Once Upon a Tour was a concert tour by the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, in 2004 and 2005, to promote the release of their fifth album, Once, released June 7, 2004. A new greatest hits compilation, Highest Hopes, was also released to tie in with the tour. The albums combined with the band's most expansive merchandise campaign by Nuclear Blast Records meant this tour was heralded as the band's most important in many years. Many of the band's songs had not been played in a long time.
Background The success of the album allowed the band to perform in many countries they had never visited before: Colombia, Ecuador, Scotland, Estonia, Greece, Romania, Denmark, Japan, Australia, Portugal, and Slovenia. The band also played their first tour in the United States, with various sold-out concerts; the South American leg also sold out all its concerts. A second tour was planned in the US, but it was cancelled by Tarja Turunen, who also cancelled some concerts in Australia.
After touring in Europe and South America in late 2004, and some separate shows in December, the band had some time off in January 2005. In February, Nightwish won five Emma-Gala Awards (Finnish Grammy); among other awards, they won "The Band of the Year" and "The Best Selling Album of the Year". Tuomas Holopainen and Marko Hietala flew to Helsinki to receive the awards from touring in Europe. In March, Nightwish performed for the first time in Japan and Australia; in April and May, they had to have a break because of Turunen's other interests; but at the end of May, the band resumed the tour by playing with Iron Maiden in Poland and Mötley Crüe in Norway. During late 2005, Nightwish played several shows including a sold-out performance at the legendary Hammersmith Apollo in London. The last show on the European tour, in Stuttgart, Germany was up until then their biggest gig, with an audience of ten thousand.
The final concert was played on October 21 for 11,500 people in Hartwall Areena in Helsinki. The concert was also recorded to be released as an End of an Era live DVD and CD.
This was the last tour with Tarja Turunen; after the last concert the four other members of Nightwish decided it was best to continue Nightwish without Turunen, a feeling they expressed through an open letter Holopainen gave Turunen after the show, afterwards posted on the band's website. It was written by Holopainen but signed by the other band members. The main justification for Turunen's dismissal given in the letter was the band felt both her husband Marcelo Cabuli (an Argentine businessman) and commercial interests had changed her attitude towards the band. In May 2007, former Alyson Avenue frontwoman Anette Olzon was revealed as Turunen's replacement.
Set lists
2004 "Dark Chest of Wonders" "Planet Hell" "Deep Silent Complete" "She Is My Sin" "The Phantom of the Opera" (Andrew Lloyd Webber cover) "Ever Dream" "Symphony of Destruction" (Megadeth cover) "Sleeping Sun" "Bless the Child" "The Trooper" ("Wishmaster" intro) "Wishmaster" "Nemo" "Slaying the Dreamer" "Over the Hills and Far Away" (Gary Moore cover) Encore "Dead Boy's Poem" "Ghost Love Score" "Wish I Had an Angel"
2005 "Dark Chest of Wonders" "Ever Dream" "Planet Hell" "The Kinslayer" "The Siren" "The Phantom of the Opera" (Andrew Lloyd Webber cover) "High Hopes" (Pink Floyd cover) "The Trooper" ("Wishmaster" intro) "Wishmaster" "Bless the Child" "Slaying the Dreamer" "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan" "Nemo" Encore "Sleeping Sun" "Ghost Love Score" "Wish I Had an Angel"
Tour dates + List of 2004 concerts, showing date, city, country, venue and support act(s) Date City Country Venue Support Act(s)May 22, 2004KiteeFinlandIce HallTimo RautiainenMay 29, 2004TallinnEstoniaVon Krahl Theatrerowspan="11" May 30, 2004June 5, 2004NijmegenNetherlandsGoffertparkJune 11, 2004TampereFinlandEteläpuistoJune 12, 2004SölvesborgSwedenNorje HavsbadJune 19, 2004GlauchauGermanyGründelparkJune 20, 2004MalakasaGreeceTerra Vibe ParkJuly 10, 2004TurkuFinlandRuissaloJuly 11, 2004PamplonaSpainCarpa RojillaJuly 13, 2004BradfordEnglandBradford RioJuly 14, 2004NottinghamRock CityJuly 16, 2004LondonAstoria TheatreBrainstormJuly 17, 2004HelsinkiFinlandKaisaniemi Park July 21, 2004OsloNorwayRockefeller Music HallEntwinedAugust 20, 2004WorcesterUnited StatesPalladiumLullacryAugust 22, 2004New York CityB.B. King's Blues ClubAugust 23, 2004ClevelandPhantasy TheaterAugust 24, 2004August 25, 2004ChicagoHouse of BluesAugust 26, 2004MinneapolisQuest ClubAugust 28, 2004DenverCervantes ClubAugust 30, 2004ScottsdaleCajun HouseAugust 31, 2004AnaheimHouse of BluesSeptember 1, 2004Los AngelesSeptember 3, 