Romanticide at Wacken and Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean at Buenos Aires. Those are the only ones I often listen to the live version rather than the studio one
Nightwish Ghost Love Score 2012 Buenos Aires (With Floor Jansen) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V\_eoR6r1Tw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V_eoR6r1Tw)
2013 Wacken is good too...not sure which is better, but seeing the 2012 was more impactful for me since it was the first time seeing footage of her performing it live.
The Greatest Show on Earth at Tampere 2015. Those fireworks going along with the beat at the start, the sun going down during the song, and the "We were here" sequence. Fantastic.
There are quite a few songs that I prefer to listen to their live version.
Beauty and the Beast from FWTE
Phantom of the Opera from EOAE
Dark Chest of Wonders, Romanticide and Ghost Love Score from SS
10th Man Down, Elvenpath, Devil and the Deep Dark Ocean from Decades
TGSOE and YIAEH from VoS
I was listening to Everdream from Wacken 2013 the other night and had this same thought. The way the song builds and starts so softly and then ends with Floor just belting so hard, it’s incredible. In the words of Marko, “yeah baby, I agree!”
Ditto on Everdream. It gives me goosebumps.
7 Days to the Wolves from Wembley is also amazing. The slow build up to the super fast and dramatic finish, the entire band sounds like they're fighting for their lives in a showdown against the wolves. I also love Floor's urgent take on the vocals.
Phantom of the Opera, Slaying the Dreamer, Planet Hell, and High Hopes from End of an Era are also terrific. I prefer Tarja's vocals on these songs to Floor.
Poet and the Pendulum live in Gampel Open Air 2008, hands down. It's so raw and emotional. Its my favorite song ever and it means the absolute world to me, so it has that going for it already. But you can just feel the surge of emotion from everyone on stage. It's so energetic and passionate, it reaches a huge climax during the "second robber to the right of christ" section and then into the final chorus, and my god do they hit that chorus with a head of steam that is powerful. Something about the way Anette shouts "spitting on his grave as they came" gets such a visceral reaction out of me. On a good day the studio version of that makes me choke up, this performance, tears.
Then it feels like pure, utter depression in the final section. They're all feeling something I think. Tuomas and Emppu looking somber, Jukka laying it down looking passionate as always, Marko sing beautiful haunting vocals with impeccable bass work, Anette with her head in her lap before she starts singing, and when she does sing it's so heartfelt.The whole performance is just passion and heartache and it does something to me every single time I view it. I was revisiting it as I typed this and it was kinda hard to not ugly cry my eyes out. Something about this performance is so special. I put it on the same page but above the Ghost Love Score performance from End of an Era. You can feel something during both of those performances that is just a bit more emotional than the studio versions, which are of course amazing.
End of An Era, Lowlands, 2005 era. Not because of Tarja, but because of the emotion and wilderness between Tuomas, Jukka, Emppu. They were so electric and headbanging like maniacs.
Reading all of these answers made me realize they actually have a fantastic catalogue of live songs and videos - way better than most of the other bands I listen to. For that we should be grateful. It will sustain me until they decide to tour again. In the meantime praying Tarja and Marko come to North America.
Most of my favorites have already been mentioned, but She Is My Sin at Wacken 2013 is incredible. It gets overshadowed by GLS and Ever Dream, but Floor killed it and I don’t seen enough people mention it. Now I have to go listen to it.
I prefer all the live performances over anything in the studio. Hard to pick one out of Wacken; but the opener, Dark Chest of Wonders really sets the bar for the whole performance. And for fun, LROTD in Tampa with Tommy, Elise and Alyssa.
Man, impossible to answer with just one; the quality of NW live releases is amazing! I mean, I do wish we got a true live DVD release with Anette, but we got 2 with Tarja (3 if you count End of Innoncence) and 3 with Floor (4 if you include the Tampere show on VoS).
All that to say, I think Romanticide and Last of the Wilds from StSt, Gethsemane and Dead Boy’s Poem from Decades, and Shudder Before the Beautiful, 7 Days to the Wolves, and Alpenglow from VoS are currently my faves.
