The Dark Passion Play World Tour was a concert tour by the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, taking place from 2007 to 2009 in support of their sixth studio album, Dark Passion Play, released by Nuclear Blast on September 26, 2007; it was the first tour with then-new frontwoman Anette Olzon, who joined the band in 2006, after Tarja Turunen's dismissal on October 21, 2005. During this tour, the band played for the first time in Israel, China, Hong Kong, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Republic of Ireland, Serbia and Croatia.
On September 22, 2007, the band hosted a secret concert at Rock Café in Tallinn, Estonia, disguising itself as a Nightwish cover band called "Nachtwasser". Their first official concert with the new singer was in Tel Aviv, Israel on October 6, 2007. The tour thus started, visiting the United States, Canada, most of Europe, Asia, and Australia. In 2008, the band played over 100 shows, with concerts in Oceania, Europe and Asia. In November, the band played in South America, and later took a three-month break; Nightwish started the third leg in 2009, with dates in North America and Europe, and also attended various summer festivals, including Graspop Metal Meeting and Masters of Rock. The last show was played at Helsinki Hartwall Areena, with an attendance of 11,000 people.
For their Once album, Nightwish had planned to give a grand concert in London with a live orchestra, as the progressive metal band Dream Theater had done on what later would be their Score album, and this project is still in the works. In an interview in December 2007, Holopainen said that they have been planning the concert and that this was something he really wanted to do, but that the locale they needed was already booked for two years in advance. The show was never played though, but according to Holopainen it is still in the future plans for other tours.
Set list Sample set list "Bye Bye Beautiful" "Cadence of Her Last Breath" "Dark Chest of Wonders" "The Siren" "Whoever Brings the Night" "Amaranth" "The Islander" "Last of the Wilds" "The Poet and the Pendulum" "Ever Dream" "Dead to the World" "While Your Lips Are Still Red" "Sahara" "Nemo" "7 Days to the Wolves" "Wishmaster" "Wish I Had an Angel"
Notes Dispelling the rumours that Anette Olzon would never be capable of performing old Nightwish hit songs, the band used a set list containing songs from all their album, except for Angels Fall First and the Over the Hills and Far Away EP.Roadrunner Records – Interview with Anette and Tuomas He was not afraid that Olzon would not be able to perform the songs that Turunen usually sang, because even on her demo she showed her ability performing for example "Ever Dream" and "Higher Than Hope", but he has confirmed that "The Phantom of the Opera", "Passion and the Opera" and "Stargazers" would not be performed again, as those went beyond Olzon's non-operatic vocal style. Despite this, the former and the latter were brought back when Floor Jansen joined the band in 2012.
The ballad "Eva" was performed only a few times in the tour, as well as "Sleeping Sun", while "Cadence of Her Last Breath" and "She Is My Sin" haven't been performed since the 2008 concerts in Australia. During the 2008 European leg, "Slaying the Dreamer" and "She Is My Sin" were performed in selected dates while "Dead to the World" and "The Siren" were included in the usual set list, remaining until the end of the tour. During this European leg, the Irish musician Troy Donockley joined the band on stage to play Uilleann pipes on "The Islander" and "Last of the Wilds", and the native-American singer John Two-Hawks joined the band in a few dates to sing and play flute on "Stone People" and "Creek Mary's Blood". Also during the European leg the band started to play a version of Megadeth's Symphony of Destruction, occasionally replaced by the original "While Your Lips Are Still Red", both featuring Marko Hietala on led vocals. In the second North American leg in 2008 the band brought back their "Come Cover Me" song, played until the end of the Latin American tour in November.
Some old songs like "Dead Boy's Poem", "Romanticide" and "Ghost Love Score" have only been performed by the band since in the 2009 tour dates, starting in London's Brixton Academy on March 11, and Olzon has performed "Kuolema tekee taiteilijan" without the support of the band during a festival in Sweden. Holopainen has also revealed that the band rehearsed Elvenpath with Olzon, but that the song "didn't work" well enough to be performed live. The final concert at Hartwall Areena in Helsinki featured the previously never performed song "Meadows of Heaven", also including an acoustic version of "Walking in the Air" and the unreleased cover of "The Heart Asks Pleasure First" recorded for Dark Passion Play was also played while the band left the stage.
