single moment of those way too short 90 minutes fill me completely. It wasn't a lot more special than other gigs because they are always special to me by definition, but I think the band had a little something in there emotionally, given that it was their last appearance in Finland for a while, and that made it just that tiny bit more intense for me as well.
As I already hyped in my London gig post last Autumn, Floor Jansen is the goddess of Metal and my queen. As she's done more shows with the band she has become even more of a vital part of the whole Nw-experience for me, and I really hope that they will continue together. Previously, I don't think she has taken much of direct eye contact with the audience but this time I definitely caught those beautiful eyes multiple times (and melted inside).
 |
| eeeeeeep *__* |
A joke that has carried through the Imaginaerum tour has been my "love affair" with Emppu, the guitarist. He is quite a flirt on stage as a rule but last summer my best friend pointed out how he seemed to spend slightly more time smiling at me than anyone else - and this summer it just escalated completely. And I'm not even kidding, for he was playing in front of me practically all the time last weekend. I don't know what it is - maybe he remembers me because I'm remarkably shorter than others, have red hair and smile all the time. I really don't know, but it has been so much fun. But now I can't look at him at all without cracking up completely. And yes, I am still a flaming homosexual woman. But I can't not flirt with Emppu. Deal with it.
 |
| no, you need to stop |
I also proved my epic lack of maturity at our hotel the next morning when I was completely unable to go and talk to him even though he was just sitting there looking like he wouldn't mind the slightest. And yeah, then he just had to wink at me when he left, and I practically fell off the sofa. So. There. A round of applause for the failure that is me.
Since we are already in the topic of me not being able to act like a normal adult human being around certain musicians, let's talk about Tuomas. I have long been painfully aware of the sudden shutdown of intelligence that happens to me when close to Tuomas, and so I wrote him a letter because delivering it to him would probably be doable unlike saying anything other than 'thank you'. I managed to give my letter, and I didn't even babble anything stupid but I trembled so bad that I it was embarrassing. But what did I expect with four hours of sleep? Maestro himself seemed to be in a coma-like state as well since we went to bother him before he'd even had a chance to have his morning coffee. So another great success story there.
No, but I'm really happy of all this. And even if being slightly sleepy, Tuomas was still extremely nice and seemed genuinely appreciative of my 'epic letter' as I introduced it.
And I could go on and on, countless little things that happened, but perhaps this is sufficient for now. I'm still so exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally of everything that's happened that I can't really even believe that I didn't just imagine all of it.
But no, the fact that I left my wallet at the hotel is quite real.
And the real tragedy is that I finally got Emppu's guitar pleck but it's in the wallet now.
Luckily they just called me and said that it's been sent.
2013-07-01
Fangirl Problems
So guess what, it's Nightwish time again. I know I keep on repeating myself but the truth is that we are living the final moments of their ongoing tour which will end in August. Their last appearance in Finland, and consequently the last time for me to see them before sometime in 2015, is to be on the 20th July (and then I will cry bitter fangirl tears for a time).
I am actually rather apprehensive about the soon-to-be hiatus - how it will affect me. Last time they had a break was from September 2009 till early 2012 but for me it wasn't until June that I got to see them live again. So almost three freaking years. Of course this time it won't be quite that long for they are not making a movie alongside with the new album. Anyhow, the summer of 2014 will be drastically different from two previous ones. The problem isn't so much the lack of excitement derived from seeing one's greatest idols performing weekend after weekend as it is the fact that I am fully aware of how much emotional baggage I kind of channel into these occasions. Attending Nightwish's gigs is a way of getting myself so absorbed and intoxicated by the music and the atmosphere that I don't quite have any capacity to dwell in or reflect upon some mental locks that I might have either in an emotional or a cognitive level. I suppose it is good in some therapeutic way, to be able to put unwanted stuff beside for a while, but on the other hand, I'm not entirely sure whether I am avoiding or in fact, dealing with those unwanted things through my positive Nightwish experiences.
Well, I guess we will find out soon enough which way it is.
I remember having felt somewhat similar the last time Nightwish went on a break. During tour time you always try your best to fit together Nightwish-related activities and the rest of your life, and so the band and the events become an important part of you. When the tour ends it's like it creates and empty void that you'll have to fill with something else. And then there's the concern of the next tour and how are you then going to make room for that fangirl part of life that has been replaced with some other means of spending time. Especially now there is such uncertainty of life after university that I have no way of telling where I will be in 2015, what I will be doing then - and how on Earth I am going to continue the career of a fangirl. Now I'm still so much dependent on my parents that I don't really have an issue with having them pay most of my Nightwish excursions. Besides I'm on a holiday so I'm not tied into any schedules for the majority of time. Even in term time my timetable is quite flexible, and allows me to take off for a day or two.
However, I think I'm supposed to have a job at some point in life, probably quite time-consuming considering my area of study and interest. How could I then just drop everything and do what I love - queue overnight, scream for a couple of hours in the front row, go home and repeat? Not to mention paying for all of that with my own money that I will hopefully some day earn. And you know, I can't imagine ever wanting to ditch the ridiculous hours of queuing and fighting for the best spot in front of the stage - for me it is such a crucial part of the whole experience. So, no mum, I'm not going grow out of it.
Ladies and gentlemen, the practical problems of being a devoted fan.
The reason why I'm pondering these things today is that yesterday it kind of hit me that there really are only two more concerts to go and then a long time of nothing.
Also, I'm suffering from a concert hangover which, as its name suggests, has nothing to do with excessive use of alcohol but a combination of some soaked camping in front of the gates, very little sleep, no warm meals, screaming, jumping, headbanging and the usual plus yesterday's special: hanging out in a bar till midnight stalking certain musicians whilst enjoying our mineral waters. shh I wasn't supposed to talk about that......
Returning to the topic of queuing. There must be something severely wrong with me for I actually really enjoy it nowadays; the longer the better. Even stranger this is considering the fact that I always go to the queue by myself and my fair companion/s only follow afterwards. Take Saturday night for example: I left home way too early because I just couldn't sit still any longer. I rode my bike to the event venue but as the gates were only just being closed there was a huge mass of tipsy metalheads still crowding the area so I took a little tour d'Helsinki and returned in two hours when people had ventured towards the city centre and its bars.
I set myself on the ground with some bin bags, yoga mat and a sleeping bag, and started reading The Silence of The Lambs with a few interruptions from curious people who wanted to know why I was sitting on concrete alone past midnight with a book. Some heavily drunk guy thought our 30-year age gap wasn't too much at all, but I kindly hinted that maybe he ought go home and get some sleep.
More people came in at 2.00am and that's when I went to sleep as well, reassured by the safety of provided by company. Unfortunately though, it also started raining precisely as I'd managed find a snug position in my sleeping bag - and it didn't stop until around 6.00. And then there was the constant wind that tried to blow off my umbrella. Even so I did get some sleep in short periods. In the morning I was more or less soaked to the bone in my lower body that hadn't been under the umbrella, but the temperature had remained above 15 degrees Celcius over the night so I was never really cold.
My best friend arrived before 10 and I was able to get all of my night gear back home where I also showered, had some food and changed into proper festival look. Normally, I'm always so far away from home that whatever I take with me to the queue either stays with me through the concert or goes to someplace lockable nearby. Usually I also don't have the opportunity to use shower and other such luxuries. But even without showers and such, I do enjoy queuing. In Finland people don't really socialise a lot unless they already know each other but I think this time I gained some respect from this other bunch front row regulars by being the first one in the queue. I'm fairly certain they've never not been the first one there. So yeah, we chatted a little. Maybe we've reached the point where saying hi the next time we meet in the queue is appropriate.
Time to draw this ramble to a close. I actually feel like I'm just sitting here, in a library, half asleep and the only thing keeping me from falling off this chair is my fingers constantly typing.
2012-11-07
Cut Me I'll Bleed Forever a.k.a Staying Up For 40 Hours Because Nightwish
Remember all of those times I've said that I shouldn't be allowed to write about Nightwish ever but then I always do anyway? Yeah, you guessed: it's one of those times again. For my defence I'll have to point out though that the concert that I went to two days ago was probably the best I've ever experienced, hence I can't get it out of my system by just watching YouTube videos. I can't even endlessly talk to anyone about it because as it happens, I'm not amongst my kind - meaning devoted Nightwish fans - at the moment, and although some of my friends wouldn't probably mind me getting my fangirl mode on, it's quite easy to tell that no one actually cares - not at least when you're hyping over the same exact detail for the seventh time.
I think I'll just chronologically go through stuff that happened on that Monday because aside from the actual gig which only took two hours there are loads of other memorable details included in this adventure of mine.
05/11/2012 03:20
National Express coach departs from Newport ten minutes late, which sucks because I've been waiting at the bust stop for 20 minutes and it's cold regardless of all the layers I'm wearing. From about seven or eight in the evening I've been watching the first season of Homeland and drinking gallons of black tea to keep myself awake. At 01:00 I even did a short yoga exercise and showered. My brain is practically screaming at me to go to sleep. Three uncomfortable but warm hours of dozing on and off follow as the coach makes its way towards London.
