Meeting Nightwish

It’s been a year since I last saw Nightwish live, and even though I’m still in “mourning” due to them parting ways with Anette, it’s probably time to take a stroll down memory lane and relive my happy days with the band. As I mentioned in a previous post, I went to see the Finish metal band in Worcester, Massachusetts, on September 2012. I had VIP tickets and I got to meet the whole band and get autographs. I also got a spot in the front row, from where I experienced one of the happiest moments of my life. This post won’t focus on the concert itself, but on my interactions with the band members. When I first saw them in 2008 I got to talk to Tuomas Holopainen (keyboards) after the show when he came out of the tour bus to have a cigarette. He signed autographs and hung out with me and a few other fans there. I remember that I barely spoke English back then, and that plus being star struck didn’t help me carry an interesting conversation, but I was happy regardless. That day I didn’t get to meet the other members, and I did see Anette Olzon (vocals) walk behind me as I was busy taking a picture with Tuomas, but she entered the bus and didn’t come out. Five years later, I wanted to meet the other band members, especially Anette, so I paid a little extra for those VIP tickets. When I got to the Palladium, where the concert took place, I saw Tuomas and Marco Hietala (bass and vocals) hanging out at the venue’s back door, but Tuomas went inside as soon as I reached them. Luckily, Marco stayed outside, and I got to take a picture with him. He was super nice, and I told him I’d see him inside at the meet-and-greet and he said “see you soon!” Once inside, the whole band walked past the fans that were in line waiting to meet them, to add on to our excitement. At the meet-and-greet, the band sat behind a long table as the fans lined up to talk to them. When it got to my turn, I had a flag for them to sign, and they all did. Marco said he remembered me from a few minutes ago, and I told Tuomas that I met him 5 years before that and thanked him for being back. Emppu Vuorinen (guitars) was busy with other fans taking pictures with him, but he greeted me politely and signed my flag. Jukka Nevalainen (drums) wanted to know what country the flag was from and unfolded it after signing, and once he saw it was from Brazil he told me he was excited to go back there. And then of course there was Anette… she was so nice to everyone, always smiling and trying to attend to everyone’s demands for pictures and autographs and with me it was no different. She was having trouble saying the name of the town (Worcester) and I told her not to worry because I myself couldn’t pronounce it, and she laughed as she signed my flag. Then I said “you are so beautiful”, and she smiled and thanked me. I wish I had time to explain to her that unlike any other famous person I’ve met so far, her beauty up close is even more striking than in professional photographs and videos, she is such a gorgeous woman! I asked her if I could take a picture with her, and she agreed. I was smiling like a fool, so happy to be in the presence of all these amazing musicians and getting to interact with them. During the concert Tuomas waved back to me, Emppu threw his guitar pick at me when I gestured him asking for it, Marco recognized me again and pointed at me and smiled, and Anette smiled and waved after I blew her a kiss. After the concert I got to be around Marco again, as he greeted fans (I stepped aside and let other fans have their moment and was happy to just observe) and their guest musician Troy Donockley shook my hand and gave the fans an update on the band’s upcoming movie. So that is my experience with the members of Nightwish. That memory has now become a bittersweet one, but I look back at it with a smile on my face, and I feel blessed and lucky to get to enjoy the Imaginaerum World Tour at its best and enjoy Anette’s angel-like voice one more time. I don’t know what the future of the band will look like, but all I can say is that I’m happy to have witnessed them at what I consider their finest formation.