2004San FranciscoSlim's ClubSeptember 5, 2004SeattleGraceland ClubSeptember 17, 2004TampereFinlandPakkahuone TheatreTwilightningSeptember 18, 2004TurkuKaribia Resort September 21, 2004HelsinkiNosturi Clubrowspan="2" September 22, 2004September 25, 2004JyväskyläFinlandPaviljonki AreenaTwilightningSeptember 29, 2004StockholmSwedenStora ArenanLordiOctober 1, 2004GothenburgLisebergshallenOctober 2, 2004MalmöBaltiska HallenOctober 13, 2004HamburgGermanyColor Line ArenaSonata ArcticaOctober 15, 2004LeipzigArenaOctober 16, 2004ErfurtThüringenhalleOctober 19, 2004ColognePalladiumOctober 20, 2004BerlinTreptow ArenaOctober 22, 2004NurembergArenaOctober 23, 2004MunichZenithOctober 25, 2004ViennaAustriaGasometerOctober 26, 2004BudapestHungaryPetőfi CsarnokOctober 28, 2004MilanItalyPalaSharpOctober 30, 2004BaselSwitzerlandSt. Jakob ArenaNovember 1, 2004LyonFranceLe TransbordeurNovember 4, 2004MadridSpainCentro AqualungNovember 5, 2004BarcelonaRazamatazz 1November 7, 2004BrusselsBelgiumAncienne BelgiqueNovember 8, 2004AmsterdamNetherlandsParadiso ClubSonata ArcticaNovember 19, 2004BucharestRomaniaSala PalatuluiNovember 21, 2004ParisFranceLe ZénithConscienceNovember 27, 2004Buenos AiresArgentinaArena Obrasrowspan="7" November 28, 2004CampinasBrazilUsina RoyalNovember 30, 2004Rio de JaneiroCanecãoDecember 2, 2004Porto AlegreOpinião ClubDecember 3, 2004Belo HorizonteChevrolet HallDecember 4, 2004São PauloVia FunchalDecember 8, 2004BogotáColombiaGran Salon de Corferias December 10, 2004QuitoEcuadorPlaza de TorosViuda NegraDecember 12, 2004Mexico CityMexicoCirco Voladorrowspan="2" December 13, 2004December 15, 2004MontrealCanadaMétropolisHeaven's CryDecember 16, 2004December 18, 2004TorontoOpera HouseAesma DaevaDecember 26, 2004HelsinkiFinlandIce HallAfter ForeverDecember 28, 2004OberhausenGermanyKönig-Pilsener-Arenarowspan="2" December 29, 2004HamburgFriedrichshafen Messehalle
+ List of 2005 concerts, showing date, city, country, venue and support act(s) Date City Country Venue Support Act(s)February 9, 2005CopenhagenDenmarkStore VegaFebruary 11, 2005AmsterdamNetherlandsHeineken Music HallAfter ForeverFebruary 12, 2005LondonEnglandAstoria TheatreTristaniaFebruary 15, 2005BirminghamO2 AcademyFebruary 16, 2005GlasgowScotlandBarrowland BallroomFebruary 18, 2005ManchesterEnglandApollo TheatreFebruary 19, 2005LondonAstoria Theatre February 21, 2005WiezeBelgiumOktoberhallenFebruary 22, 2005TrierGermanyArenaFebruary 24, 2005BraunschweigVolkswagen HalleFebruary 26, 2005BayreuthOberfrankenhalleFebruary 27, 2005ChurSwitzerlandStadthalleFebruary 28, 2005StuttgartGermanySchleyer-HalleMarch 12, 2005OsakaJapanNamba HatchAngraMarch 13, 2005FukuokaZepp HallMarch 16, 2005TokyoShibuya AXMarch 17, 2005March 21, 2005MelbourneAustraliaCorner HotelVanishing PointMarch 22, 2005March 23, 2005SydneyMetro TheatreDungeonMarch 26, 2005BrisbaneArenarowspan="20" May 26, 2005BudapestHungaryPetőfi CsarnokMay 27, 2005MadridSpainParque Natural de la CantueñaMay 29, 2005ChorzówPolandSilesian StadiumJune 10, 2005OsloNorwaySpektrum ArenaJune 11, 2005NickelsdorfAustriaPannonia Fields IIJune 12, 2005LeicestershireEnglandDonington ParkJune 17, 2005SeinäjokiFinlandTörnäväJune 18, 2005FrauenfeldSwitzerlandGrosse AllmendJune 24, 2005JämsäFinlandHimos AreenaJuly 15, 2005ZlínCzech RepublicAreál likérky R. JelínekJuly 16, 2005Toscolano-MadernoItalyCampo SportivoJuly 22, 2005ErfurtGermanyEventzentrum StrohoferJuly 28, 2005PortoPortugalVilar de MourosAugust 4, 2005WackenGermanyHauptstrasseAugust 5, 2005DresdenGroßer GartenAugust 7, 2005VantaaFinlandKorson UrheilupuistoAugust 14, 2005RothenburgGermanyEisweiseAugust 19, 2005HasseltBelgiumDomein KiewitAugust 20, 2005BiddinghuizenNetherlandsEvenemententerrein WalibiSeptember 3, 2005HellNorwayHellodromeStonegardSeptember 5, 2005OsloRockefeller Music Hallrowspan="2" September 8, 2005StockholmSwedenArenanSeptember 9, 2005GothenburgLisebergshallenNocturnal RitesSeptember 11, 2005UmeåSkyCom Arenarowspan="4" September 17, 2005ŽilinaSlovakiaBoräk HallSeptember 19, 2005LjubljanaSloveniaKrizance HallSeptember 23, 2005CopenhagenDenmarkK.B. HallenSeptember 25, 2005LondonEnglandHammersmith ApolloParadise LostSeptember 30, 2005BucharestRomaniaPolivalenta Hallrowspan="5" October 1, 2005AthensGreeceLycabettus AmphitheatreOctober 8, 2005Mexico CityMexicoPalacio de los DeportesOctober 12, 2005São PauloBrazilEstádio do CanindéOctober 15, 2005Porto AlegreGigantinhoOctober 21, 2005HelsinkiFinlandHartwall AreenaSonata Arctica
Personnel
Tarja Turunen – lead vocals Tuomas Holopainen – keyboards Emppu Vuorinen – guitar Jukka Nevalainen – drums Marko Hietala – bass, vocals
Additional musicians John Two-Hawks – vocals, flute
Footnotes
References
Sources