White Board Mafia

2009 was a hell of a year, that’s for sure. We saw the release of many albums that will be enjoyed for years to come, and a perfect mood setter for the Halloween season finally saw a release. Wrestlemania 25 went down in Houston, and 3/4 of the White Board Mafia was there to witness it live and in person. A few decent movies were released in theaters, but nothing I went absolutely batshit over. I got to see some incredible live acts as well. Here is a condensed list of my favorite points of 2009.

cKy – Carver City
I’ve been a fan of cKy since 01/02 when I got turned on to the DVDs in high school and I’ve followed them through their career and I can honestly say that no one sound like cKy, they’re simply in a league of their own. This is easily my favorite album from the group, and I highly suggest you scoop it up.

P.O.S. – Never Better
The Junior album from that lovable piece of shit from Minnesota, this album is topping a lot of “Best of 09″ lists. I love this album from front to back, I’m just disappointed I still haven’t seen him live yet.

Mastodon – Crack The Skye
If you take mind altering substances, this is the album for you. A concept album that follows a rollercoaster of a story that you’ll agree is one of the most inventive things you’ve ever heard. Mix that with a solidly written album, and you have a recipe for success.

Insane Clown Posse – Bang Pow Boom
This album was highly touted as the “Return of the Dark Carnival”. Every act has billed their newest album as the darkest, or sounds like the old stuff, or whatever the fans want to hear. The difference is, the wicked clowns got it right. This album brings be back to when I got into ICP around 97, and the live show was brought back in full force as well. 5 dates on the tour including the Hallowicked stop in Detroit on 10/31, and I could have easily done another 5.

Twiztid – W.I.C.K.E.D.
Personally, I think this is Twiztid’s best album since the Mostasteless album(s) dropped. The album flows so well and every track is a banger. There must be something in the water in Detroit Murderous, because both ICP and Twiztid albums this year were worth their weight in gold.

The only movie I’ll mention is Trick ‘r Treat, because it deserves the most attention, by FAR. Originally attached to the DVD of 300, this movie has had a cult following of people that have never seen it, campaigning for its release. Years passed, but the faithful did not forget. This year, it was finally released to smashing reviews and currently sits at an 86%(As of when I wrote this) on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a very high rating for a movie with no promotion that people have every right to be angry at. It’s an incredibly fun set of Halloween stories that’s perfect to get you in the mood for the best season of the year, the Season of the Pumpkin.

This year, I got to see Nine Inch Nails again. Their performance I saw in Philadelphia with A Perfect Circle on tour for The Fragile has topped my list of shows as the best I’ve ever seen. That was, until August 6, when I finally got to see the Don Dada himself, Ice Cube. As the main act for the opening ceremonies of the 10th annual Gathering of the Juggalos, he followed solid sets by the likes of Paradime and MC Chris, and blew the entire crowd away. Not once did the energy stop. EVERY song was a banger, every song had the crowd moving, and dare I say it, it’s the best live performance I’ve ever seen, Gathering or not.

Wrestlemania 25, oh what a trip you were. I can’t really add on to what’s already been said, without repeating that Undertaker vs Shawn Micheals was the best wrestling match I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Live, taped, it makes no difference. That match blew the roof off the dome and blew every other match that night away. I felt every single emotion during that spectacular display, and couldn’t have been prouder when Undertaker sealed the victory.

All in all, 2009 is one of the best years I’ve had in a long time. I made a lot of good memories with a lot of close friends, got more ink, traveled all over the country, and even picked up some nice stuff along the way. 2010, let’s see if you can compare.

Hola Amigos, I know it’s been awhile since I rapped at ya.  Flat out, the 10th Annual Gathering of the Juggalos was the shit.  I had some shitty happenings, but overall the trip was insane.  The Don Mega himself, Ice Cube, put it down like no one else I’ve ever seen.  Catch him on tour.  Also, a personal favorite of mine, MC Chris, did an incredible job.  He even turned the Juggalos and got some applause.  Hands down, my absolute favorite memory of this year’s GOTJ was Flashlight Wrestling at 5am on Sunday morning.  It was incredibly personal with less than 100 people in attendance and had live commentary by Violent J, Scott Hall, and Corporal Robinson.  I don’t know what set of Jimmy Snuka but he got in Scott Hall’s face and kept asking him if he wants to take it into the ring and they eventually had to get a few handlers to get him backstage.  Big ups to everyone that made the weekend so memorable.