Tour dates + List of 2007 concerts, showing date, city, country, venue and support act(s) Date City Country Venue Support Act(s)September 22, 2007TallinnEstoniaRock Caférowspan="4" September 26, 2007HelsinkiFinlandTavastia ClubSeptember 28, 2007HamburgGermanyDelphi-ShowpalastOctober 6, 2007Tel AvivIsraelHangar 11October 15, 2007SpringfieldUnited StatesJaxx ClubParadise LostOctober 16, 2007PhiladelphiaTrocadero TheatreOctober 18, 2007New York CityNokia TheatreOctober 20, 2007WorcesterPalladiumOctober 21, 2007MontrealCanadaMetropolisOctober 23, 2007TorontoSound AcademyOctober 24, 2007ClevelandUnited StatesPeabody's ClubOctober 26, 2007DetroitHarpos Concert TheatreOctober 27, 2007ChicagoHouse of BluesOctober 28, 2007MinneapolisFirst AvenueOctober 31, 2007SeattleThe ShowboxNovember 1, 2007PortlandRoseland TheaterNovember 2, 2007San FranciscoSlim's ClubNovember 4, 2007Los AngelesHouse of BluesNovember 6, 2007Santa AnaGalaxy TheatreNovember 7, 2007PhoenixMarquee TheatreNovember 8, 2007AlbuquerqueSunshine TheatreNovember 10, 2007San AntonioWhite Rabbit ClubNovember 11, 2007DallasPalladium BallroomNovember 12, 2007HoustonMeridian ClubNovember 14, 2007Fort LauderdaleCulture RoomNovember 15, 2007OrlandoFirestone ClubNovember 17, 2007AtlantaMasquerade ClubNovember 28, 2007CopenhagenDenmarkK.B. HallenIndicaNovember 30, 2007GothemburgSwedenLisebergshallenDecember 1, 2007OsloNorwaySentrum SceneDecember 2, 2007December 4, 2007StockholmSwedenArenanDecember 5, 2007UmeåSkyCom ArenaDecember 8, 2007LeviFinlandHullu Poro AreenaDecember 9, 2007December 11, 2007OuluTeatria 25December 12, 2007JoensuuAreenaDecember 14, 2007JyväskyläPaviljönki AreenaDecember 15, 2007TampereIce-HallDecember 16, 2007TurkuKaribia CenterDecember 28, 2007SalzburgAustriaSalzburgarenarowspan="2" December 29, 2007OberhausenGermanyKönig-Pilsener-Arena
+ List of 2008 concerts, showing date, city, country, venue and support act(s) Date City Country Venue Support Act(s)January 1, 2008HelsinkiFinlandIce HallIndicaJanuary 17, 2008OsakaJapanBig Cat Clubrowspan="2" January 18, 2008TokyoEbisu Liquid HallJanuary 21, 2008BeijingChinaMG Live HouseSkylarkJanuary 23, 2008ShanghaiHongkou ColiseumJanuary 24, 2008Hong KongHITEC 2January 27, 2008PerthAustraliaMetro TheatreVoyagerLordJanuary 29, 2008AdelaideHQ ClubJanuary 30, 2008MelbournePalais TheatreFebruary 1, 2008SydneyEnmore TheatreFebruary 2, 2008BrisbaneTivoli TheatreFebruary 17, 2008VilniusLithuaniaSiemens ArenaPainFebruary 19, 2008KrakówPolandWisla HallFebruary 20, 2008PragueCzech RepublicT-Mobile ArenaFebruary 21, 2008BerlinGermanyArenaKriegerPainFebruary 23, 2008LeipzigLeipzig ArenaFebruary 24, 2008StuttgartHanns-Martin-Schleyer-HalleFebruary 25, 2008FrankfurtJahrhunderthallePainFebruary 27, 2008BambergJako ArenaFebruary 28, 2008ViennaAustriaGasometerFebruary 29, 2008ZürichSwitzerlandHallenstadionMarch 2, 2008MilanItalyPalaLido ArenaMarch 4, 2008LjubljanaSloveniaTivoli HallMarch 5, 2008BudapestHungaryJRC Ice-HallMarch 8, 2008AthensGreeceOlympic Fencing ArenaMarch 17, 2008HamburgGermanyColor Line ArenaPainMarch 18, 2008HanoverAWD HallMarch 19, 2008DortmundWestfalenhalleMarch 21, 2008AmsterdamNetherlandsHeineken Music HallMarch 22, 2008Esch-sur-AlzetteLuxembourgRockhalMarch 23, 2008AntwerpBelgiumLotto ArenaMarch 25, 