Here you go, a collection of considerations and random thoughts regarding the gig.
I have to agree with many others in that the band now feels more of just that – a band, as compared with a band and a soloist. There’s more aggressive and powerful feel to it, and I love it.
I liked Anette a lot, but I have to confess I like Floor probably more; she feels like the best of both worlds, a very powerful voice and capability to use classical technique, but there's also the belting technique in a grittier, rockier style. Some say she doesn’t have Anette’s warmth, emotion and storytelling feel to it, but to me she's hardly lacking anything in this respect either.
The start with Taikatalvi and Storytime still felt as brilliant as in spring, and I really like Floor’s little tweaks here and there; listen to this from 6:35 to 6:50 for example:
When Dark Chest of Wonders started I went ballistic – not just Imaginaerum stuff, we're having older material as well! One of my biggest favorites and Floor does it brilliantly.
With very little changes, she also has made Amaranth almost like a new song. In particular I love the way she sings the chorus.
Scaretale was perhaps Anette’s finest hour and less memorable with Floor but still not bad at all.
I feel Ever Dream is a prime example of the respective strengths of Anette and Floor; A’s warmth and emotion is great for the intro and verses while the power in F’s choruses is amazing.
Perhaps the band have realized their set list lacked momentum since Slow, Love, Slow was the only slow one this time – a good move.
I Want My Tears Back and Last of the Wilds with Pekka Kuusisto, just brilliant.
Arabesque with pyros: very nice surprise extra and superb contrast with the following Planet Hell which really rocks with Floor.
Then the final four: Ghost River, Song of Myself, Ghost Love Score and Last Ride of the Day, what a grande finale!
Basically the only thing I can think of that they could have improved was encore, or precisely, the lack of it: something like Sacrament of the Wilderness at the end would’ve been perfection. To my astonishment I noticed afterwards that what felt like a very short time was in reality an hour and a half. And even this way the start of the movie was maybe 20 min late, so it’s practical and understandable. But still…
I had a seat up in the balcony and said to the guy next me between the gig and movie that I hope I didn’t block badly his view. He said no. I said good and explained that I got a bit carried away in the moment at times, he laughed and said he kind of noticed.
Note to self: never again a seat in a rock concert, at least not in Finland. I hated so much sitting with my countrymen, staring still in front of them like vegetables. It seems I’m still, at 40+, unable to abandon this Finnish cool for a moment and just let go, stand up and rock it out if nobody else around me does that. Perhaps I’ll be able to do it when I’m sixty.
I’ll post about the movie tomorrow.