Some other stuff went on recently like a job shift at work that is in my favor, and I’ve set up my own mini tour.  For ICP’s upcoming BANG POW BOOM tour, I’ll be at 5 dates.  You can catch me in Philly on 10/15, Woopsta the 16th and 17th for Rock N Shock, Detroit Murderous for Hallowicked, Sayreville on 12/4, and Allentown on 12/5.  I’ll also be at the Mastodon/Dethklok show on 11/1 in Philly, and possibly 10/29 in NYC but I haven’t decided yet.

Speaking of Bang Pow Boom, the verdict is in.  This album IS the return of the Dark Carnival.  I’ll start off by saying that I’m still a big fan of The Tempest.  There are a lot of solid jams on that album.  That being said, Bang Pow Boom is INCREDIBLE.  They had me at Intro.  The album starts off incredibly strong and doesn’t stop until the Chop Chop Slide flips your wig, then burns it with the force of a nuclear assault.  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

I’ve started using Twitter more since I got the Twitterfon app for my sleek and sexy iPhone, so hit me up @counterfeitgod.  I’ll add some more later, I do fully intend to keep updating the site.

21 days is all that stands before myself, and utter insanity.  From August 6th-10th, I’ll be enveloped in the most insane event of the year.  24 hour parties and performances from artists like MC Chris, Playaz Lounge Crew, Gwar, Mushroomhead, Ice Cube, and the whole Psychopathic family!  Add in comedians, JCW, and more and you can see why I’m beyond excited.  I’ll be flying into STL on the 4th and doing some tourist stuff before going to the Gathering.  Last year’s was the best weekend of my life, bar none, and this year is actually looking to top that, somehow.  I’ll be filming interviews while I’m there to post up once I get home.  Random Juggalo reaction videos, thoughts, and shout outs.  Get your tickets now at www.juggalogathering.com!

Based on that, guess which one I just ate. Anyways, life has been keeping me busy, as usual. While en route to a behind the scenes tour at Eastern State Penitentiary my car decided to take a dive. Across the fucking street. Smoking enough to make me think it was on fire, I pulled into the closest parking lot and all but dove out of the car. Turns out I shattered the coolant cap, the radiator is shot, the water pump is damaged, and a bunch of hoses are shot as well. Yeah, I love driving a wagon, but this car is killing me. Oh how I’d love to trade my Ford Taurus for a Dodge Magnum, but, it’s not in the cards at the moment. I recently cataloged all my CDs using this AWESOME software from http://www.collectorz.com and the magic number at the moment is 453 albums. It’s a little off because it’ll accept the Eddie’s Trunk archive, but there are a few double albums in there, but it counts as one album. A bit lame, but a very small hiccup in an otherwise awesome application. I typed everything in by hand, mostly by the UPC code, but if you have a scanner, you can scan everything in and avoid typing it manually. I recommend the software for those looking to categorize their collections, but I’m not necessarily a fan of paying to organize each different entertainment medium like CDs, DVDs, Video Games, etc. Then if you have an iPhone and $10, there’s an app for that. All negativity aside, it made organizing my collection very easy and it’ll help me avoid purchasing albums multiple times, even if Monster Magnet’s Powertrip was worth buying twice. That album rules. Anyways, check out the collection here
.