05/11/2012 06:20
The coach arrives at Victoria Station exactly on time. I am terrified of stepping out of the sleepy warmth of the bus to the chilly English morning, but for all I know there might already be a dozen people lined up in front of the concert hall. No pain, no gain is the spirit and out we go. I'm shaking like a leaf as I make my way down to the underground station. The couple of hours before sunrise are looking less and less appealing by the minute.
05/11/2012 06:50
There are only four people sitting on the steps in front of the legendary Brixton Academy. This makes me internally jump up and down excitedly. Externally I act like a sleepwalker and without so much as a friendly nod I sit down, grab a book from my backpack and attempt to read until I realise I am way beyond the point of being able to concentrate on anything that isn't Nightwish or sleeping. After sitting for a while and observing a bunch of people queuing in front of a gym on the other side of the street the cold starts to get to me - and the others - which results us all wandering up and down the stairs. Some more people appear closer to eight o'clock, and finally I find it in me to start a conversation, which proves to be one of the best decisions of the day.
In general, I'm not too keen on socialising with other Nightwish fans because quite frankly most of them seem to be self-satisfied douchebags. Or so I've thought until this point. It appears that most of the British Nightwish fans are in fact really enjoyable company. So enjoyable that the following eight or so hours just fly past. We get coffee from the nearby Costa, somebody plays a pipe, we sing, I have brief conversations about art, fanfiction, languages and food. A sassy gay friend appears more or less in time with the sun, and infinite innuendo ensues. The sun is so warm that all of us dumbfounded strip down some layers. This is supposed to be November in England but I've donned my coat, gloves and one of the cardigans I was wearing. It's all very lovely.
And no one, no one wants to analyse the recent change in the band. Thank you. Thank you.
My beetroot houmous is shortly named Tubby Custard, the nearby Poundland is emptied of O2 sim cards because we all need to be in the priority line and brief sightings of Troy, Tuomas and Floor are reported throughout the day. And puns involving the size of Troy's pipes never stop.
05/11/2012 ~17:00
The nice and relaxed atmosphere dies out when a security guard tells us to form a proper line. Suddenly there are at least ten people ahead of me that most certainly shouldn't be there. I want to punch all of them in the face but that would most likely get me kicked off the queue once and for all. Being about 5 feet tall is extremely agonising in a very tight crowd - such as this and I'm at the brink of panic for a while. The combined effect of sleep deprivation, excitation, frustration and being crammed tightly between tall people for the following two hours brings tears in my eyes but then I think the reward in the end and get myself together. For this band I'm prepared to go through worse.
People relax again slightly but time is now dragging so slowly that waiting feels almost unbearable. One good thing about having been awake for about 33 hours is that I'm way too exhausted to be bothered about anything. As soon as I'm rid of the claustrophobic panic and the tightening herd is keeping me warm there's nothing to do but wait and wait because eventually they will let us in.
05/11/2012 19:10
Once again it was all worth it because I am in the front row right where I should be with my two beloved friends and there are nice people around us. Compared to the usual ice arenas and outdoor stages as concert environments Brixton Academy is absolutely gorgeous inside. Details that I also appreciate are that both the stage and the security fence are a little lower than usually.
05/11/2012 19:45
The supporting band, PAIN starts. The show is great even if the audience seems a bit frozen. I guess that's why it's called 'warming up'. I have to admit feeling the sleepless night creeping onto me.
05/11/2012 20:30
As soon as Pain has left the stage with a loud round of applause and cheers, the Nightwish crew starts getting ready for the night's spectacle. Now it is time to add some more lipstick and draw hearts on our palms with a black marker - a habit that we've kept since 2008. Only 30 odd minutes now. Compared to the waiting of solid 12 hours outside the building it seems like nothing but in reality these are the longest minutes of the day.
05/11/2012 21:00
The intro begins and if I was tired before there's not a trace of it now. My pulse is gradually accelerating and the epic tune of Hans Zimmer's make the chills run down my spine.
The first note of Storytime hits and then we are all jumping and flailing and screaming. I have this weird cramp in my right wrist which is making my ring finger bend against my palm but that's nothing to slow me down.
Here, have the setlist:
Roll Tide by Hans Zimmer
Storytime
Dark Chest of Wonders
Wish I Had An Angel
Amaranth
Scaretale
Slow, Love, Slow
I Want My Tears Back
The Islander
Nemo
Last Of The Wilds
Planet Hell
Ghost River
Ever Dream
Over The Hills And Far Away
Ghost Love Score
Last Ride Of The Day
Imaginaerum
A few (or more) points of interest from the gig:
1. Floor Jansen is one motherfucking badass awesome woman. I mean, that voice, that face, that body, that energy. Hot damn. She is absolutely perfect on the stage, and the way in which she was genuinely awestruck and touched by all the love she received from the fans was just adorable. I couldn't think of a better singer to do the job. She quite simply robbed my heart during the first two seconds of the concert and the rest I spent swooning.
She was so phenomenal indeed that for a moment I felt absolutely torn: I loved Anette but there wasn't a single moment during the concert that I missed her. So, Floor I'm all yours now.
2. Ghost Love Score was fucking amazing that's all I can say. See for yourself.
Do you hear how people just lose it when they hear the first notes? Not gonna lie, I honestly screamed my head off upon recognising what was to come. I think I would have cried if the band hadn't looked so utterly cheerful all the time. Dammit guys, let me have my emo moment! Did have something in my throat in the end though.
Absolutely fantastic.
Props for the incredible individual who actually help their arm up the entire 10 minutes to film this.
3. Tuomas my precious darling, first I thought you were either really happy or really drunk but after some consideration I have reached the conclusion that you were both, and heavily so. Seriously though, the entire summer I thought that everything was perfect and whatnot, but now I see that he is distinctly more relaxed and just happy. From what I've gathered in the Internet everybody agrees that Tuomas has never looked happier than now. He's also taking more eye contact withme us the audience, which is great. Also, he gave thumbs up for us with the Finnish flag at the end (!).
4. The Islander was magical. I loved how the audience just swayed from side to side as one, and how everybody sang the beginning of the song really softly following Marco's lead and then the last chorus more forcefully. Ahh, so beautiful.
5. In the summer, I was kind of hoping they would swap Over The Hills... with something else because it's kind of used. Now though, it worked like a charm and I'm not complaining.
6. My most amusing love affair with Emppu deserves mentioning, obviously. It took him a little while to warm up this time but soon it was all winks and smirks again. This is the kind, the only kind of flirting I enjoy. Ha. Also, a moment of insanity for us when he asked: "Are you from Finland?" in Finnish (read it from his lips obviously cos you cannot hear a thing through the blast and screams and choirs), and once we yelled yeeeeaahhh, thumbs up with the widest grin.
Still, I wasn't able to catch any of his plecks.
But just to be cheesy, I'll only say that I'd much rather catch his smiles anyway.
7. Yeah, and Marco was 100% himself = awesome, like he always is, and so were Jukka and Troy.
05/11/2012 23:00
All good things come to an end but at least Nightwish always finishes with Last Ride Of The Day. I am totally speechless after the concert. It was so completely mindblowingly amazing that I can't come up with anything to say. So, I just giggle and grin like a maniac. Fortunately there are backdoors to head to so the adventure isn't quite over yet.
05/11/2012 ~23:50
After freezing our asses off in the nightly breeze and watching the PAIN musicians running back and forth, we are finally rewarded with Tuomas materialising through the door with Jukka. Since everybody else is apparently too astounded by the dashing presence of the maestro I slip through the buzzing fan mass and rob the first hug while breathlessly repeating 'kiitos' which is 'thank you' in Finnish, and consequently the only thing that I am able to get out of my mouth just now. Apparently my hero is facing a similar problem with vocabulary as I, and this conversation shall be written in my personal Nightwish history as the most intelligent one.
Me: kiitoskiitoskiitos
Tuomas: kiitoskiitos
Kiitos, indeed.
The End.
I think I'll just chronologically go through stuff that happened on that Monday because aside from the actual gig which only took two hours there are loads of other memorable details included in this adventure of mine.
05/11/2012 03:20
National Express coach departs from Newport ten minutes late, which sucks because I've been waiting at the bust stop for 20 minutes and it's cold regardless of all the layers I'm wearing. From about seven or eight in the evening I've been watching the first season of Homeland and drinking gallons of black tea to keep myself awake. At 01:00 I even did a short yoga exercise and showered. My brain is practically screaming at me to go to sleep. Three uncomfortable but warm hours of dozing on and off follow as the coach makes its way towards London.
05/11/2012 06:20
The coach arrives at Victoria Station exactly on time. I am terrified of stepping out of the sleepy warmth of the bus to the chilly English morning, but for all I know there might already be a dozen people lined up in front of the concert hall. No pain, no gain is the spirit and out we go. I'm shaking like a leaf as I make my way down to the underground station. The couple of hours before sunrise are looking less and less appealing by the minute.
