14-05-2008 Tarja

Supports: The Dogma, Doug Wimbish; Venue: Schlachthof, Wiesbaden (Germany)
By: Nina Mende

After seeing her on a festival it was now interesting so see her on tour. How would the show differ? What songs would she sing and who will she be touring with?

I am talking about Tarja Turunen, the ex-Nightwish singer with the opera voice. She played at Schlachthof in Wiesbaden. It wasn’t totally crowded yet quite full. The audience was different from the common audiences I usually see: There were many young teenager (with parents, of course) and then there were the mid 30s and older. But there was an age wise gap between these two groups of visitors.

The concert started very early, doors opened at 7pm and it all began at 8pm. First act of the night was Doug Wimbish playing some of his new songs. He is a bass player but he did so many things with his bass, I didn’t know that all that is possible. He played bass like it was a guitar and as if he was a complete band, really amazing and hard to describe the variety of things he did with his music instrument. His performance was extremely passionate, emotional and touchy. You could feel how much Doug loves music, a very strong feeling, almost touchable. He also sang to his playing, even more passionate… Also very interesting to watch where his motions and the facial expressions he put on. Doug Wimbish could have played on forever without anybody in the audience getting bored. A really amazing show. For some songs Max Lilja, Mike Terrana and Alex Scholpp joined him on stage. Unfortunately this more than just amazing performance only lasted for about 30 minutes.

There was almost no break for changes on stage and it went right on with the support band of Tarja’s tour: The Dogma from Italy. They play power metal with melodic vocals, no screaming. The Dogma also has a keyboard player who is the only one that doesn’t have long hair. All the other got the windmill going by banging their heads to their music. The audience enjoyed their performance, cheered, sang and clapped along, as usual. The Dogma played songs from all albums including the song “Black Roses”. Their show was also quite short and only lasted for a little more than 30 minutes.

Now it was time for Tarja. It was shortly past 9pm as she entered the stage. I don’t think I have to tell anything about her, I’m sure all of you dear readers know who she is. She came dressed in white and started her energetic performance which would last for almost two hours. Tarja started out with a blast and put up a gorgeous and captivating performance. She talked a lot with the audience and always repeated how happy she is being able to sing for us, being on tour and having such a great audience. I was quite surprised as she performed “Nemo” for which she put on a red jacket. The audience went wild as Tarja started performing old Nightwish songs. She changed jackets for the first songs and in the end she wore a black long skirt and a corsage with high heels just like at the WGT. During her performance she was jumping around with loads of energy. Amazing how she kept the high notes while doing that. As I was standing in the photo pit I could even hear her real voice without amplifiers and mic loud and clear which was quite impressive as well. The audience was cheering a lot after and even during every song, singing along loudly and clapped to the beats. The Schlachthof was very full for a Wednesday night. Between “I Walk Along” and “Ciarian’s Well” there was a drum solo, followed by a bass and guitar solo. You could tell how much the band loved and enjoyed playing music and how much Tarja loves singing. For the song “Over The Hills” Toni Turunen was singing the male part of the vocals, during this song everybody clapped along. “Our Great Divine” was performed very passionate, a song inspired by the beauty of nature. “Sing For Me” gave me goose bumps, a really great and touchy song.

Tarja performed many songs from her album “My Winterstorm” but also several Nightwish songs.
She played two encores. The first encore included the Finnish song “Oasis” and the Alice Cooper cover “Poison”. The second included the Nightwish song “Wishmaster”, her song “Die Alive” and the very last song “Calling Grace” which was only performed by her and Toni playing acoustic guitar. It was a really great and impressive show, gorgeous light and great sound. The audience loved it just as much as I did.

Tarja’s live band includes:
Bass & BV: Doug Wimbish (Living Colour, Annie Lennox, Madonna, Jeff Beck)
Guitars: Alex Scholpp (ex-Farmer Boys)
Drums: Mike Terrana (Masterplan, Savage Circus, ex Rage)
Keys & BV: Maria Ilmoniemi
Cello: Max Lilja (Hevein, ex Apocalyptica)
Lead & Backing Vocals, guitars, and electronic drums: Toni Turunen.

Links:
Doug Wimbish Official
The Dogma Official
Tarja Turunen Official