On the planning plate right now is the 10th annual Gathering of the Juggalos. This year is lining up to be the best one yet, for many reasons. First off, ICE MOTHERFUCKING CUBE. I’ll let that sink in for a moment. Then, once you’ve put your wig back on, GWAR is back to blow it off and split your skull. I feel like I’ve got a Golden Ticket. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m always excited for all the Psychopathic Family to perform, but it’s always interesting to see who else they bring in. I remember being incredibly excited for Kittie in 02, but they ended up not being there. Fucking lame. Powerman 5000 was beyond incredible, Drowning Pool tore the place down, Dope whipped the crowd into a frenzy, and Primer 55 rocked the fuck out. Not all that glitters is gold as Andrew WK might have been the worst performance in GOTJ. At least Bubba Sparxxx got a song in. On the JCW front, you’ll see the likes of 2 Tuff Tony, Viscera, Butterbean, Bull Pain, Ken Shamrock, and Jimmy Jacobs(clap clap clapclapclap). That’s not all, the Rude Boy is coming out of retirement for one more match against Abdullah the Butcher. After that, you’ll see the tower of terror, the Voltron of Juggalos, the JUGGALO WORLD ORDER in action. That’s right, Violent J, Shaggy 2 Dope, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Corporal Robinson face “Holy” Trent Acid and his 4 Alter Boys. The only thing Holy about Trent Acid is how high he gets. On top of that we get Motocross, JJ Walker doing stand up, and all the fresh ass flavor that comes with every Gathering! I plan on interviewing many people at GOTJ, from close friends to random Juggalos about why they’re there and what the Gathering means to them so expect some fresh videos when I get home. This will also include a special interview with Stabber Josh in the tradition of PT’er of the week. I’ll also be touring the Anheiser/Busch brewery in St. Louis and hitting up the Arch as well. August 6-10, mark it down for total devistation.

Before then Jezus316 and I will be attending Hank III on the 27th of this month. We’ll be celebrating Boomaga’s birthday this weekend at Wizard World Philadelphia and the party will continue at Kaiju Big Battel. Know about it. I’m starting to look into selling ads on the site so if you’re interested in that, or want your band interviewed for the site, hit me up. I’ve made a change to the forums, so if you want to post you’ll have to be activated by an Admin. This is in an effort to block against all the spam popping up. If you sign up for the board and your name isn’t activated in a day or so, email me and I’ll take care of you. Until next time Mafiosos, keep your eyes open and keep coming back.

I’ll edit this with more videos comments tomorrow night, I need some sleep right now, but enjoy the 11 minute Q&A session with MC Chris from tonight’s show.

MC Chris Q&A Session, 5/19 in Philadelphia

I created a new forum today, Reviews.  Basically, it’s for all users on the forums to go review whatever you want.  Movies, TV, music, video games, it’s all free game.  I’ll start it off later with a review of the new P.O.S. album, Never Better.  I’m not sure how well it will work, but I’m open to giving it a shot.  The link is right below.

http://www.whiteboardmafia.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=4

Looks like ROH inked a TV deal with HD Net.  Good for them, they’ve been at it for a long time.  The first tapings look to be taking place the weekend of my non existent birthday, 2/28 and 3/1.  I hope to be in attendance for at least one of the shows, preferably 2/28, I hope to see you there.

February 20th Velocity Pro Wrestling returns to the New Alhambra Arena.  The official press release is below.  The White Board Mafia should be in full force that night for the first time in many months so come on out and support indy wrestling. RAM JAM!

Velocity Pro Wrestling returns to The Arena (formerly the ECW arena)
Friday, February 20th, 8pm Bell Time
7 W. Ritner St., South Philly, PA
Directions: http://newalhambra.com/map.html
ALL TICKETS $15!!!

MAIN EVENT: Elijah Burke vs Jerry Lynn in an New Breed vs Old School rematch
At the fans request, we are bringing these two back to finish what they started. The last time these two faced off, they went through the whole building as Jerry Lynn told the referee that in “this house” we go with OLD SCHOOL, ECW rules which had the two of them going all ove rthe building, through tables and chairs and anything/anyone in their way. The confrontation ended in controversy and Elijah’s win came under scrutiny as he scored the pinfall on Jerry Lynn while his feet were on the ropes)

Josh Daniels vs John Walters
Two of the most impressive, technically gifted talents, not only on the Velocity Pro roster, but independent wrestling today, Josh Daniels will try to pick up his first VPro win against an equally impressive John Walters.

Amazing RED vs Shiima Xion
With an impressive win over Christian York, RED looks to be even more AMAZING in this battle between him and of the best and brightest singles competitors today!