05/11/2012 06:50
There are only four people sitting on the steps in front of the legendary Brixton Academy. This makes me internally jump up and down excitedly. Externally I act like a sleepwalker and without so much as a friendly nod I sit down, grab a book from my backpack and attempt to read until I realise I am way beyond the point of being able to concentrate on anything that isn't Nightwish or sleeping. After sitting for a while and observing a bunch of people queuing in front of a gym on the other side of the street the cold starts to get to me - and the others - which results us all wandering up and down the stairs. Some more people appear closer to eight o'clock, and finally I find it in me to start a conversation, which proves to be one of the best decisions of the day.
In general, I'm not too keen on socialising with other Nightwish fans because quite frankly most of them seem to be self-satisfied douchebags. Or so I've thought until this point. It appears that most of the British Nightwish fans are in fact really enjoyable company. So enjoyable that the following eight or so hours just fly past. We get coffee from the nearby Costa, somebody plays a pipe, we sing, I have brief conversations about art, fanfiction, languages and food. A sassy gay friend appears more or less in time with the sun, and infinite innuendo ensues. The sun is so warm that all of us dumbfounded strip down some layers. This is supposed to be November in England but I've donned my coat, gloves and one of the cardigans I was wearing. It's all very lovely.
And no one, no one wants to analyse the recent change in the band. Thank you. Thank you.
My beetroot houmous is shortly named Tubby Custard, the nearby Poundland is emptied of O2 sim cards because we all need to be in the priority line and brief sightings of Troy, Tuomas and Floor are reported throughout the day. And puns involving the size of Troy's pipes never stop.
 |
| My Tubby Custard was of a bit lighter colour but you get the idea. |
The nice and relaxed atmosphere dies out when a security guard tells us to form a proper line. Suddenly there are at least ten people ahead of me that most certainly shouldn't be there. I want to punch all of them in the face but that would most likely get me kicked off the queue once and for all. Being about 5 feet tall is extremely agonising in a very tight crowd - such as this and I'm at the brink of panic for a while. The combined effect of sleep deprivation, excitation, frustration and being crammed tightly between tall people for the following two hours brings tears in my eyes but then I think the reward in the end and get myself together. For this band I'm prepared to go through worse.
People relax again slightly but time is now dragging so slowly that waiting feels almost unbearable. One good thing about having been awake for about 33 hours is that I'm way too exhausted to be bothered about anything. As soon as I'm rid of the claustrophobic panic and the tightening herd is keeping me warm there's nothing to do but wait and wait because eventually they will let us in.
05/11/2012 19:10
Once again it was all worth it because I am in the front row right where I should be with my two beloved friends and there are nice people around us. Compared to the usual ice arenas and outdoor stages as concert environments Brixton Academy is absolutely gorgeous inside. Details that I also appreciate are that both the stage and the security fence are a little lower than usually.
05/11/2012 19:45
The supporting band, PAIN starts. The show is great even if the audience seems a bit frozen. I guess that's why it's called 'warming up'. I have to admit feeling the sleepless night creeping onto me.
05/11/2012 20:30
As soon as Pain has left the stage with a loud round of applause and cheers, the Nightwish crew starts getting ready for the night's spectacle. Now it is time to add some more lipstick and draw hearts on our palms with a black marker - a habit that we've kept since 2008. Only 30 odd minutes now. Compared to the waiting of solid 12 hours outside the building it seems like nothing but in reality these are the longest minutes of the day.
05/11/2012 21:00
The intro begins and if I was tired before there's not a trace of it now. My pulse is gradually accelerating and the epic tune of Hans Zimmer's make the chills run down my spine.
The first note of Storytime hits and then we are all jumping and flailing and screaming. I have this weird cramp in my right wrist which is making my ring finger bend against my palm but that's nothing to slow me down.
Here, have the setlist:
Roll Tide by Hans Zimmer
Storytime
Dark Chest of Wonders
Wish I Had An Angel
Amaranth
Scaretale
Slow, Love, Slow
I Want My Tears Back
The Islander
Nemo
Last Of The Wilds
Planet Hell
Ghost River
Ever Dream
Over The Hills And Far Away
Ghost Love Score
Last Ride Of The Day
Imaginaerum
A few (or more) points of interest from the gig:
1. Floor Jansen is one motherfucking badass awesome woman. I mean, that voice, that face, that body, that energy. Hot damn. She is absolutely perfect on the stage, and the way in which she was genuinely awestruck and touched by all the love she received from the fans was just adorable. I couldn't think of a better singer to do the job. She quite simply robbed my heart during the first two seconds of the concert and the rest I spent swooning.
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2. Ghost Love Score was fucking amazing that's all I can say. See for yourself.
Do you hear how people just lose it when they hear the first notes? Not gonna lie, I honestly screamed my head off upon recognising what was to come. I think I would have cried if the band hadn't looked so utterly cheerful all the time. Dammit guys, let me have my emo moment! Did have something in my throat in the end though.
Absolutely fantastic.
Props for the incredible individual who actually help their arm up the entire 10 minutes to film this.
3. Tuomas my precious darling, first I thought you were either really happy or really drunk but after some consideration I have reached the conclusion that you were both, and heavily so. Seriously though, the entire summer I thought that everything was perfect and whatnot, but now I see that he is distinctly more relaxed and just happy. From what I've gathered in the Internet everybody agrees that Tuomas has never looked happier than now. He's also taking more eye contact with
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| (c) Timo Isoaho |
4. The Islander was magical. I loved how the audience just swayed from side to side as one, and how everybody sang the beginning of the song really softly following Marco's lead and then the last chorus more forcefully. Ahh, so beautiful.
5. In the summer, I was kind of hoping they would swap Over The Hills... with something else because it's kind of used. Now though, it worked like a charm and I'm not complaining.
6. My most amusing love affair with Emppu deserves mentioning, obviously. It took him a little while to warm up this time but soon it was all winks and smirks again. This is the kind, the only kind of flirting I enjoy. Ha. Also, a moment of insanity for us when he asked: "Are you from Finland?" in Finnish (read it from his lips obviously cos you cannot hear a thing through the blast and screams and choirs), and once we yelled yeeeeaahhh, thumbs up with the widest grin.
Still, I wasn't able to catch any of his plecks.
But just to be cheesy, I'll only say that I'd much rather catch his smiles anyway.
 |
| Emppu swag. Photo stolen from Tumblr. |
05/11/2012 23:00
All good things come to an end but at least Nightwish always finishes with Last Ride Of The Day. I am totally speechless after the concert. It was so completely mindblowingly amazing that I can't come up with anything to say. So, I just giggle and grin like a maniac. Fortunately there are backdoors to head to so the adventure isn't quite over yet.
05/11/2012 ~23:50
After freezing our asses off in the nightly breeze and watching the PAIN musicians running back and forth, we are finally rewarded with Tuomas materialising through the door with Jukka. Since everybody else is apparently too astounded by the dashing presence of the maestro I slip through the buzzing fan mass and rob the first hug while breathlessly repeating 'kiitos' which is 'thank you' in Finnish, and consequently the only thing that I am able to get out of my mouth just now. Apparently my hero is facing a similar problem with vocabulary as I, and this conversation shall be written in my personal Nightwish history as the most intelligent one.
Me: kiitoskiitoskiitos
Tuomas: kiitoskiitos
Kiitos, indeed.
The End.
2012-10-03
All Good Things Come To An End
Seven years and a couple of months ago my life fell apart - for a while anyway. Nightwish, my favourite band, the reason for all the good things, the saviour of my teenage years had dismissed their lead vocalist who at the time was just about the idol number one in my adolescent eyes. It took several hour-long phonecalls with my best friend to get over the first shock provoked by this dramatic news, followed by months of not talking about anything else.
Many tears were shed. Many dreams got crushed. And tabloids wouldn't shut up about the topic for weeks either. There was a considerable amount of drama around at that time.
Two days ago Nighwish released a press statement informing that their current singer would be leaving immediately due to unmanageable collision of interests.
My initial reaction was something like this:
" what? no why? it can't be no no no NOPE just no and why why why? ugh, what are you doing you idiots? stop it is today April Fool's Day? this is a terrible joke guys just drop it okay I won't accept this whyyyyyyyyy? also, N O "
Then I quickly went through some websites to refine that this thing was actually real and once convinced that there was nothing to do, I asked myself 'why' a couple more times and decided that getting emotional wouldn't do any good because consequently I have a university to attend to.
So, then I just joined my flatmates and continued knitting my socks.
At first, I was quite surprised about how coolly I was able to take the news. I didn't cry, I didn't roll on the floor in despair. There was only that aforementioned surge of puzzled, startled noes and whys. I always loved Anette, and by no means wanted her out; on the contrary, I was and am upset about this turn of events. However, I suppose that the previous hassle about changing the lead singer taught me to have faith in the band: their first vocalist was practically The Queen almighty for the fans and for most people the whole Nightwish came down to her voice, and yet hiring a new member in her stead made the band even bigger and more successful.
