Nightwish Live Trivia Quiz

Answer: Kitee, 1997

Indeed, the first Nightwish live show ever took place in December 1997 (one year and a half after the band had formed) in Kitee, their hometown. They had very few concerts during their early period because Tarja was still in school and Jukka and Emppu had to perform the mandatory military service.

Answer: She matches the colour of her microphone with the one of her dress.

Although she sometimes dances something similar to a walz during the instrumental parts, she does headbang, so it's not "All of these". The correct answer is "She matches the colour of her microphone with the one of her dress". Her long yellow dress and matching yellow mic that she constantly used during the "Once World Tour" drew critics from some of the fans who claimed that this is not appropriate for a metal singer.

Answer: Hans Zimmer's

The intro in "End of an Era" is called "Red Warrior" and it is writen by Hans Zimmer, a German soundtrack composer. The main songwriter of Nightwish, Tuomas Holopainen, is a huge fan of Zimmer's pieces and considers him a great influence. In fact, since 2004, Tuomas has started to use more soundtrack elements in Nightwish music.

Answer: Symphony of Destruction

During their first concert in Romania, in November 2004, Tarja leaves the stage to change and the guys perform this cover. Marco introduces the song by saying: "I hear you got an election coming soon. So watch out because power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely. And we're gonna do you a number from this American band, from Megadeath, which deals with the thing. This one's called 'Symphony of Destruction'".

During the same moment, Marco introduces himself as "your grandmother from planet Mars".

Answer: "Pharaoh Sails to Orion", Tuomas

Tapio Wilska is the lead singer of the band Sethian and ex-frontman of the band Finntroll. He is a good friend of the members of Nightwish and also a part of the Nightwish crew, dealing with the microphones, drums etc. He was the one that helped the band get a contract with their current house of records, Spinerfarm.

Answer: The Phantom of the Opera

In the original song, the female part is played by the soprano Sarah Brightman, who uses very high vocals in the end. On "Century Child", Tuomas wanted to change the ending and turn it into something less operatic, but the lead singer Tarja Turunen said about this song that it sounds "like the end of the world".

The result is that they started using the original ending in their live performances, those notes at the end being the highest ones Tarja has ever been heard reaching.

Answer: Ocean Soul

None of these songs have ever been played live, but Tuomas has never mentioned anything about them. He only swore that he will never play "Ocean Soul" during a concert because this song is too personal and means too much for him. Indeed, this is probably one of the most moving and thrilling Nightwish song, especially because Tuomas identifies himself with the "oceansoul", the lyrics being full of his sadness:
"I only wished to become something beautiful
Through my music, through my silent devotion".

Answer: Ever Dream

They usually start "Ever Dream" with Tuomas' keyboards and Tarja's voice, stop for a few seconds to warm up the public and then sing the song with all the instruments. However, this time, during the short break, Tuomas started crying as he watched Tarja sing, while the fans were screaming in the audience.

Many believe that this moving moment took place because Tuomas realised that this was the last concert they would ever play with Tarja. Some even speculated that Tuomas was in love with Tarja and that "Ever Dream" was a song dedicated to her.

His answer (on the official site of the band) was: "One misleading word now and I will be in tabloids once again...Let's say that we had a special and emotional relationship without any romantic attatchments.

The fire was burning between her voice and my songs."

Answer: Lowlands

Somwhere around the end of the song, Tarja is supposed to say "Redeem me into childhood/ Show me myself without the shell", but instead starts singing something indecipherable. She acts like nothing happened, but the funny part takes place when the camera moves to one of the fans in the audience. The girl is singing along, but when she realises there's something wrong, she stops with a very baffled look. This was not the only time that Tarja forgot or confounded the lyrics. During the same "Ever Dream" that I mentioned before, instead of "Would you do it with me
Heal the scars and change the stars
Would you do it for me
Turn loose the heaven within" she sings
"Would you do it with me
Heal the scars and change the stars
Would you do it with me
Turn loose the heaven within"
Probably because of all the excitement...

Answer: Mister Finlandia

Yes, he is talking about his bottle of vodka :))
While Tarja is laughing and the public is screaming, he continues "And he is my personal shrink. And occasionally he is willing to help somebody else as well" ("somebody else" meaning Emppu who grabs the bottle and starts drinking). After Mr.Finlandia "helps everyone on stage", including Tarja (who runs after the bottle like she's afraid she'll miss all the fun), Nightwish sing their last song for the night, "Wish I Had an Angel".