The Logan Brothers vs Team Macktion
Fresh off a victory against the impressive team of Rob Eckos and Billy Bax, the Logan Brothers, Matt & Bryan will lock up with The Hardy Boys’ proteges, Team Macktion -Crazy K and Kirby Mack….(it should be noted that at Rob Eckos and Billy Bax have repeatedly demanded another match against The Logans and should Team Macktion not be able to make it for any reason, Eckos/Bax will be given that spot)

Bobby Fish vs Jay Briscoe
Japanese/NOAH sensation Bobby Fish captured the win in the last 4 way Fury elimination match but not without some fierce resistance and attitude from Jay Briscoe. Fish and Briscoe seemed to taunt each other more than they actually locked up and when Jay Briscoe was eliminated, Bobby Fish and him exchanged some harsh words and even more vicious stares.
Will “Big in Japan” Bobby Fish be able to Man Up when he has to face Jay Briscoe one on one?

Azrieal & Dixie vs Rob Eckos and Billy Bax (Rob/Billy are taking the spot originally occupied by the SAT)
Stipulation: If Eckos/Bax win, Azrieal forefeits his spot in the Final 4 way for the first ever Velocity Pro Championship title.
Rob and Billy can decide to put one of themselves in that final 4 way spot, or give the spot to any active member on the roster.

THE LAST of the FOUR WAY FURY SERIES contender matches….
Christian York vs. Sterling James Kennan vs. “M-Dogg” Matt Cross vs. (fans pick the last participant)???
With the conclusion of this 4 way ….the final 4 will go on to compete for the first ever Velocity Pro Championship title
THE FINAL FOUR: Azrieal (he must win his match to keep his spot) vs Ray Rowe vs Bobby Fish vs ????

After last show’s reunion, the newly reunited BJ Whitmer and Danny Maff return to the Arena, but for what/who????

Also set to appear:
Super Scout to the stars :Marcus Dowling, Phil Boushe, Ethan Page, the Gym Rats and more to be announced!!!

For tickets and general information, go to http://www.vpwrestling.com or call 267.687.7560
THE DVD (and all Velocity Pro DVDs) is now available at Smart Mark Video http://www.smartmarkvideo.com

Technology is moving at an impossible rate.  I started going to concerts a little over 10 years ago.  After the concert, my friend and I went over the best parts of the night, and we had to wait until the next day to see the other friends of ours that went to the show to talk about our favorite parts of the night all at once.  Sunday night, 3 friends and I went to see Power Glove, Turisas, and DragonForce.  Before the show, I texted my friend Ryan in St. Louis about the show since he’s a fan of Power Glove as well.  During the show, I was posting on a message board I frequent about how empty the bar was since most of the kids were underage.  When Turisas hit the stage, we were blown away with the force of Vikings.  My friend pulls out his Blackberry Storm to record video, while I’m taking video and making a post on a message board with my BlackJack II, and the friend on the other side of me is taking pictures with his LG Shine.  Later, I can upload these videos to my web server to share with friends, or to Youtube and share them with the world.  At wrestling shows, I’ve sent numerous show updates to Twitter, keeping track of what happened that night.  If you’d pulled me aside 10 years ago, and told me all this would be possible so soon, I doubt I’d believe you.  Now, I’m looking forward to what we can do in the future.  Keep an eye out for Microsoft Surface.  Its one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.  It makes me want to drive 2 hours to NYC to pay my phone bill because I can just drop my phone on the table and then drop my credit card on the table and hit pay.  If anyone reading this has played with Surface, let me know how your experience went, I’m interested to hear more about it.

