Nightwish - ISS Dome Dusseldorf 14/4/12

After the thrills and spills of Amsterdam it was time to board the tour bus and head for Germany ! Well actually it was the ICE Train but tour bus sounds much cooler... Unfortunately again I managed to cause some distress to the disabled. Finding all of the train toilets occupied I noticed a green light on the disabled toilets. I now know this button to be the emergency open release!!!! I'm not totally sure who was the most shocked ??? Thankfully it wasn't the chap from Amsterdam. I made a hasty retreat back to the train seat to a chorus of abuse and kept a very low profile therafter..... View of the ISS Dome from hotel room

The ISS dome has a capacity of 12,500 opened in 2006 and is mostly used for Ice Hockey. It must also have the most officious and ridiculous stewards worse than those witnessed at The Gabba Brisbane which takes some doing.

Yes, those stewards. There was no option but to be positioned in the block allocated awaste of time asking, fair enough can understand that. However when we decided to sit dowwn on the steps that banked backwards a good hour before the first band their attitude was crazy. They made everybody stand no sitting allowed despite there being nobody in a 10 meter radius at that time. When I queried and took therisk of being ejected I was told in broken English 'You have paid for a standing ticket so you must stand at all times' hilarious !! It got worse as the night progressed anyone who veered into the gangway aisle was chucked out - oh well only in Germany I suppose?

In fairness we stood with some lovely German people who I will keep in touch with and made the concert even more memorable. They held the same view of the stewards as I did which was re-assuring. I have to say that the concert was better than Amsterdam maybe because we were nearer to the front and standing and able to do some headbanging!

The set list was exactly the same as I expect it to be for all the shows due to the lights, pyros etc which are all programmed with the songs. It was fantastic to hear some classic old songs such as ; Planet Hell, Dead to the World and Come Cover me. It was also great to see Anette commanding the stage and looking so much more confident and powerful singing songs more suited to her style. Previously she has had the unenviable task of singing more operatic songs written for Tarja. As expected a lot of the set list was from the new releas 'Imaginaerum'; Storytime, Scaretale, Slow,Love,Slow, I want my Tears Back, The Crow, the Owl and the Dove, Ghost River, and in the encore Song of Myself and my personal favourite from the album 'Last Ridde of the Day. There was also time for a tribute to a hero of mine the late great Gary Moore with the cover of 'Over the Hills and Far Away' with Troy playing like a crazed demon.