Like most people in the world of metal, I got accustomed to this genre thanks to a friend who made me discover Nightwish. And, of course, each of us has a different favourite singer of the three that took part in the band, but there is only one Queen of Finland. Her name is Tarja Turunen, and I had the pleasure of seeing her for the first time in my life last Friday in Trezzo sull’Adda at the Live Club. You can read the full report of the show here!
Serpentyne
The show begins perfectly on time at 20:30, and Serpentyne is the first band of the evening. I was very curious to see them live, and I closely paid attention to their performance. Unfortunately, the audio isn’t properly mixed, and it’s too bad because they provided some very interesting sounds. It was very hard to hear the singer’s voice unless she sang some very acute notes. In any way, she was compensating for this with a very funny and humorous personality: Maggiebeth tried to speak Italian for the whole set, and people in the audience helped her with the words she didn’t know. I’m a fan now!!! The folk elements played by the keyboardist and Marco on the drums was especially enthusiastic, playing in his home country.
Setlist:
- Spirits Of The Desert
- Away From The World
- Salvation
- Jeanne D’Arc
- Helen Of Troy
- Angel of The Night
Temperance
With just a couple of minutes of delay on the schedule, then we move on to a 100% Italian band: Temperance comes on stage during their Mission Impossible and 007 intro, and the crowd goes crazy! I saw Temperance with the “new” lineup last November in Cerea, but they didn’t make a good impression. In this stance, instead, they were absolutely wonderful! Gabriele and Lina were very comfortable with the lyrics and nailed every single note. Marco on guitar was also on fire (not literally!), and Marco on drums was playing with his heart and soul. The running joke was that when Pastorino was asking the audience to make a noise, the audience wasn’t very loud, but when Lina asked for some noise, the audience was louder. In fact, she said, “They like me better!” and well, we do. But we also love Marco a lot. What a band!
Setlist:
- Pure Life Unfolds
- Breaking the Rules of Heavy Metal
- Start Another Round
- The Last Hope In A World Of Hopes
- Diamanti
- Of Jupiters And Moons
- Catch The Dream (acapella)
Tarja
At about 22:00, the audience began chanting, “Tarja! Tarja! Tarja!” because we couldn’t wait anymore. I, personally, could not wait anymore. The fans had waited so long to see her in concert that I was yearning for the show to start. And precisely at 22:05, the instrumental intro begins, and one by one, the members of the band take the stage. When the Queen of Finland appears, the audience goes wild! Oh my goodness, what a stage presence! What a voice! She moved, danced and sang like a teenage girl. The energy and enthusiasm that this woman was delivering were unmatched. She was joyous, and she specified that we had to wait long for her to return to Italy, but it was worth it. Every single second of the wait was worth the show she put on. I was absolutely blown away by “Anteroom Of Death“, and I was moved when she played “The Golden Chamber / You And I” on the piano. Then, I sang with all the air in my lungs, “I Walk Alone“, and the Live Club was almost destroyed by “Wishmaster”. I have to add something regarding Wishmaster. Even though nobody can play it as Emppu does, Alex Scholpp did a terrific job. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and even Tarja’s kingdom wasn’t built in a day. But with her talent, passion, theatricality and experience, the sky is the limit.
Setlist:
- Serene
- Demons In You
- My Little Phoenix
- Anteroom Of Death
- Diva
- Goodbye Stranger
- Band Solo
- Silent Masquerade
- Wishmaster
- The Golden Chamber (Loputon Yö) / You and I
- Undertaker
- Victim of Ritual
- Innocence
- I Walk Alone
- Dead Promises
- Until My Last Breath
