Imaginaerum World Tour

The Imaginaerum World Tour was a concert tour by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, in support of their seventh studio album, Imaginaerum.^[1]

Imaginaerum World Tour

Tour by Nightwish
Poster for the concert in Gothenburg, Sweden, scheduled to April 10, 2012
Location	Asia Europe Latin America North America Oceania
Associated album	Imaginaerum
Start date	January 19, 2012
End date	August 11, 2013
Legs	9
No. of shows	104
Nightwish concert chronology

The tour started in Los Angeles, USA, on January 21, 2012,^[2] and then the band played an arena tour in Europe between March and May,^[3] and the group has also performed in North and Latin America later that year. In 2013, the band performed in Asia and Oceania, finishing the tour with festival shows in Europe, in a 104 concert tour that finished on August 11, 2013.^[4]

A "secret" concert under the pseudonym "Rubber Band of Wolves" was held at the Key Club in Hollywood, California, on January 19, 2012.^[5]

On September 28 in Denver, Colorado, Anette was rushed to the hospital and missed the show that night. Kamelot backup vocalists Elize Ryd and Alissa White-Gluz stepped in and performed five songs.^[6] Anette did her final show on the September 29th show in Salt Lake City, before parting ways with the band on October 1. Floor Jansen replaced Olzon on the remainder of the tour.^[7]

Set list

The following set list was performed at a concert during the 70000 Tons of Metal festival, but has since had alterations to it:

• "Finlandia" (intro)
• "Storytime"
• "Wish I Had an Angel"
• "Amaranth" (with long outro)
• "Scaretale"
• "The Siren" (with "Arabesque" and "Tutankhamen" samples)
• "Slow, Love Slow"
• "I Want My Tears Back" (featuring Troy Donockley)
• "The Crow, the Owl and the Dove" (featuring Troy Donockley)
• "The Islander" (acoustic version, featuring Troy Donockley)
• "Nemo" (acoustic version, with "Angels Fall First" samples and featuring Troy Donockley)
• "Last of the Wilds" (featuring Troy Donockley)
• "Planet Hell" (with "Stargazers", "Gethsemane" and "Wayfarer" samples. First performance live since 2005)
• "Song of Myself" ("Love" section omitted)
• "Last Ride of the Day"

  Encore

• "The Poet and the Pendulum"
• "Over the Hills and Far Away" (Gary Moore cover, featuring Troy Donockley. First performance live since 2005)
• "Imaginaerum" (outro)

Notes

Anette Olzon was replaced by Dutch singer Floor Jansen (pictured) in 2012, during the North American leg of the tour.

One of the band's performances during the 70000 Tons of Metal festival included the song "Dead to the World" and another performance included "Romanticide."

When the band kicked off the first leg of their tour in March, the set list remained mostly unchanged, but with "Finlandia" moved to the beginning of the encore and "Taikatalvi" inserted to open the show. "The Siren" would occasionally be replaced with "Ever Dream" or "Dead to the World".

Starting with the concert held on March 4, "The Poet and the Pendulum" and "Over the Hills and Far Away" were moved up to close the show, and "Song of Myself" and "Last Ride of the Day" were moved down to serve as the encore.

The concert held on March 9, 2012, at the Paviljonki Areena in Jyväskylä, Finland included the world premiere of the song "Ghost River" following "Planet Hell". The following concert on March 10 included "Dead to the World" in place of "The Poet and the Penedulum". These songs have been used later on.

The concert held on March 17, 2012, in Ukraine included "Come Cover Me".^[8] The song was played between Scaretale and The Siren. The song was performed again on April 13, 2012 in the Netherlands, and remained part of the set list until April 16. On these dates, "The Siren" was not played, and "Come Cover Me" was played between "I Want My Tears Back" and "The Crow, the Owl and the Dove" with Marco's voice on the chorus, new arrangements and Troy playing.^[9] This altered setlist was used again on April 21, remaining that way through May 3.

On 5 May 2012, "Dark Chest of Wonders" was played following "Ghost River", with "Dead to the World" played in place of "The Siren". "Dead to the World" was returned to its proper place in the set on 6 May, but "Ever Dream" was played in place of "The Siren".

