So the start of the mini-weekend was here. It’s sort of a reversed weekend. Usually a “weekend” stretches form Friday to Sunday, but in this case it’ll be from Sunday ’til Tuesday, starting off with Nightwish.
I began the entire morning by oversleeping, but gladly I made it to the bus with a breath. I slept most of the trip over here to Stockholm, and right after we arrived we sat down to have something to eat before getting to the hotel.
Once at the hotel we mostly just… rested. Slowly starting to get ready. I had planned this really cool outfit, but since the weather (rain) was working against us, I wasn’t really feeling it so plain pants and Amaranthe t-shirt it was. We started to slowly head over to the arena where we faced the queue from hell. I mean sure, we are “late” and we didn’t plan on getting any sooner, but we barely found an end to it! But once the queue moving, it went pretty fast actually. Before we knew it we had queued for 30 minutes, but it felt like ten. Good on you, Fryshuset!
We got into the venue and chose sidespots. We figured we might as well. I’m also going to take the time here to tell you all that it won’t really be that much of a review, seeing I’m fairly new to both these bands. While waiting for Amorphis to begin, I spotted a familiar face. It was Daniel, a friend of mine from home that I had completely forgotten was actually into Nightwish. So random to run into him.
Anyway. Right on time, 19.30, Amorphis entered the stage. They put on a good show with a lot of energy. The crowd… Well I guess they could have better reception than this, but hey, they didn’t boo, so I guess that’s a plus. I really liked it though, so I guess I’ll just add a few more million albums on my albums – to -get list.
After this, the fairly short wait for Nightwish began. We barely managed to finish our drinks before the arena went dark again and the intro started.
And I can tell you this. It opened with a bam. Pyros, narrative voice and “Shudder Before The Beautiful” kicked off the evening, and the reception from the crowd was amazing. You could tell they had been waiting for this.
And this is how the entire night continued on. The show was one big narrative, from start to end. It was almost like all of the songs belonged together in one way or another, and how it could go from upbeat almost happy rhythms to melancholic speeches and songs.
Usually, when I’m at a show with a band I’m not all too familiar with, I usually get bored easily. And I really thought this was going to be the case today too, but oh boy was I wrong. I was entertained from the first moment and all the way… about an hour and a half in. I was a little taken aback by the lenght of it, I wasn’t expecting that. And on top of that, I think this has to be the most abrupt ending since Noch Ein Bier where Civil War had to leave. They played the last song, and all of a sudden it was just over, after two hours. And I was like… ok? What happened? Oh well.
Regardless – this was a night of musical enigma, a show without being a show, if you know what I mean? Arrangements beyond this world, accompanied with pyros and fireworks in all the right places. Not that you need them THAT much when you have Floor. What a frontwoman. Love her.
Anyway. The show was over, and first of all we reunited a quickie with Daniel before getting back a bit to wait for people to leave. We weren’t exactly in a hurry, so we figured we’d wait out the worst. Eventually, we got out and hit up this cute little 24/7 fast food place… which turned out to be a nightmare.
First of all, the staff seemed really stressed and then… we had to wait some time for the food. I ordered first, a kebab roll, Michelle second – a plate of fries, and Linette last – some sort of roll as well. After about 5-7 minutes, Linette gets her food. After 15 minutes, I get my food. And Michelle – who had nothing but a plate of fries, had to wait 20 minutes. And I guess this wouldn’t be as bad if it wasn’t for the fact people who ordered after us got their shit first… Oh boy.
And on top of that, there was also an extremely rude and intimidating guest there, saying he was going to bomb that and that and swore and threw around the furniture. God, I can’t stand people like that.
After this, we parted ways with Linette and headed back to the hotel room. Tomorrow it’s time to say good bye (we guess) to Mötley Crüe. Feelings are still mixed.
// Sara
Sara Hammerzmith 