Oct 16, 1998 is a day that will be burned into my mind for the rest of my life.  On that fateful day, 10 years ago, my life was changed forever.  The Insane Clown Posse was touring again, the Juggalo Funhouse SuperShow tour.  I was a pretty big fan at 14 years old and luckily, my future brother in law was a fan as well.  I talked my parents into letting him take me to the show, my first concert, and the day couldn’t come fast enough for me.  I remember listening to the radio at night and on the weekends, hearing ads for the show.  In the City Paper, the concert was prominently featured, the date growing increasingly closer.  Finally, the day came.  I coaxed enough money out of my mom to be able to get a tour shirt to mark the occasion and we headed on our way.  We showed up well after the doors had opened, nearly missing the first opening act.  We made our way inside, and headed straight for the merch booth.  As I stand there bombarded by the sweetest band merchandise I’d ever seen, my attention gets pulled to the stage.  And up and coming act, at the time, was performing what would become an anthem for legions of Juggalos for years to come, “Die Motherfucker Die”.  I stood there completely transfixed, Jncos hopping by their own free will along to the bass, as Twiztid urged the ferverous crowd to raise their middle fingers in the air and flow along with them.  This was my introduction to the world of Psychopathic events.  At this point, I’ve been to so many shows I have to keep tabs on a computer and the number is still growing.  At this point I’ve been to somewhere around 35 different tours and considering multiple dates on some tours, the number probably sits somewhere around 50 different shows that I’ve seen Psychopathic acts perform at.  I’ve been to at least 9 states for shows, including an 1,800 mile trip to Denver, Colorado to see the Psychopathic Family perform at the historic Red Rocks ampitheater.  Through all of this, it took me 10 whole years to make it out to Detroit for the annual Hallowicked event.  I booked my flights and was ready to go.  Then, last minute, Psychopathic announces Twiztid is doing a show on Devil’s Night, the Monster’s Ball.  Well, I rebooked my flight so I could make the show.  Above everything else in my life, Psychopathic has been my true passion, my one obsession I could never let go of.  I love music, I love theatrics, and I love horror, is it really a surprise?

I have my friends from home book a hotel room at the same place in Detroit my other friends have stayed at for many years, The Leland.  We knew it was a shithole, but it was SAFE.  I land, drive to the hotel to drop my stuff off, and we head out to dinner.  2 friends from home, and 2 from the message board we met on.  We come back from our hour long meal to find out room ransacked, with the majority of our posessions gone.  Whoever robbed us took our luggage, beer, and empty beer cans.  Inside the luggage were our iPods, cameras, clothes, and more.  My friend Chris, who had his own room, left his cell phone on the counter while we went to dinner and that was taken as well.  Understandably, we’re quite upset.  We let the front desk know, and they immediately insinuate that we were lying and nothing happened.  Someone from maintenance came up to search our rooms along with the parking lot attendant.  The whole time I’m with them, they’re grilling me, saying this is very fishy and they know we are staging this.  Another person shows up and I don’t know if he worked at the hotel or just lived there, but from the first moment I saw him, he was threatening both myself and my friends with violence.  When the police arrived, they took us back up to the room and couldn’t find a sign of forced entry.  The guy that mysteriously appeared kept saying that we did it, because if a master key was used then our keys would be crossed out.  The hotel manager, the only helpful employee at this point, proved he was wrong in front of the cops, and he vanished.  The police filled out a report and told us they didn’t expect much to happen but they were sorry for our losses, something no one at the hotel ourside of the 2 managers we spoke to ever said to us.  We got a refund for the room and booked another hotel on the way to Twiztid.  That night, my nerves were so shot I couldn’t sleep.  Every time I closed my eyes, the room spun like I was drunk.  We went back to The Leland the next day to see if they found anything on the tapes, which proved to be a futile effort.  The incompetent desk clerk told us no one had ever been robbed there and we were lying about the whole deal since she’d never heard of it.  After keeping everyone I was rooming with as calm and quiet as I could for so long, I told her what I thought of her intelligence and made my exit.  On our way out, we ran into the day manager and spoke to her.  She tried to help us, but was unable to get anywhere.

As of right now, I still have yet to get a police report or the insurance info for the hotel.  I plan on accomplishing these two things during my lunch at work tomorrow.  At this point, I’d like to make sure we’re on the same page.  In ABSOLUTELY NO WAY do I hold Psychopathic Records responsible.  While its true, had I not rebooked to catch the Twiztid show I wouldn’t have been robbed, but that is in no way their fault.  Something happens to me literally EVERY time I travel over more than one state line for a concert, and some times even then.  From flights being delayed, my car repeatedly breaking down, friends missing flights, and being left in a hotel to miss the entire last day of GOTJ 05, I’ve had some bad things happen to me.  At the end of the day, all they got was stuff.  Cool and dam expensive stuff, but just stuff.    The room could have been broken into while we were sleeping, or we could have came back early and been killed if we stumbled across the robbery in progress.