Nightwish kicked off its North American Tour on September 12, 2012, with a few changes to the set list. "Roll Tide" was played as the intro instead of "Taikatalvi", "Dead to the World" was played in place of "The Siren", and "Dark Chest of Wonders" was played in place of "Ghost River".

The second performance in Atlanta, United States, on September 13, 2012, of the beginning North-American Tour included "Higher Than Hope"^[10] played before "Over the Hills and Far Away", only played four times before with Anette Olzon. This show also included "The Siren" instead of "Dead to the World" and "Ghost River" instead of "Dark Chest of Wonders", and excluded "The Crow, the Owl and the Dove".

The concert held on 15 September 2012, in the Beacon Theatre, New York included "Escapist" played in place of "Planet Hell".

The concert held on 16 September 2012 featured "7 Days to the Wolves" played instead of "Planet Hell", with "Planet Hell" played instead of "Scaretale". This show was also the last to feature "The Siren" instead of "Dead to the World", which was played in place of "Higher Than Hope" for this performance.

From September 17, 2012 onward, the set list reverted to its format at the start of the North American tour, but with "Ghost River" played in place of "Dark Chest of Wonders". "Dark Chest of Wonders" was played after "Ghost River" on September 21; "Dead to the World" was replaced with "7 Days to the Wolves" on the same date.

"7 Days to the Wolves" was played in place of "Scaretale" on September 23 and 24.

On September 24, 25 and 27, "The Crow, the Owl and the Dove" was omitted and "Dark Chest of Wonders" was played following "Ghost River". The concert held on September 27 also included "The Siren" played in place of "Dead to the World".

Olzon was hospitalized due to illness during the concert held on September 28, 2012 in Denver, Colorado, so Elize Ryd and Alissa White-Gluz of Kamelot filled in on vocals. The shortened set list included the world premiere of "Rest Calm".

The concert held on September 29 omitted "Dead to the World" and included "Rest Calm" after "Ghost River".

Following the departure of Anette Olzon on October 1, 2012, Floor Jansen agreed to continue touring with the group. The set list featuring Jansen was largely unchanged from that featuring Olzon, but with "Dark Chest of Wonders" following "Wish I Had an Angel", "Slow, Love, Slow" and "Over the Hills and Far Away" omitted, and "Song of Myself" and "Last Ride of the Day" moved up to follow "Ghost River", meaning the band no longer performed an encore.

"Slow, Love, Slow" was reintroduced into the set list on October 3, 2012 following "Dead to the World", with "The Crow, the Owl and the Dove" removed.

The concert held on October 6, 2012, included "Higher Than Hope" played following "Ghost River" and omitted "Dead to the World".

Beginning October 7, 2012, "Dead to the World" was replaced with "Ever Dream".

The concert held on 10 October 2012, at Emo's, in Austin, Texas, included "Ghost Love Score" played following "Song of Myself"; "Scaretale" was not played. This change in the set list was used in later shows.

Beginning October 11, "Wish I Had an Angel" and "Dark Chest of Wonders" were switched in the set.

"The Siren" was played first time with Floor at Birmingham on 6 November 2012.

"Arabesque" was played first time at Hartwall Arena, Finland, and featured fire dancers.^[11] The first public screening of Imaginaerum took place after the concert.

"Wishmaster" was played first time with Floor at Mexico City on 29 November 2012.

"7 Days to the Wolves" was played first time with Floor at Adelaide on 18 January 2013.

Tour dates

List of 2012 concerts, showing date, city, country, venue and support act(s)^[12]

