Sonic Seducer Jahresrückblick 2007

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The ordeal

For Nightwish 2007 is the year of truth: At first the Finns presented their new singer Anette Olzon to the public, introduced their sixth album 'Dark Passion Play' and finally got on the road to conquer a new continent. Band boss and keyboarder Tuomas Holopainen reports on his impressions in an exclusive conversation with Sonic Seducer.

Tuomas lolls around on the duvet in his hotel room in Atlanta. It is three o'clock in the afternoon and the Finn just has two hours time to recover from another long drive with the nightliner cross the United States. After twenty-two shows the last evening has arrived. After the concert in Atlanta it's time for the flight home in the early morning where the next trip through Northern Europe is going to start after a break of nine days. The keyboarder is tired but at the same time very happy.

American perspectives
During the last five weeks Tuomas felt like being in a roadmovie. "We almost experience the romantic live of vagabonds here", he dotes on the endless highways and manifold landscape of America. "It is something special to wake up in the morning and have a huge and delicious breakfast surrounded by the mountains of Montana." During the video shoots for ‘Amaranth’ and ‘Bye Bye Beautiful’ in Hollywood the band was already able to get used to the huge doses, milkshakes, steaks, French fries scalloped with cheese or thick pancakes with fumy maple syrup dripping of them. With the rich start of the day the musicians and the crew recompense themselves for the often not so pleasing catering in the clubs. Bands which do not play in the really big halls occasionally have to deal with surprisingly sleazy circumstances backstage in the land of the unlimited possibilities. For the time being the leap over the big pond means eating humble pie for the Finns. Nightwish sell 2.200 tickets maximum in the USA but they also played in front of 500 people over there. In Europe only the biggest arenas are big enough for the band. "With this we achieved more than we expected", Tuomas shows himself content. "It was a successful start in every aspect."
The band names good reasons for the trip to the United States: After the cancellation of the last two tours in the US they felt obliged to their American friends. Furthermore it has the positive side effect that the start for the new singer Anette Olzon is easier this way. "Over here we do not have a profile that is so much Tarja-orientated as in Europe because we are not that well-known", Tuomas explains. "That is why we play only small shows here which are not as frightening as in the big arenas. It is some kind of rehearsal tour." For Nightwish and especially Anette it was an acid test in several aspects - both on stage and behind the scenes. Although the front woman gained some experience with the life on the road before she wasn't really prepared for the journey with Nightwish. "I asked Anette if she is sure what she is going to get involved with us", Tuomas sighs, "and of course she approved it. Shortly after the beginning of the tour she admitted her lack of knowledge anyway." In the meantime he is able to smile about it but by then the stress reached a critical point for all the people involved. On the extremely tight schedule there were countless interviews and important meetings in addition to the shows. "The whole circus was a bit too much for Anette", her bandmate reveals, "but in the end she cope with it all and showed a great attitude during those five weeks. All of us are very proud of Anette."
So the Finns and the Swede grow together a bit more tightly. But also their fans accept the new lineup. "During the whole time we just saw one middlefinger", Tuomas tells. "At the show in Philadelphia there was a girl in the first row giving the finger and shouting for Tarja constantly. Not before the end she finally smiled and clapped her hands. Perhaps we were able to convince her after all." Apparently the man at the keys watches his crowd more precisely than it seems. But he doesn't see a big difference between the continents. "The response of the crowd over here is similar to Europe", the Finn tells. "But over here we get heavy moshpits which is unlikely to happen at home." Fortunately: no one needs this fight dance at a Gothic Metal show. While this wave will hopefully swash past Europe the Halloween feast rooting in the celtic cultural circle arrived here long ago. A matter of honour - being good guests Nightwish showed themselves dressed in costumes that night. "Only Marco had no clothes with him and so he just played with his underpants on", Tuomas giggles and with a laugh he adds: "Anette looked really cute as a pirate - I go for pirates, you know..." A selfironic joke which shouldn’t drive anyone to unnecessary speculations. There are also other funny moments which remained in the band's boss head. "In Toronto a fat racoon raid on us", he grins widely. "When we left the stage after the show he was chowing our last peanut." While fresh memories provide Tuomas with a good mood the near future makes him worry. "It was a good start and we had a lot of fun both during our shows and also the short breaks in Disneyland, Orlando or at the Universal Studios yesterday", the musician emphasizes. "But the real ordeal is still waiting for us in Finland and Scandinavia."