2008LondonEnglandLondon AstoriaMarch 26, 2008March 27, 2008March 29, 2008BirminghamO2 AcademyMarch 30, 2008Newcastle upon TyneO2 NewcastleMarch 31, 2008GlasgowScotlandO2 GlasgowApril 2, 2008BelfastNorthern IrelandMandela HallApril 3, 2008DublinIrelandVicar StreetApril 4, 2008ManchesterEnglandApollo TheatreApril 6, 2008ParisFranceLe ZénithApril 7, 2008StrasbourgZénith de StrasbourgApril 10, 2008LyonHalle Tony GarnierApril 11, 2008MarseilleLê DômeApril 12, 2008ToulouseLe ZénithApril 14, 2008BarcelonaSpainRazzmatazz 1April 15, 2008BilbaoSantana 27April 16, 2008MadridLa RivieraApril 18, 2008PortoPortugalColiseu do PortoApril 19, 2008LisbonColiseu dos RecreiosMay 2, 2008Mexico CityMexicoVive Cuervo Salonrowspan="2" May 3, 2008May 7, 2008PoughkeepsieUnited StatesChance TheatreSonic SyndicateIced EarthMay 9, 2008Quebec CityCanadaCentre de FoireMay 11, 2008LondonCowboy's ClubMay 14, 2008WinnipegGarrick CentreMay 15, 2008ReginaDrink ClubMay 16, 2008EdmontonStarlite RoomMay 17, 2008CalgaryMacEwan HallMay 19, 2008VictoriaSugar ClubMay 20, 2008VancouverCroatian Cultural CentreMay 22, 2008OrangevaleUnited StatesBoardwalk ClubMay 23, 2008San DiegoHouse of BluesMay 23, 2008Las VegasHouse of BluesMay 26, 2008DenverOgden TheatreMay 27, 2008LawrenceGranada TheaterMay 28, 2008SaugetPop's ClubMay 30, 2008LouisvilleHeadliner's HallMay 31, 2008MokenaThe Pearl RoomJune 7, 2008NürburgGermanyNürburgringrowspan="16" June 8, 2008NurembergZeppelinfeldJune 26, 2008HelsinkiFinlandKaisaniemi ParkJune 28, 2008GothenburgSwedenFrihamnspirenJuly 4, 2008TurkuFinlandRuissaloJuly 6, 2008WerchterBelgiumFestivalparkJuly 8, 2008Novi SadSerbiaPetrovaradinJuly 13, 2008JoensuuFinlandLaulurinneJuly 26, 2008LorcaSpainHuerto de la RuedaAugust 2, 2008WackenGermanyHauptstrasseAugust 7, 2008SkanderborgDenmarkVeljekset KeskinenAugust 9, 2008TuuriFinlandVeljekset Keskinen OyAugust 13, 2008ColmarFranceThéâtre de Plein AirAugust 15, 2008GampelSwitzerlandFestivalgelände Am RottenAugust 16, 2008BiddinghuizenNetherlandsEvenemententerrein Walibi HollandAugust 17, 2008DerbyEnglandCatton HallAugust 29, 2008PhiladelphiaUnited StatesTrocadero TheatreSonata ArcticaAugust 30, 2008WorcesterPalladiumSeptember 1, 2008MontrealCanadaMetropolisSeptember 2, 2008TorontoPolson PierSeptember 4, 2008ClevelandUnited StatesAgora TheatreSeptember 5, 2008DetroitHarpos Concert TheatreSeptember 6, 2008ChicagoHouse of BluesSeptember 9, 2008SeattleThe ShowboxSeptember 10, 2008PortlandRoseland TheatreSeptember 12, 2008San FranciscoThe FillmoreSeptember 13, 2008Los AngelesWiltern TheatreSeptember 14, 2008PhoenixMarquee TheatreSeptember 16, 2008DallasPalladium BallroomSeptember 17, 2008AustinLa Zona RosaSeptember 20, 2008New OrleansHouse of BluesSeptember 21, 2008St. PetersburgJannus LandingNovember 5, 2008CuritibaBrazilMaster HallSemblantNovember 7, 2008São PauloVia FunchalLibraNovember 8, 2008November 10, 2008Belo HorizonteChevrolet HallPleiadesNovember 11, 2008BrasíliaClube AABBNovember 13, 2008ManausAmadeu Teixeira ArenaAshes CendesNovember 15, 2008FortalezaArenarowspan="3" November 16, 2008RecifeClube PortuguêsNovember 18, 2008Vila VelhaGinásio MaristaNovember 19, 2008Rio de JaneiroCirco VoadorLibraNovember 21, 2008Buenos AiresArgentinaObras ArenaHaxanNovember 23, 2008SantiagoChileTeatro Caupolicanrowspan="12"