I figure my brain has been programmed to have a complete and utter trust in Tuomas and the others. If replacing their female vocalist is necessary for the well-being of the band, even if it comes out of the blue and nobody has agreed to give any interviews to shed some light on the business, it's not my place to question the decision. As long as they keep on making that amazing music and playing mind-blowing concerts, I don't care who's tottering at the centre of the stage.
I loved Tarja, I loved Anette, most likely I will also love Floor Jansen who's Anette's replacement, and should there be someone else after her, I can't see any reason why I wouldn't learn to love that person as well.
One thing that I most certainly do not love is the fact that Finnish media appears to have an uncontrollable urge to produce as many pointlessly dramatic headlines over the matter.
Guys, nobody fucking cares so get a life and how about some more important things to write about while you're at it.
(As I'm currently residing in Wales and therefore out of Finnish papers' and TV's reach if I so wish to, there is really no one to blame other than myself: if I don't want to be aware of their bullshit, I don't need to. But I'm pretty stupid so I read that stuff online anyway.)
Another thing thing that pisses me off greatly is the bunch of idiots who, as soon as the news of Anette's leaving was public, started mouthing their wishes of Tarja's return.
How about no?
Just consider it, Anette and the band didn't part in malicious spirits, whereas Tarja got kicked out quite brutally, after which it became more than obvious that her and the guys' bond was irreparably damaged. How on earth could anyone even consider that her return would be possible? And now that I said it, it will happen.
Except that no.
Anyhow, I guess this - meaning the not-crying-and-shaking-for-hours part - ought to be counted as mature, in my terms at least. Having crawled out of the ruins of my fallen world several times after major disappointments you could say I've learned not to let my world be built out of merely one kind of material. A band can't be your life because eventually they will quit, a person can't be your life because eventually they will go away, a hobby can't be your life because anything could happen and prevent you from doing it. You have to be your life, that's the only way.
Hmm, that was dramatic.
Many tears were shed. Many dreams got crushed. And tabloids wouldn't shut up about the topic for weeks either. There was a considerable amount of drama around at that time.
Two days ago Nighwish released a press statement informing that their current singer would be leaving immediately due to unmanageable collision of interests.
My initial reaction was something like this:
" what? no why? it can't be no no no NOPE just no and why why why? ugh, what are you doing you idiots? stop it is today April Fool's Day? this is a terrible joke guys just drop it okay I won't accept this whyyyyyyyyy? also, N O "
Then I quickly went through some websites to refine that this thing was actually real and once convinced that there was nothing to do, I asked myself 'why' a couple more times and decided that getting emotional wouldn't do any good because consequently I have a university to attend to.
So, then I just joined my flatmates and continued knitting my socks.
At first, I was quite surprised about how coolly I was able to take the news. I didn't cry, I didn't roll on the floor in despair. There was only that aforementioned surge of puzzled, startled noes and whys. I always loved Anette, and by no means wanted her out; on the contrary, I was and am upset about this turn of events. However, I suppose that the previous hassle about changing the lead singer taught me to have faith in the band: their first vocalist was practically The Queen almighty for the fans and for most people the whole Nightwish came down to her voice, and yet hiring a new member in her stead made the band even bigger and more successful.
I figure my brain has been programmed to have a complete and utter trust in Tuomas and the others. If replacing their female vocalist is necessary for the well-being of the band, even if it comes out of the blue and nobody has agreed to give any interviews to shed some light on the business, it's not my place to question the decision. As long as they keep on making that amazing music and playing mind-blowing concerts, I don't care who's tottering at the centre of the stage.
I loved Tarja, I loved Anette, most likely I will also love Floor Jansen who's Anette's replacement, and should there be someone else after her, I can't see any reason why I wouldn't learn to love that person as well.
One thing that I most certainly do not love is the fact that Finnish media appears to have an uncontrollable urge to produce as many pointlessly dramatic headlines over the matter.
Guys, nobody fucking cares so get a life and how about some more important things to write about while you're at it.
(As I'm currently residing in Wales and therefore out of Finnish papers' and TV's reach if I so wish to, there is really no one to blame other than myself: if I don't want to be aware of their bullshit, I don't need to. But I'm pretty stupid so I read that stuff online anyway.)
Another thing thing that pisses me off greatly is the bunch of idiots who, as soon as the news of Anette's leaving was public, started mouthing their wishes of Tarja's return.
How about no?
Just consider it, Anette and the band didn't part in malicious spirits, whereas Tarja got kicked out quite brutally, after which it became more than obvious that her and the guys' bond was irreparably damaged. How on earth could anyone even consider that her return would be possible? And now that I said it, it will happen.
Except that no.
Anyhow, I guess this - meaning the not-crying-and-shaking-for-hours part - ought to be counted as mature, in my terms at least. Having crawled out of the ruins of my fallen world several times after major disappointments you could say I've learned not to let my world be built out of merely one kind of material. A band can't be your life because eventually they will quit, a person can't be your life because eventually they will go away, a hobby can't be your life because anything could happen and prevent you from doing it. You have to be your life, that's the only way.
Hmm, that was dramatic.
2012-08-05
Once Upon A Nighwish
Sometimes like right now, I have these days - or weeks - when I cannot seem to bring myself to concentrate on anything else than my .. uhh .. current addiction. Although it doesn't seem quite fair to call them addictions since it makes them sound like something you ought to go to rehab to get rid of, which is not the case at all. Well, it's not really of importance what name I use of these mind-occupying things as I don't intend to talk about them in a general level. Because, as I already hinted, I am presently at a very active phase in my addiction cycle .. or something like that. In English, 90% of stuff that comes out of mouth and goes round in my head is related to Nightwish so that's what I'm going to discuss today and you'll just have to bear with me or ... get away, run away, fly away! Yes, that was a Nightwish reference. There might be more.
I have in some of my previous posts stated that under no circumstances should I be allowed to attempt to write about Nightwish since in that particular topic I am entirely unable to express my thoughts and/or feelings in any coherent way thus always resulting in something that resembles a scribble from a 10-year-old's diary. And yet I always have to give it another try because maybe some day I'll succeed. Maybe it is today.
But I do apologise beforehand.
Because statistics are not on my side with this.
Where to start from?
Let us start from the situation where ahighly traumatising sport, synchronized skating was like the gravity of my personal universe during ten years or so. Then at the age of fourteen or fifteen I suddenly transformed into a proper, hysterical Nightwish fan too. And trust me, when I go fangirl about something it's pretty intense. Anyone who knows me could back that up. So now, in addition to skating there was another force in my personal universe pulling from another direction. And I do mean what I say: Nightwish really was and is as a big a deal as a thing that took almost equally big a chunk of my time as sleeping or going to school. But let me clarify a little.
Obviously loving skating and loving a band are two quite different things because while I went to ice rink/gym/dance studio five times a week in average, I couldn't physically take part in Nightwish. At that time I couldn't even go their concerts because incidentally they didn't have any in Finland - except for the one that sold out in like twenty seconds and I never got tickets and I shall eternally hold a grudge against that person who almost sold his tickets to us but then retrieved at the final minute. And it was the last time with Tarja and it was in Hartwall Arena and it was fucking epic which I know because I have the DVD so fuck me.
So physically - and economically - I was totally invested in skating, no contest. But then there's this weird, abstract, emotional level where things are in different proportions than what it might outwardly appear. And that emotional level was divided between skating and Nightwish for good five-ish years before I came to my senses and gave up skating.
Despite that skating ate a massive chunk of my time I never ever felt like I was forced to give up on other things because of it - except for when I was afraid of possibly not being able to go to some Nightwish related event. That only happened a couple of times though, but it was extremely stressful for me. You see, I am one of those idiots who have to camp in front of concert halls and spend 12-hour long festival days waiting for the one and only Nightwish. I mean, who doesn't love queuing and running for dear life and all that stuff? Once I had to ask my coach to let me leave slightly earlier because I was going to a concert, and another time I went straight from an ice arena to camp overnight in front of another even though my mum insisted I should eat dinner first.
It was all fine though, and I think that the hardest part for me was that not a single person seemed to understand how important these two things actually were for me. Synchro people didn't understand Nightwish, my other friends didn't really understand skating supportive as they were; and then the rest of the world just didn't get either - with possible the exception of my mother who drove me from one ice rink to another, paid the astronomical bills and brought me hot tea in a thermos flask at New Year's Day's morning when I was queuing in front of an ice arena for Nightwish.
And now we're getting to the part where everything gets really incomprehensible and hard to verbalise. That is, why Nightwish is, for me, more than just another Finnish metal band with a bunch of long-haired musicians and a pretty vocalist. And man, this is hard because I haven't been able to resolve to myself why exactly this music and those people make me feel quite literally all the things at once, not to mention describing it in a blogpost.
Yeah yeah, I know that I've babbled something just a while ago because I saw them in a festival, and also last Autumn when their new single came out but screw that, I want to babble some more!