European insights
In the USA it is more or less pioneering for Nightwish but in Europe Nightwish built up their success together with Tarja Turunen. No way will go past the fact that Anette Olzon is going to be compared to her predecessor who is an outstanding singer and a really charismatic performer. "By now gets on my nerves when I have to compare Anette to Tarja", Tuomas admits openly. "Both of them are strong in their own way. After we finished the new songs we only had to find the right person to sing them. And so we found Anette with her wonderful interpretations". After the Swede was able to prove herself in the studio and gained a lot of self-confidence in the USA it is time for the ordeal in front the native audience.
A few masterminds have already been able to get a first impression of the live qualities of the new lineup at three not so secret gigs - in Hamburg among others. "That was our third show with Anette", the keyboarder starts an explanation. "I see the show as a public rehearsal in front of a big crowd. In view of that I would give both thumbs up but you cannot compare it to our present condition." With this he provokes a more detailed analysis of the show. It was obvious that the whole band acted unusually stiff at the beginning. "Well, that shows how much pressure burdened us", Tuomas says. "We were not sure how people would react. Additionally a lot of our friends and family members were watching the shows and they are extremely critical." The man behind the keys didn't even notice that of all people the veteran Marco had problems with his voice during the first song. "I was concentrating on my playing", he shrugs. "We had to re-arrange the chorus of 'Bye Bye Beautiful' a little bit for the live-shows because it is not possible to sing so many words directly after another." What looked really tense in Hamburg means a lot of fun to Nightwish again now. "After a long time we regained our delight in playing shows again", Tuomas emphasizes. "I get one goose-skin after the other and I feel like laughing over and over again." An unusual amount of happiness for the mostly melancholic Karelian guy. Also the mostly positive reactions to the current transcription of their old classics in Hamburg make the band happy - even though one or the other had difficulties with some of the songs. “We do not have everything down path”, Tuomas appears self-critical. “A few songs suit Anette especially well: ‘Nemo’, ‘She Is My Sin’, ‘Wish I Had An Angel’ or ‘Ever Dream’. But there are others we still have to work with.” In his opinion ‘Wishmaster’ and ‘Sleeping Sun’ belong to those. Not only the listeners have to get used to these songs and find a personal access to them but also Anette. “I discussed ‘The Siren’ with her for a long time”, the composer tells, “to my ears her interpretation of the song sounds good but she doesn’t think much of the story. So it is difficult for her to fill the story with life.” But Tuomas is sure that not only the band but also their singer is on the right track: “In the last five weeks Anette was able to develop her stage presence a lot”, he praises. “And we were successful in finding the right songs and sequence them suitably. During the performance Anette is always herself and doesn’t copy Tarja - neither her singing style nor her outward appearance or any other characteristics.” Apparently, the change from a diva to a rocklady suits Nightwish well. In Europe the huge interest in the band is still unbowed. For most of the shows in this year there are no tickets left. At the 29th of December many German Nightwish-fans have the chance to get an impression of the new lineup at the On A Dark Winter’s Night-Festival in Oberhausen. “Last time we played the festival we did an atrocious show”, Tuomas remembers with horror. “There were a lot of technical problems. Now we are not only able to present Anette but we can also redeem ourselves.”
On their tour through the hibernal Scandinavia Nightwish are able to prepare for the big arenas. “I am sure that all the people didn’t by a ticket just to put us down”, the Finn hopes. “Then we indulge in a break over Christmas for ten days. It is the best moment of a tour when you come back home. After a few days it feels nice to go on tour again.”

In Tuomas’ private life everything was almost only about music in the year 2007. Until ‘Dark Passion Play’ was in the stores there were endless recording session as well as three times of mixing and mastering. “We didn’t plan to do it like that but it was necessary”, the master points out. “I think we will never spend that much time in the studio again. But I do not regret a single note. We reached the peak of this way of working.”
The success proves Nightwish right. After only a few days golden records hailed down on the Finns: In Germany the album went gold on the second day and in their home country they can already hang up three platinum records for ‘Dark Passion Play’ on their walls. The unbelievable success will probably demand its first victim soon. A Finnish journalist put his hat in the balance. He promised to eat the hat if Nightwish would have only half of their former success without Tarja. “We don’t want to spread it around”, Tuomas stays humble. “And additionally we still have to wait for the final numbers of sales but then we will take him at his word.” Bon appétit!
For Nightwish 2007 was a year of revelations but all of them took a turn for the better. May their next two years travelling along the globe be that successful as well.