We got there an hour early. We got in, staked a spot right behind a railing behind the sound tech and held it the whole concert. We had a spectacular view of the stage for the entire concert.

Paradise Lost opened for Nightwish. Wow! What a great band! Unfortunately (for them), they were an unknown here (though in other parts of the world, they're huge). It made it hard for them to get the audience enthused. I tried to rally people around me but it didn't work at all :( I feel bad for them, but I probably will pick up some of their music now :)

Nightwish was absolutely wonderful. Anette's vocal range is lower than Tarja's - so they had to adjust some of the old songs to accommodate this. She did a fantastic job - and more importantly - she looked happy to be there. Marco sometimes took charge of the concert - man, what a ham :)

"Gooooooood evening Woostah"
"I pronounce okay?"

Marco got to sing "While Your Lips are Still Red" - which isn't on any album - but you can catch the video here if he didn't sing it for you:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=10829690

What we came away with was:

(1) Nightwish is now a very well-balanced band, between the recent addition of Anette and the not-so-recent addition of Marco (who came in w/ Century Child). Everyone in it contributes something meaningful - and no one completely overshadows anyone else. It used to be so easy to fixate on Tarja's unique voice and lose sight of the fact that everyone in the band is rather, well, amazing. This gives them a very rich sound that you might not have noticed before.

(2) Anette was a perfect replacement for Tarja. She couldn't be more different. (yes, you read that right)

(3) Nightwish is going to be around for a long time.

Make no mistake: It's not the "Tarja Turunen, with some other people" show anymore, but what it is - undeniably - is Nightwish.

On Tarja - as I mentioned previously...

She's released a new solo single "I Walk Alone" and her album comes out early next year. It will sound a lot like "Old Nightwish" - because with Tarja out front, the rest almost doesn't matter; you'll focus on her unique voice... it's just how it works.

Needless to say, I'm a fan of Tarja too. I can have my cake and eat it. ;)