How were the shows you ask?  I can’t lie, they were some of the best performances I’ve ever seen.  Twiztid performed dressed like ICP and threw Faygo.  How can you go wrong with that.  Then the next night, was the best performance I’ve ever seen ICP put on.  The people that have been fans forever, myself included, always bitch about wanting OLD songs.  Carnival of Carnage stuff.  Ringmaster stuff.  Ahem, Mental Warp.  When you’ve seen a band 30+ times and they pull something out of the catalogue you never expected to see, it absolutely blows your mind and its like seeing them again for the first time.  Let me be the first to say that ICP had an incredible set list.  I was very happy with how things were going, and then Violent J says that it was time for something special, something they only did on Halloween.  We all expected a Hallowicked track, but that was not what the clowns had in store for us.  The intro starts and I immidiately forget about every negative thing that happened to me.  I grab a friend, and we head back down to the floor to get live and sing along about how 12 people would die that night.  This is my absolute favorite song.  I never expected to see it live, and to see it at my first Hallowicked after the weekend I just had…well its almost as if they played it just for me.  Friends later told me they knew the entire weekend was worth it for me the moment that song came on.

I’m nowhere near done.  Twiztid is doing a show in Cleveland on New Years Eve and that is a big maybe in my book right now.  I can’t make it out to Big Ballas this year due to money so I may go to that instead.  Next year is the 10th Gathering of the Juggalos.  I will most certainly be there, ready for my yearly retreat into the depths of the Carnival.  There is no way for me to put in to words what Psychopathic means to me.  I’ve met some of my closest friends and the man I call my brother thanks to the label.  I’ve traveled the country  thanks to them and the skills I’ve learned by being a very active member of the trading community have helped get the the job and the responsibilities that I have now.  If this seems jumbled, it may be because  I needed to get the story of last weekend off my chest in an extended format.  Special thanks to all my PT homies that I spent the weekend with.  The weekend wouldn’t have been the same without you.  STL, all the way.  Since my camera was stolen, this is the only picture I have of the venue that I took myself.

So, there hasn’t been too much noise from the White Board camp in a while. There is no Velocity show this month, which is most unfortunate, but next month should very sweet. I’m finally crossing an item of off my “Do Before Death” list, I’ll finally be making it out to Detroit for Hallowicked after 10 long years of trying. For those that don’t know, Hallowicked is the Insane Clown Posse’s yearly Halloween show. There is a special Hallowicked CD given away every year with a new song on it as well. I’ll also be attending the Hallowicked Afterparty which will have a few musical performances, as well as some matches from JCW, so I’ll still be getting my live wrestling fix this month. This year I’ve traveled roughly 5,660 miles, including going to the wrong address in Colorado, for Psychopathic shows. After Halloween, I’ll be up to 6,860 miles. For those keeping score, I’ve traveled roughly 8,000 miles for work in the past calendar year. This leaves only the Big Baller Christmas Party as the only Psy event I’ve never made it to. I doubt that’ll be happening though, as much as I’d love it to. Once I get back, it’s time to start planning the White Board Mafia’s trip to Houston for Wrestlemania 25. The only “You’re Goddamn right we’re going” thing so far is the rotating steakhouse on top of the hotel we’ll be staying in. I’m sure we’ll be meeting up with my homies from Texas that make it to WrestleMania. Hooray for internet friends. Check me out on eBay, user name xxhiddenninjaxx. We have some cool things in store including new shirts with the Velocity logo in place of the PWU one, and possibly a store in which to sell said shirts. Until next time Mafiosos, keep it clean and keep it Hallowicked!