The first and most simple aspect that comes to mind is a whole lot of little things, moments involving the band members themselves that I can re-live time and again whenever I desire to. Last summer I, completely out of the blue, bumped into Tuomas Holopainen and Marco Hietala (the songwriter/keyboardist and the bassist/vocalist in case you didn't know) in my hometown. At the sight of mygods idols I immediately went on full-loaded fangirl mode erasing my brain completely of anything remotely sensible thus only getting out some slightly hysterical squeaking as I approached them. In spite of that, Tuomas gentlemanly talked back to me, hugged me heartily and didn't make me feel like the absolutely brainless idiot that I was am, always have and will be. For an almost unrelated sidenote I have to mention that as I tend to feel like a moron every time I open my cakehole to utter some words I have grown to immensely adore anyone who somehow magically obliterates that feeling. As it happens, my greatest and grandest idol has this ability.
In fact, I find it quite amazing how splendidly Tuomas handles his crazy fangirls. I've seen him face to face maybe four times, three of which were events with loads of other fans buzzing around like drunken bees around a colourful flower. So now we're at bees and flowers. Great. Good job me.
Anyway.
What I'm trying to say here is that even surrounded by a dozen others who want to get a hug/an autograph/a picture/a lock of hair from Tuomas, every time I've quickly changed a few words with him, posed for a camera or whatever, I've had this feeling that at that particular moment there is no one else in the world who he focuses on. Maybe it's just me and my excessive emotions but he really seems to dedicate each second to the person he is interacting with, and that if anything makes one feel kind of special.
Uhh, I kind got lost in the fangirl bubbles there but let's move on.
Generally I dare say that Nightwish guys are lovely, down-to-earth people who genuinely care about and respect their fans - and that's why it is so nice to go and say hi to them when randomly spotted in rock festivals or city centres. They don't make you feel like the world's greatest nuisance even if you have a habit of counting yourself as one.
Another great thing about the band's interaction with fans is that - at least if you've drawn hearts on your palms and are jumping like a maniac in the front row for the third time in one summer with a ridiculously wide grin on your face - they will most likely reward you with some special attention during a concert.
I don't know if this is like an epitome of narcissism or rather shitty self-esteem or what, but stealing anyone of theirs attention for myself in the crowd of thousands feels pretty amazing. Especially when that has happened a several times now, ahem.Shh no, me and my bestie never try to seek attention. That's not why we have our hearts and tambourines. We also don't giggle and go weak in the knees like some teenage girls every time our presence is being acknowledged by the mighty Master Holopainen.
What does it say about me anyway that the only two people I ever flirt with are Nightwishes guitarist (male) and one of my gay friends from uni (male), with respect to the fact that I like girls to start with?
Exactly what I feared is happening: the fangirl hype is taking over!
Ugh, concentrate.
So, that was the little things. Let's ponder the big ones then.
I guess the major reason for all of this madness that takes over my life when my favourite band is active and on the move is surprisingly their music. Downright ground-breaking.
Needless to say, when I begun my fangirl career as an ignorant adolescent, I couldn't quite grasp the full meaning of the lyrics I full-heartedly liked to sing along to. First of all, they're not your secondary school English that unravel when being treated with the literal translations straight from a dictionary. Second of all, I hadn't really experienced or felt half the things the songs talked about thus even with my bottomless store of empathy I wasn't able to fully get them. However, there is something about that music that even then took my breath away. I am not a musician so, for your good fortune, you won't find a perceptive analysis on the musical components of Nightwishes music here. All I can say about the matter is that without the lyrics it still has the power to touch me more personally than most anything else.
In an interview with Tuomas Holopainen that I read yesterday, he declares that for him music is nothing but pure emotion. Maybe that explains it - that without proper understanding of the lyrics one can still somehow feel the music and that way empathise.
He also said numerous other things that made me insensibly happy while reading the thing. He talked about how he has this pressing need to put very personal things in his songs, and how having some 5000 people yelling them as one in a concert somehow makes them easier to bear. When composing he isn't trying affect or impress anyone, and so it makes him glad to hear that his music has made an impact on someone's life without him aiming for such a goal. And he's going to publish a collection of short stories and like a theme album for Don Rosa's The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck. Instant fangasm.
And here we are again, back at Tuomas who admittedly is the soul and spirit of Nightwish. Throughout this summer I've bee experiencing this age crisis because I realised that Tuomas was about my age when Nightwish was born. Four years passed and off they went on their first world tour. No pressure, but what have I achieved in my life so far?
Not gonna get stuck with that thought just now.
But, Tuomas, oh Tuomas. I had to go and double-check his birthday on the official Nightwish website - and noticed that the band members' profile pages had been updated along with releasing the new album last winter. And now I'm wearing my stupid fangirl grin because they're all so adorable and I.. I can't *gross sobbing*
I know it's a bit of an overreaction but I noticed that Tuomas has named The Farseer Trilogy as one of his favourite books and then my heart kind of skipped a beat and I almost started crying.
Wait what?
But it is such an awesome series and I didn't know that he's read it.
And you can't possibly understand why this is significant and yet it is. Ok, I'll try to get my shit together now.
Would it be an utterly wasted effort for me to try and be even a teeny bit less sentimental with this for a moment or two? It would. Definitely. Let's go on.
In addition to appreciating more or less the same books, films and music as myself, Tuomas has this incredibly beautiful ideology of escapism. His statements and interviews - and music are full of desire and yearning to get back the child's innocence and sincere amazement about the surrounding world. He's the biggest Disney fan, and his songs are full of adventures, wanderlust, love, longing, sadness and references to fairytales. He talks about those things with such an honest look in his eyes that you really want to listen. Since Nightwish started gaining more and more success and recognition Tuomas has talked about innocence and how it's already been lost to him, how he can't ever get it back. In my eyes, though, he's probably the most innocent man on Earth. He has such a firm belief in the stuff that he brings up about music and Nightwish. No corrupted mind could create something like that.
Ahh, and now I'm getting lost in the incoherence of emotions.
What I want to say is that I can relate to nearly everything Tuomas says about anything.
And what he himself tells in their website about the aims of his music in terms of the audience:
"to give the listeners a place to escape to and to create their own universes".
Well, gotta say you got it right there. Boom. Bull's eye. Congratulations because that is to the point what their music does to me - along with some other things. But just. Ahh. Now I need to stop because as you can fathom from quite many things, I imagine, I am losing the grip. Seriously. Goodbye.
I have in some of my previous posts stated that under no circumstances should I be allowed to attempt to write about Nightwish since in that particular topic I am entirely unable to express my thoughts and/or feelings in any coherent way thus always resulting in something that resembles a scribble from a 10-year-old's diary. And yet I always have to give it another try because maybe some day I'll succeed. Maybe it is today.
But I do apologise beforehand.
Because statistics are not on my side with this.
Where to start from?
Let us start from the situation where a
Obviously loving skating and loving a band are two quite different things because while I went to ice rink/gym/dance studio five times a week in average, I couldn't physically take part in Nightwish. At that time I couldn't even go their concerts because incidentally they didn't have any in Finland - except for the one that sold out in like twenty seconds and I never got tickets and I shall eternally hold a grudge against that person who almost sold his tickets to us but then retrieved at the final minute. And it was the last time with Tarja and it was in Hartwall Arena and it was fucking epic which I know because I have the DVD so fuck me.
 | |
| Let us enjoy some copyrighted material from the Internet | . |
It was all fine though, and I think that the hardest part for me was that not a single person seemed to understand how important these two things actually were for me. Synchro people didn't understand Nightwish, my other friends didn't really understand skating supportive as they were; and then the rest of the world just didn't get either - with possible the exception of my mother who drove me from one ice rink to another, paid the astronomical bills and brought me hot tea in a thermos flask at New Year's Day's morning when I was queuing in front of an ice arena for Nightwish.
And now we're getting to the part where everything gets really incomprehensible and hard to verbalise. That is, why Nightwish is, for me, more than just another Finnish metal band with a bunch of long-haired musicians and a pretty vocalist. And man, this is hard because I haven't been able to resolve to myself why exactly this music and those people make me feel quite literally all the things at once, not to mention describing it in a blogpost.
Yeah yeah, I know that I've babbled something just a while ago because I saw them in a festival, and also last Autumn when their new single came out but screw that, I want to babble some more!
The first and most simple aspect that comes to mind is a whole lot of little things, moments involving the band members themselves that I can re-live time and again whenever I desire to. Last summer I, completely out of the blue, bumped into Tuomas Holopainen and Marco Hietala (the songwriter/keyboardist and the bassist/vocalist in case you didn't know) in my hometown. At the sight of my
In fact, I find it quite amazing how splendidly Tuomas handles his crazy fangirls. I've seen him face to face maybe four times, three of which were events with loads of other fans buzzing around like drunken bees around a colourful flower. So now we're at bees and flowers. Great. Good job me.
Anyway.