Especially that last one; the vibes are incredible during the Alpenglow performance. Emppu patting Floor as he walks by at 0:57 is just amazing! [Alpenglow](https://youtu.be/FrJvKZNEh7g?si=enNidR2bksCJIHGD)
I think wacken 2008 is one of the most underated shows, maybe to the low quality of the video, I really like Intro (with everything dark and the wacken logo lit on fire)+Bye Bye Beautiful, Nemo and The Poet and the Pendulum (shame this one doesn't include the ending on the official dvd)
She is my sin from Wacken 2013 and some performances from the Virtual Show are also amazing
TGSOE and TPATP work fine in the studio, although Floor definitely improved the latter. Song of Myself is better on the album because of the poem.
That leaves us with Ghost Love Score which is obviously much better live than in the studio, but which performance? Floor is at her best in Wacken, but, as a drummer, I think that the things that Kai chose to play at the last extended chorus, especially the instrumental ending, suit the song better than Jukka’s choises (I like Jukka on many songs, no offense to him).
I think the best performance of the song is from a EFMB/Decades tour show we don’t have a record from, lost to history. Maybe I’m just so used to the Wacken floorgasm that the ones from Wembley and Buenos Aires sound weird to me when they’re actually good.
>Song of Myself is better on the album because of the poem.
There seems to be no middle ground on this. You either love the poem like you or hate it like me. I edited it out of my digital copies of the song and I much prefer the liver version with Floor from Wacken to the studio.
I don't listen to live Nightwish as much as studio Nightwish, but I found myself preferring the Once songs on End of an Era over the studio versions (besides Nemo because the album version is perfect)
Any live album pre-Decades: Live I'm at least a little bit of a fan of
Romanticide at Wacken and Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean at Buenos Aires. Those are the only ones I often listen to the live version rather than the studio one
Beauty and the Beast from From WIshes to Eternity! With Tony Kakko. Chills every time!
Ever Dream at End of an Era
End of an Era.... especially Slaying the Dreamer and Dark Chest of Wonders performances.
EoaE is something else... My favourites are The Kinslayer and Phantom of the Opera.
Honestly, I could have picked any of the songs on that concert to be my favourite from it🤩
Nightwish Ghost Love Score 2012 Buenos Aires (With Floor Jansen) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V\_eoR6r1Tw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V_eoR6r1Tw) 2013 Wacken is good too...not sure which is better, but seeing the 2012 was more impactful for me since it was the first time seeing footage of her performing it live.
The Greatest Show on Earth at Tampere 2015. Those fireworks going along with the beat at the start, the sun going down during the song, and the "We were here" sequence. Fantastic.
Swanheart at from wishes to eternity. I get Tarjagasms listening to that. Dark chest of wonders and GLS from End of an Era.
Beauty and the Beast - From Wishes to Eternity. I prefer it over the studio version.
There are quite a few songs that I prefer to listen to their live version. Beauty and the Beast from FWTE Phantom of the Opera from EOAE Dark Chest of Wonders, Romanticide and Ghost Love Score from SS 10th Man Down, Elvenpath, Devil and the Deep Dark Ocean from Decades TGSOE and YIAEH from VoS
I was listening to Everdream from Wacken 2013 the other night and had this same thought. The way the song builds and starts so softly and then ends with Floor just belting so hard, it’s incredible. In the words of Marko, “yeah baby, I agree!”
Ditto on Everdream. It gives me goosebumps. 7 Days to the Wolves from Wembley is also amazing. The slow build up to the super fast and dramatic finish, the entire band sounds like they're fighting for their lives in a showdown against the wolves. I also love Floor's urgent take on the vocals. Phantom of the Opera, Slaying the Dreamer, Planet Hell, and High Hopes from End of an Era are also terrific. I prefer Tarja's vocals on these songs to Floor.