It’s not always often that I can get really excited to go to a concert nowadays. I can’t count the number of bands I’ve seen live. Dozens? Hundreds? More? While I used to think, “I can’t believe that THIS band is playing in my town! They flew across the country/world to play for me!” Meanwhile, nowadays I think, “Wow, these guys are nobodies, how does it cost $35 to see them?!”

I’m sure you’re all wondering what this is leading up to. Bottom line is that there are a few select bands that can make me really, really excited to see them. There’s the expected like Iron Maiden and Metallica, the somewhat less expected like Killswitch Engage and Chimaira. And then there’s completely off the radar, which is kinda where Nightwish falls for me.

I got to see them back in October of 2007 and was reminded of everything I loved about them, even with a new face and a new voice, the music still stood as strongly as ever. Now, it was August 2008, once again they had found their way to the bottom of my CD rack, but I was still excited to see them again, and to be honest, they didn’t let me down at all.

After a relatively mediocre performance from Sonata Arctica, they started with the aggressive and dramatic “Bye Bye Beautiful”, a song that pretty much sums up all they can do and their live style. Tuomas headbangs like a maniac while playing his keyboard (something not seen out of many keyboard players). Red-faced Marco bangs on the bass and adds his unique element to the band with his backup singing. Jukka remains one of the coolest drummers I’ve ever seen, wearing his trademark black bandana, his excited, aggressive drumming drives the whole band forward. Emppu rips on his guitar, not the best guitarist in the world but he gets the job done well. And then there’s Annette Ozlon, still the new girl, who bring a whole new element to Nightwish that they never had before. A proper frontwoman, who can sing, perform, add drama to the slows songs and most of all, add excitement to the heavy songs.

Annette is the rock star Nightwish needs. She rocks out, she pumps her fist in the air, she headbangs, she gets the audience involved, she is more than just a new voice, she is the new, more fun, more entertaining soul of Nightwish. This new era is of excitement in Nightwish was accented by the fun they looked like they were having on stage while playing some of the faster and fiercer new songs like “Whoever Brings The Night” and “7 Days to the Wolves”, and the new height of their entire set has to be the unbelievably epic “Poet and the Pendulum”, which shakes the very foundation of any venue they play it in.

However, the biggest question that new Nightwish naysayers have is if Annette’s different, less operatic, more poppy voice can carry the old songs the way Tarja’s did. I can say with a very emphatic yes, that Nightwish’s old songs sound as great live now as they ever did. They only pulled out a handful of oldies, but they were truly goodies. They played the intense and powerful ‘Dark Chest of Wonders” early in the set, and followed it up with some equally forceful songs in “Slaying the Dreamer” and “Dead to the World”. However, Annette truly proved her merit by taking some of Nightwish’s heaviest, most operatic songs and making them her own. First was “Sacrament of Wilderness” off of Oceanborn, back in those days Tarja sang so operatic that it was nearly impossible to make out most of the lyrics, and Annette’s softer voice takes the harsh, strong song and takes it to a different level, not losing any of the song’s original intensity but making it more accessible and definitely easier to take. The other classic that stood far and above the new material was “Wishmaster”, one of my favorite Nightwish songs of all time, Wishmaster makes for an incredible live experience, none of which is lost at all with a cleaner, lighter voice singing it.

Overall, I had come into the show feeling like it’s just another concert on just another night, but now I can’t wait until Nightwish comes back. They add so many unique elements to their live show that you don’t get out of most bands. Very rarely can you go to a show and feel so many emotions coming from one band. Nightwish’s music can make you feel angry, depressed, afraid, happy, lonely, strong, weak and proud to be a fan of such sophisticated music, and their live show can put you through all those feelings in an hour if you bother to pay attention. While most bands turn it up to eleven and beat your head in for an entire set, Nightwish wants to take you on a musical journey to the top and bottom of emotion with their live show. All I could think was “I can’t believe that THIS band is playing in my town! They flew across the world to play for me!”

Setlist
Bye Bye Beautiful
Whoever Brings The Night
Dark Chest of Wonders
The Siren
Amaranth
Dead to the World
The Islander
Poet and the Pendulum
Sacrament of Wilderness
Slaying the Dreamer
Sahara
Wishmaster
7 Days to the Wolves
Wish I Had an Angel