What I'm trying to say here is that even surrounded by a dozen others who want to get a hug/an autograph/a picture/a lock of hair from Tuomas, every time I've quickly changed a few words with him, posed for a camera or whatever, I've had this feeling that at that particular moment there is no one else in the world who he focuses on. Maybe it's just me and my excessive emotions but he really seems to dedicate each second to the person he is interacting with, and that if anything makes one feel kind of special.
 |
| *faints* |
Generally I dare say that Nightwish guys are lovely, down-to-earth people who genuinely care about and respect their fans - and that's why it is so nice to go and say hi to them when randomly spotted in rock festivals or city centres. They don't make you feel like the world's greatest nuisance even if you have a habit of counting yourself as one.
Another great thing about the band's interaction with fans is that - at least if you've drawn hearts on your palms and are jumping like a maniac in the front row for the third time in one summer with a ridiculously wide grin on your face - they will most likely reward you with some special attention during a concert.
I don't know if this is like an epitome of narcissism or rather shitty self-esteem or what, but stealing anyone of theirs attention for myself in the crowd of thousands feels pretty amazing. Especially when that has happened a several times now, ahem.
What does it say about me anyway that the only two people I ever flirt with are Nightwishes guitarist (male) and one of my gay friends from uni (male), with respect to the fact that I like girls to start with?
Exactly what I feared is happening: the fangirl hype is taking over!
Ugh, concentrate.
So, that was the little things. Let's ponder the big ones then.
I guess the major reason for all of this madness that takes over my life when my favourite band is active and on the move is surprisingly their music. Downright ground-breaking.
Needless to say, when I begun my fangirl career as an ignorant adolescent, I couldn't quite grasp the full meaning of the lyrics I full-heartedly liked to sing along to. First of all, they're not your secondary school English that unravel when being treated with the literal translations straight from a dictionary. Second of all, I hadn't really experienced or felt half the things the songs talked about thus even with my bottomless store of empathy I wasn't able to fully get them. However, there is something about that music that even then took my breath away. I am not a musician so, for your good fortune, you won't find a perceptive analysis on the musical components of Nightwishes music here. All I can say about the matter is that without the lyrics it still has the power to touch me more personally than most anything else.
In an interview with Tuomas Holopainen that I read yesterday, he declares that for him music is nothing but pure emotion. Maybe that explains it - that without proper understanding of the lyrics one can still somehow feel the music and that way empathise.
He also said numerous other things that made me insensibly happy while reading the thing. He talked about how he has this pressing need to put very personal things in his songs, and how having some 5000 people yelling them as one in a concert somehow makes them easier to bear. When composing he isn't trying affect or impress anyone, and so it makes him glad to hear that his music has made an impact on someone's life without him aiming for such a goal. And he's going to publish a collection of short stories and like a theme album for Don Rosa's The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck. Instant fangasm.
And here we are again, back at Tuomas who admittedly is the soul and spirit of Nightwish. Throughout this summer I've bee experiencing this age crisis because I realised that Tuomas was about my age when Nightwish was born. Four years passed and off they went on their first world tour. No pressure, but what have I achieved in my life so far?
Not gonna get stuck with that thought just now.
But, Tuomas, oh Tuomas. I had to go and double-check his birthday on the official Nightwish website - and noticed that the band members' profile pages had been updated along with releasing the new album last winter. And now I'm wearing my stupid fangirl grin because they're all so adorable and I.. I can't *gross sobbing*
I know it's a bit of an overreaction but I noticed that Tuomas has named The Farseer Trilogy as one of his favourite books and then my heart kind of skipped a beat and I almost started crying.
Wait what?
But it is such an awesome series and I didn't know that he's read it.
And you can't possibly understand why this is significant and yet it is. Ok, I'll try to get my shit together now.
 |
| Don't you just wanna hug him? |
In addition to appreciating more or less the same books, films and music as myself, Tuomas has this incredibly beautiful ideology of escapism. His statements and interviews - and music are full of desire and yearning to get back the child's innocence and sincere amazement about the surrounding world. He's the biggest Disney fan, and his songs are full of adventures, wanderlust, love, longing, sadness and references to fairytales. He talks about those things with such an honest look in his eyes that you really want to listen. Since Nightwish started gaining more and more success and recognition Tuomas has talked about innocence and how it's already been lost to him, how he can't ever get it back. In my eyes, though, he's probably the most innocent man on Earth. He has such a firm belief in the stuff that he brings up about music and Nightwish. No corrupted mind could create something like that.
Ahh, and now I'm getting lost in the incoherence of emotions.
 |
| That is just too adorable, please stop it before I melt. |
And what he himself tells in their website about the aims of his music in terms of the audience:
"to give the listeners a place to escape to and to create their own universes".
Well, gotta say you got it right there. Boom. Bull's eye. Congratulations because that is to the point what their music does to me - along with some other things. But just. Ahh. Now I need to stop because as you can fathom from quite many things, I imagine, I am losing the grip. Seriously. Goodbye.
2012-06-20
When Everything Is Nightwish and Nothing Hurts
Hello Internet, let me tell you about my experience of a Finnish music festival, Provinssirock.
First of all, the sole reason I even wanted to go to this festival in 400 kilometres' distance from home, is the absolutely amazing Finnish band, Nightwish who have robbed my heart - and ears - for good. I missed the first concerts in Finland this year because consequently I was in the UK, so now I'm bound to chase after them around the country when they tour in summer festivals. (There is also a gig in London, in November, for which I have just purchased an incredibly cheap ticket.)
And now I'm just babbling.
Anyway, you should know that I am extremely biased because of this passionate, one-sided love affair that I'm having with the band and the music in question.
So, usually when I go to rock festivals I only spend one day there, and if I have to stay the night I choose whatever indoors accommodation is available. This time though, we open-mindedly went to the camping area. Now the thing about festival camping is that 99.9% of people opting for it intend to get stupidly drunk - a sport that I don't personally do at all. I don’t mind people drinking and smoking so I only had to kind of accept some facts of life: a) that if I wanted to sleep I'd have to do it in a constant cacophony of contradicting radio programs and music choices from different directions, b) that I'd get my fair share of tobacco smoke in my lungs, and c) that the whole area would eventually get a faint characteristic odour of alcohol.
I took us about five hours of driving, plus a dinner break, to get to the festival area. The entire day had been hot and sunny, which is not ideal for sitting in a full car. As soon as we got out of the car and had dumped all of our stuff on the ground, a heavy shower occurred and everything got soaked in 3 and a half seconds. How very convenient.
The sky cleared out in ten or so minutes, though and so, accompanied by a few curses we carried on with the activity of putting up the tent. An interesting operation that was.
The rest of the evening included inventing a new way of heating up frozen mozzarella sticks in the campfire and spending time with our tipsy tent mates.
Next day, the first day of the actual festival, woke us up with full sunshine and someone first listening to proper death metal, then Eminem, then Bomfunk MC's. I enjoyed my first ice cream of the summer and had to put on some sun protection for the first time this year.
In the afternoon they opened the festival area.
You should know that usually when I go to rock festivals, it is because of Nightwish, and therefore the whole day consists of waking up super early, queuing in front of the gates, running for dear life to the main stage and sitting there all day waiting till midnight when the show finally starts. This time we’d discussed beforehand about acting like normal people: seeing other artists we like, walking around and generally enjoying ourselves. Both of us thought this was an extremely good idea – until we calmly strolled to the main stage and saw that the best spot, our spot was still free of eager Nightwish fans. A quick reconsideration of plans led to us merrily galloping over to the stage where we sat ourselves down on the ground and started waiting like so many times before.
Now a quick word of some musical experiences I had during the day.
I hadn’t seen Poets of the Fall live before so I didn’t know to expect the majority of the fanbase to be approximately 16-year-old girls. I felt old. I know I don’t look older than any of them but I certainly felt so. Anyhow, after warming up a bit the party got really started and with radio hits such as Illusion & Dream and Carnival of Rust the band got everyone jumping and clapping along. It was absolutely great. And my god that singer is tall - and a pretty charismatic fellow as well.
Then Amorphis, which is a supreme Finnish metal band whose music mostly derives from the Finnish folklore, especially Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. I’ve seen these guys before a couple of times already and they always rock the shit out of everyone. This time wasn't a let-down. It was awesome to hear material form their newest album, such as You I Need which is definitely one of my favourite songs of theirs. And let me tell you, in a few years time Tomi Joutsen’s dreadlocks will be longer than the man himself.
The next one was the British Snow Patrol, of which I thought I knew nothing – until they played Chasing Cars and I was able to sing all the lyrics. Despite that I didn’t recognise any other songs of theirs I enjoyed the performance to the full. They were really energetic, and the vocalist’s smile was absolutely irresistible.
And then the beloved Nightwish.
I cannot tell you how much I love this band and their music and everything about them. It is completely irrational and I’m aware that many people just don’t get it.