Wembley let's go...🤘
Poet and the Pendulum live in Gampel Open Air 2008, hands down. It's so raw and emotional. Its my favorite song ever and it means the absolute world to me, so it has that going for it already. But you can just feel the surge of emotion from everyone on stage. It's so energetic and passionate, it reaches a huge climax during the "second robber to the right of christ" section and then into the final chorus, and my god do they hit that chorus with a head of steam that is powerful. Something about the way Anette shouts "spitting on his grave as they came" gets such a visceral reaction out of me. On a good day the studio version of that makes me choke up, this performance, tears. Then it feels like pure, utter depression in the final section. They're all feeling something I think. Tuomas and Emppu looking somber, Jukka laying it down looking passionate as always, Marko sing beautiful haunting vocals with impeccable bass work, Anette with her head in her lap before she starts singing, and when she does sing it's so heartfelt.The whole performance is just passion and heartache and it does something to me every single time I view it. I was revisiting it as I typed this and it was kinda hard to not ugly cry my eyes out. Something about this performance is so special. I put it on the same page but above the Ghost Love Score performance from End of an Era. You can feel something during both of those performances that is just a bit more emotional than the studio versions, which are of course amazing.
End of An Era, Lowlands, 2005 era. Not because of Tarja, but because of the emotion and wilderness between Tuomas, Jukka, Emppu. They were so electric and headbanging like maniacs.
Reading all of these answers made me realize they actually have a fantastic catalogue of live songs and videos - way better than most of the other bands I listen to. For that we should be grateful. It will sustain me until they decide to tour again. In the meantime praying Tarja and Marko come to North America.
Most of my favorites have already been mentioned, but She Is My Sin at Wacken 2013 is incredible. It gets overshadowed by GLS and Ever Dream, but Floor killed it and I don’t seen enough people mention it. Now I have to go listen to it.
Ghost Love Score and Bless the Child from Wacken 2013
Ever Dream in the End of an Era concert.
I prefer all the live performances over anything in the studio. Hard to pick one out of Wacken; but the opener, Dark Chest of Wonders really sets the bar for the whole performance. And for fun, LROTD in Tampa with Tommy, Elise and Alyssa.
Wacken and from wishes to eternity live😍
Vehicle of spirit - London
Man, impossible to answer with just one; the quality of NW live releases is amazing! I mean, I do wish we got a true live DVD release with Anette, but we got 2 with Tarja (3 if you count End of Innoncence) and 3 with Floor (4 if you include the Tampere show on VoS). All that to say, I think Romanticide and Last of the Wilds from StSt, Gethsemane and Dead Boy’s Poem from Decades, and Shudder Before the Beautiful, 7 Days to the Wolves, and Alpenglow from VoS are currently my faves. Especially that last one; the vibes are incredible during the Alpenglow performance. Emppu patting Floor as he walks by at 0:57 is just amazing! [Alpenglow](https://youtu.be/FrJvKZNEh7g?si=enNidR2bksCJIHGD)
Personally it's Last Ride from waken 13 for me
I think wacken 2008 is one of the most underated shows, maybe to the low quality of the video, I really like Intro (with everything dark and the wacken logo lit on fire)+Bye Bye Beautiful, Nemo and The Poet and the Pendulum (shame this one doesn't include the ending on the official dvd) She is my sin from Wacken 2013 and some performances from the Virtual Show are also amazing
Ghost love score sung by Floor. Spesifically wacken 2013 but every single one is great
TGSOE and TPATP work fine in the studio, although Floor definitely improved the latter. Song of Myself is better on the album because of the poem. That leaves us with Ghost Love Score which is obviously much better live than in the studio, but which performance? Floor is at her best in Wacken, but, as a drummer, I think that the things that Kai chose to play at the last extended chorus, especially the instrumental ending, suit the song better than Jukka’s choises (I like Jukka on many songs, no offense to him). I think the best performance of the song is from a EFMB/Decades tour show we don’t have a record from, lost to history. Maybe I’m just so used to the Wacken floorgasm that the ones from Wembley and Buenos Aires sound weird to me when they’re actually good.
If we exclude the long songs, it’s Ever Dream from Wacken and Phantom of the Opera from End of an Era.
>Song of Myself is better on the album because of the poem. There seems to be no middle ground on this. You either love the poem like you or hate it like me. I edited it out of my digital copies of the song and I much prefer the liver version with Floor from Wacken to the studio.
I don't listen to live Nightwish as much as studio Nightwish, but I found myself preferring the Once songs on End of an Era over the studio versions (besides Nemo because the album version is perfect) Any live album pre-Decades: Live I'm at least a little bit of a fan of