Once again I shall try to explain what makes Nightwish more than just another musical group among others. For me seeing this band live in a gig (or randomly bumping into them somewhere, which indeed has happened!) feels like seeing a dear old friend after a while. Actually, it’s more like seeing an old lover who still gives the butterflies your stomach. It is exciting, uplifting, heart-warming, energising, and when the concert is over and you have to let them go, you get this empty feeling for a moment – before you retreat back to your happy place where the show goes on forever. It is not like any gig you go to and feel good about afterwards. With Nightwish it’s like I knew these people even though I obviously don’t but, you know just as if. To assert this illusion of belonging the band members sometimes clearly indicate that your presence has been acknowledged by taking a direct eye contact. And call me a delusional fanatic but I think that at least during a tour they actually remember some recurring faces from the front row.
Shh... Let me live in my bubble.
In addition to this, um, emotional connection and feeling of being one big, happy family it is also most magnificent to sing – or scream – your favourite songs, the lyrics of which you’d know in your sleep, on top your lungs with thousands of others, to bump your fist in the air and jump and wave like there’s no tomorrow, to see how the musicians themselves are having a great time and just not to give a damn about anything else than that perfect moment.
This was the first time I heard music from their new album live as well, and I have to say, it really really sounds amazing. Like I'd mused beforehand, Last Ride of The Day works like magic and so do Scaretale and Song of Myself. One of my everlasting wishes also came true when I finally got to witness a live performance of Come Cover Me. And to bring back Over The Hills And Far Away in the festival set list was brilliant as well.
So long story short, Nightwish was amazingly fantastic as always and I love them to bits.
But where was the encore!?
Only two and a half weeks till next time though!
What happened after Nightwish?
I bought a spring roll because that's what you do in rock festivals.
- brushed my teeth.
- crawled into my sleeping bag.
- woke up at 8 in the morning.
- packed up my things.
- had a chat with a drunken lady who blew too much tobacco smoke in my face.
- caught a bus to train station.
- had breakfast at Robert's Coffee.
- sat three hours in a train listening to Nightwish whilst grinning like an idiot.
This texts contains the word 'Nightwish' 10 times including this one.
Also the radio just started playing Wish I Had An Angel which is a song by Nightwish.
Now it's 11 times.
First of all, the sole reason I even wanted to go to this festival in 400 kilometres' distance from home, is the absolutely amazing Finnish band, Nightwish who have robbed my heart - and ears - for good. I missed the first concerts in Finland this year because consequently I was in the UK, so now I'm bound to chase after them around the country when they tour in summer festivals. (There is also a gig in London, in November, for which I have just purchased an incredibly cheap ticket.)
And now I'm just babbling.
Anyway, you should know that I am extremely biased because of this passionate, one-sided love affair that I'm having with the band and the music in question.
So, usually when I go to rock festivals I only spend one day there, and if I have to stay the night I choose whatever indoors accommodation is available. This time though, we open-mindedly went to the camping area. Now the thing about festival camping is that 99.9% of people opting for it intend to get stupidly drunk - a sport that I don't personally do at all. I don’t mind people drinking and smoking so I only had to kind of accept some facts of life: a) that if I wanted to sleep I'd have to do it in a constant cacophony of contradicting radio programs and music choices from different directions, b) that I'd get my fair share of tobacco smoke in my lungs, and c) that the whole area would eventually get a faint characteristic odour of alcohol.
I took us about five hours of driving, plus a dinner break, to get to the festival area. The entire day had been hot and sunny, which is not ideal for sitting in a full car. As soon as we got out of the car and had dumped all of our stuff on the ground, a heavy shower occurred and everything got soaked in 3 and a half seconds. How very convenient.
The sky cleared out in ten or so minutes, though and so, accompanied by a few curses we carried on with the activity of putting up the tent. An interesting operation that was.
The rest of the evening included inventing a new way of heating up frozen mozzarella sticks in the campfire and spending time with our tipsy tent mates.
Next day, the first day of the actual festival, woke us up with full sunshine and someone first listening to proper death metal, then Eminem, then Bomfunk MC's. I enjoyed my first ice cream of the summer and had to put on some sun protection for the first time this year.
In the afternoon they opened the festival area.
You should know that usually when I go to rock festivals, it is because of Nightwish, and therefore the whole day consists of waking up super early, queuing in front of the gates, running for dear life to the main stage and sitting there all day waiting till midnight when the show finally starts. This time we’d discussed beforehand about acting like normal people: seeing other artists we like, walking around and generally enjoying ourselves. Both of us thought this was an extremely good idea – until we calmly strolled to the main stage and saw that the best spot, our spot was still free of eager Nightwish fans. A quick reconsideration of plans led to us merrily galloping over to the stage where we sat ourselves down on the ground and started waiting like so many times before.
Now a quick word of some musical experiences I had during the day.
I hadn’t seen Poets of the Fall live before so I didn’t know to expect the majority of the fanbase to be approximately 16-year-old girls. I felt old. I know I don’t look older than any of them but I certainly felt so. Anyhow, after warming up a bit the party got really started and with radio hits such as Illusion & Dream and Carnival of Rust the band got everyone jumping and clapping along. It was absolutely great. And my god that singer is tall - and a pretty charismatic fellow as well.
Then Amorphis, which is a supreme Finnish metal band whose music mostly derives from the Finnish folklore, especially Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. I’ve seen these guys before a couple of times already and they always rock the shit out of everyone. This time wasn't a let-down. It was awesome to hear material form their newest album, such as You I Need which is definitely one of my favourite songs of theirs. And let me tell you, in a few years time Tomi Joutsen’s dreadlocks will be longer than the man himself.
The next one was the British Snow Patrol, of which I thought I knew nothing – until they played Chasing Cars and I was able to sing all the lyrics. Despite that I didn’t recognise any other songs of theirs I enjoyed the performance to the full. They were really energetic, and the vocalist’s smile was absolutely irresistible.
And then the beloved Nightwish.
I cannot tell you how much I love this band and their music and everything about them. It is completely irrational and I’m aware that many people just don’t get it.
Once again I shall try to explain what makes Nightwish more than just another musical group among others. For me seeing this band live in a gig (or randomly bumping into them somewhere, which indeed has happened!) feels like seeing a dear old friend after a while. Actually, it’s more like seeing an old lover who still gives the butterflies your stomach. It is exciting, uplifting, heart-warming, energising, and when the concert is over and you have to let them go, you get this empty feeling for a moment – before you retreat back to your happy place where the show goes on forever. It is not like any gig you go to and feel good about afterwards. With Nightwish it’s like I knew these people even though I obviously don’t but, you know just as if. To assert this illusion of belonging the band members sometimes clearly indicate that your presence has been acknowledged by taking a direct eye contact. And call me a delusional fanatic but I think that at least during a tour they actually remember some recurring faces from the front row.
Shh... Let me live in my bubble.
In addition to this, um, emotional connection and feeling of being one big, happy family it is also most magnificent to sing – or scream – your favourite songs, the lyrics of which you’d know in your sleep, on top your lungs with thousands of others, to bump your fist in the air and jump and wave like there’s no tomorrow, to see how the musicians themselves are having a great time and just not to give a damn about anything else than that perfect moment.
This was the first time I heard music from their new album live as well, and I have to say, it really really sounds amazing. Like I'd mused beforehand, Last Ride of The Day works like magic and so do Scaretale and Song of Myself. One of my everlasting wishes also came true when I finally got to witness a live performance of Come Cover Me. And to bring back Over The Hills And Far Away in the festival set list was brilliant as well.
So long story short, Nightwish was amazingly fantastic as always and I love them to bits.
But where was the encore!?
Only two and a half weeks till next time though!
What happened after Nightwish?
I bought a spring roll because that's what you do in rock festivals.
- brushed my teeth.
- crawled into my sleeping bag.
- woke up at 8 in the morning.
- packed up my things.
- had a chat with a drunken lady who blew too much tobacco smoke in my face.
- caught a bus to train station.
- had breakfast at Robert's Coffee.
- sat three hours in a train listening to Nightwish whilst grinning like an idiot.
This texts contains the word 'Nightwish' 10 times including this one.
Also the radio just started playing Wish I Had An Angel which is a song by Nightwish.
Now it's 11 times.
2011-11-11
11/11/11
Since it's the magical date of 11/11/11 I feel that producing a blogpost is somewhat appropriate. Don't ask why - I just have a feeling that this is something I should do.
Due to the number of 1's in the date I'm going to talk about something important for me: a Finnish metal band called - wait for it, waaaait for it - Nightwish, what an immense surprise!
In the list of my favourite musicians Nightwish unquestionably dominates the top. There's no one capable of taking over that place for that's simply how things work in Anniworld.
Even though I have declared myself a very irrational and more or less crazy individual whose opinions are what they are just because, I'll try to specify at least a bit of what makes Nightwish so special in comparison with other musicians and music groups. This I will do by using these guys' brand new single, Storytime as an example of my relationship to their music -or something along those lines anyway.
Okay.
As we all know the writer of this blog is quite a nutcase with her emotional outbursts and melodramatic apprehensions of the happenings of her life. Stressing, over-analysing and troubled she is and the perspective of her so-called problems is most of the time distorted to make everything seem just slightly too massive and unsolvable. She doesn't like to see herself as a drama queen but in all honesty that's what she is -at least a tiny bit.
In addition to the babblery (is that even a word?) above I'm very much an escapist, too. I seek comfort from fantasy, fairy tales and dreams. I consume Disney classics, original Grimm tales, surrealism and sci-fi series like oxygen. I obviously love those things and enjoy them, but what they really give to me is peace and the feeling of safety. In a way they're like cosy blankets I wrap around myself to avoid the coldness from outside world.
Music in general is really important to me for it helps me to handle and understand complicated stuff I'm forced to face in this mess of a world of humans. It also makes it easier to get why other people might function differently than I'd expect, and through music even the most socially awkward souls can express their feelings.
It's not very simple to grasp or pinpoint what exactly in Nightwish's music touches me so deeply. Some of the stories seem to be completely out of this world in their fantastical and amazing scenarios - and yet they talk about things that are down-to-earth, familiar and humane. Perhaps it's the beauty and the complexity of the lyrics that encourages me to not analyse them but to merely embrace the feelings aroused by the songs. I know all of the songs by heart and still I can't claim to fully understand their meaning - not explicitly anyway. As I said, it's rather hard to name the thing that makes Nightwish unlike any other and their music so breathtaking and moving. For me it's something that I feel in my heart and my very being; something that I can't put into words.
When I first heard Storytime I'd just woken up and my head was all bleary and woozy. The quality of the YouTube clip I'd found was quite shitty to be honest and I knew I should be hurrying to the uni shortly. Like the vast majority of Nighwish's songs so far, Storytime too left me dazed and teary. After hastily converting the illegal copy in mp3 and downloading it into my iPhone I had to make a run to the bus station.
Having relaxed myself in a sitting position I finally had time to really focus on the song and familiarise myself with it, which I did by listening in repeat the whole journey. At some point during that bus journey something in the song truly hit me. I don't know what it was and why and when, but all of a sudden there was this awesome sensation of I-don't-even-know-what. I wasn't particularly anxious or depressed or anything like that to start with but nevertheless I had this light at the end of the tunnel experience. For my dear, gianormously beloved Iridium I tried to explain this sensation as a combination of a soft blanket wrapped around you in a cold winter day, the smell after a heavy rain, seeing an astonishingly bright yellow sunflower in the middle of an otherwise monotonous field and the feeling of someone encouragingly and solidly squeezing your hand when you're feeling distressed.
I don't know if this makes any sense to anyone else than myself but those were first things to pop in my mind when I pondered how to explain such an abstract thing in literal form.
It's so very rare for anything to release my grip on whatever issues I'm struggling with in the real life that I feel completely overwhelmed every time it actually happens. For instance, when feeling blue, numerous songs can make me feel at least slightly better. However I still can't truly believe that things will be fine some day and that I won't have to listen to music to be able to deal with the problem in question for there will be no problem. Are you even following anymore? I'm not sure I'm following. Then there are some songs, like Storytime, which do more.
I felt almost like it was a personal message for me, like those incredible, internationally celebrated musicians were playing just to tell me that everything is okay and that I will get through whatever is draining and bugging me. And so I believed it and felt absurdly happy and hopeful for a while.
No matter how tough and paralysingly hopeless things seemed, at least there are these amazing people who make this heavenly music, which even in its incapability of healing the world has so much goodness in it that it makes it worth to carry on despite everything.
Due to the number of 1's in the date I'm going to talk about something important for me: a Finnish metal band called - wait for it, waaaait for it - Nightwish, what an immense surprise!
In the list of my favourite musicians Nightwish unquestionably dominates the top. There's no one capable of taking over that place for that's simply how things work in Anniworld.
 |
| Yeah, guys you totally have every reason to hang out on a bridge and laugh and wear cool hats cos you're hands down the best band in the whole friggin universe. |
Okay.
As we all know the writer of this blog is quite a nutcase with her emotional outbursts and melodramatic apprehensions of the happenings of her life. Stressing, over-analysing and troubled she is and the perspective of her so-called problems is most of the time distorted to make everything seem just slightly too massive and unsolvable. She doesn't like to see herself as a drama queen but in all honesty that's what she is -at least a tiny bit.
 |
| My life philosophy. |
Music in general is really important to me for it helps me to handle and understand complicated stuff I'm forced to face in this mess of a world of humans. It also makes it easier to get why other people might function differently than I'd expect, and through music even the most socially awkward souls can express their feelings.
It's not very simple to grasp or pinpoint what exactly in Nightwish's music touches me so deeply. Some of the stories seem to be completely out of this world in their fantastical and amazing scenarios - and yet they talk about things that are down-to-earth, familiar and humane. Perhaps it's the beauty and the complexity of the lyrics that encourages me to not analyse them but to merely embrace the feelings aroused by the songs. I know all of the songs by heart and still I can't claim to fully understand their meaning - not explicitly anyway. As I said, it's rather hard to name the thing that makes Nightwish unlike any other and their music so breathtaking and moving. For me it's something that I feel in my heart and my very being; something that I can't put into words.
When I first heard Storytime I'd just woken up and my head was all bleary and woozy. The quality of the YouTube clip I'd found was quite shitty to be honest and I knew I should be hurrying to the uni shortly. Like the vast majority of Nighwish's songs so far, Storytime too left me dazed and teary. After hastily converting the illegal copy in mp3 and downloading it into my iPhone I had to make a run to the bus station.
Having relaxed myself in a sitting position I finally had time to really focus on the song and familiarise myself with it, which I did by listening in repeat the whole journey. At some point during that bus journey something in the song truly hit me. I don't know what it was and why and when, but all of a sudden there was this awesome sensation of I-don't-even-know-what. I wasn't particularly anxious or depressed or anything like that to start with but nevertheless I had this light at the end of the tunnel experience. For my dear, gianormously beloved Iridium I tried to explain this sensation as a combination of a soft blanket wrapped around you in a cold winter day, the smell after a heavy rain, seeing an astonishingly bright yellow sunflower in the middle of an otherwise monotonous field and the feeling of someone encouragingly and solidly squeezing your hand when you're feeling distressed.
I don't know if this makes any sense to anyone else than myself but those were first things to pop in my mind when I pondered how to explain such an abstract thing in literal form.
It's so very rare for anything to release my grip on whatever issues I'm struggling with in the real life that I feel completely overwhelmed every time it actually happens. For instance, when feeling blue, numerous songs can make me feel at least slightly better. However I still can't truly believe that things will be fine some day and that I won't have to listen to music to be able to deal with the problem in question for there will be no problem. Are you even following anymore? I'm not sure I'm following. Then there are some songs, like Storytime, which do more.
I felt almost like it was a personal message for me, like those incredible, internationally celebrated musicians were playing just to tell me that everything is okay and that I will get through whatever is draining and bugging me. And so I believed it and felt absurdly happy and hopeful for a while.
No matter how tough and paralysingly hopeless things seemed, at least there are these amazing people who make this heavenly music, which even in its incapability of healing the world has so much goodness in it that it makes it worth to carry on despite everything.
Imaginarium, a dream emporium!
Caress the tales
And they will read you real
A storyteller's game,
Inside he flicks the gate
The calling heart
Is a limitless chest of tales...
Caress the tales
And they will read you real
A storyteller's game,
Inside he flicks the gate
The calling heart
Is a limitless chest of tales...
I failed a bit, by the way, for it's already the 12th and not 11th anymore.
But it's still yesterday in someplace so what the hell.
2011-05-26
Fangirl moment
Just needed to tell you that I met one of my biggest idols, Tuomas Holopainen today !!!
It was really, really awesome.
2011-02-13
Day 8 - A photo of your favourite band/musician
Nightwish
My ultimate favourite band of all time is without a doubt, Nightwish. I'm no hard core metal fan but the amazing music of Nightwish created by it's heart and soul Tuomas Holopainen never fails to affect on me. During the nearly 15 years of Nightwish's existence its music has evolved, but without abandoning the fundamental reasons and greatest sources of inspiration behind it. Throughout Nightwish's career the influence of film music, Disney, escapism, dreams and Northern melancholy can be recognised despite the changes in the composition of the group or the risen success and increased budget, which has enabled the use of symphony orchestras, gospel choirs and various guest stars. Even though Nightwish is indisputably one of the most popular and successful Finnish bands the musicians have always had a humble and down-to-earth attitude towards their fans. For a fan the possibility to meet and share even a few words with their idols is an unforgettable experience. I've met Tuomas three times and always gotten a chance to say something, hug and take a photo. I don't know him but I dare say he is exactly what he seems to be: an ordinary and shy dreamer form the backwoods of Kitee never wanting to grow up.
Tuomas Holopainen has described the new Nightwish album in progress to be a "Burton-Gaiman-Dali-amusement park", which sounds even too good to be true to me Burton being my favourite film director, Gaiman being one of my favourite authors and Dali being my favourite artist. I'm exceedingly excited to hear what the maestro has to offer this time.
Given that Dark Passion Play was a true masterpiece my expectations are quite high.
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