Date	City	Country	Venue	Support Act(s)
January 19, 2012	Los Angeles	United States	Key Club	—
January 21, 2012			Gibson Amphitheatre	Amorphis
January 23, 2012	Miami		70000 Tons of Metal	—
March 2, 2012	Joensuu	Finland	Areena	Poisonblack
March 3, 2012	Sotkamo		Vuokattihalli
March 4, 2012	Oulu		Teatria 25
March 9, 2012	Jyväskylä		Paviljönki Areena
March 10, 2012	Helsinki		Ice Hall
March 11, 2012	Tampere		Ice Hall
March 14, 2012	Saint Petersburg	Russia	Lensoveta Culture Palace	—
March 15, 2012	Moscow		Crocus City Hall
March 17, 2012	Kyiv	Ukraine	MVC Arena
April 10, 2012	Gothenburg	Sweden	Lisebergshallen	Battle Beast
April 11, 2012	Copenhagen	Denmark	Falconer Amphitheatre	Battle Beast Eklipse
April 13, 2012	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Heineken Music Hall
April 14, 2012	Düsseldorf	Germany	ISS Dome
April 16, 2012	Brussels	Belgium	Forest National Arena
April 17, 2012	Paris	France	Palais Omnisports
April 18, 2012	Nantes		Le Zénith
April 20, 2012	Lyon		Halle Tony Garnier
April 21, 2012	Esch-sur-Alzette	Luxembourg	Rockhal
April 23, 2012	Frankfurt	Germany	Jahrhunderthalle
April 24, 2012	Zürich	Switzerland	Hallenstadion
April 25, 2012	Milan	Italy	Datch Forum di Assago
April 27, 2012	Vienna	Austria	Gasometer
April 29, 2012	Budapest	Hungary	Sports Arena
April 30, 2012	Prague	Czech Republic	Tesla Arena
May 1, 2012	Leipzig	Germany	Arena
May 3, 2012	Hamburg		Color Line Arena
May 5, 2012	Nuremberg		Arena
May 6, 2012	Stuttgart		Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
May 8, 2012	Ljubljana	Slovenia	Tivoli Hall
June 2, 2012	Warsaw	Poland	Ursynalia Festival	—
June 8, 2012	Leicestershire	England	Download Festival
June 10, 2012	Nickelsdorf	Austria	Nova Rock Festival
June 15, 2012	Seinäjoki	Finland	Provinssirock
June 30, 2012	Letisko Piešťany	Slovakia	Topfest
July 5, 2012	Gävle	Sweden	Getaway Rock Festival
July 7, 2012	Turku	Finland	Ruisrock
July 12, 2012	Montreux	Switzerland	Montreux Jazz Festival
July 14, 2012	Vizovice	Czech Republic	Masters of Rock
July 21, 2012	Benicàssim	Spain	Costa de Fuego Festival
July 28, 2012	Kuopio	Finland	RockCock
August 5, 2012	Colmar	France	Foire Aux Vins
August 25, 2012	Trondheim	Norway	Sverresborg Arena	Triosphere
September 12, 2012	Atlanta	United States	Center Stage	Kamelot
September 13, 2012
September 15, 2012	New York City		Beacon Theatre
September 16, 2012	Philadelphia		Electric Factory
September 17, 2012	Worcester		Palladium
September 19, 2012	Montreal	Canada	Cepsum Arena
September 20, 2012	Toronto		Sound Academy
September 21, 2012	Columbus	United States	Newport Hall
September 23, 2012	Royal Oak		Music Theatre
September 24, 2012	Chicago		Congress Theater
September 25, 2012	Sauget		Pop's Club
September 27, 2012	Kansas City		Beaumont Club
September 28, 2012	Denver		Ogden Theatre
September 29, 2012	Salt Lake City		Complex Hall
October 1, 2012	Seattle		The Showbox
October 2, 2012	Portland		Crystal Ballroom
October 3, 2012	San Francisco		Warfield Theatre
October 5, 2012	Anaheim		City National Grove
October 6, 2012	San Diego		House of Blues
October 7, 2012	Phoenix		Marquee Theatre
October 9, 2012	Oklahoma City		Diamond Ballroom
October 10, 2012	Austin		Emo's Club
October 11, 2012	New Orleans		House of Blues
October 13, 2012	Fort Lauderdale		Revolution Club
October 14, 2012	Lake Buena Vista		House of Blues
November 4, 2012	Manchester	England	Apollo Theatre	Pain[13]
November 5, 2012	London		Brixton Academy
November 6, 2012	Birmingham		O2 Birmingham
November 7, 2012	Glasgow	Scotland	O2 Glasgow
November 10, 2012	Helsinki	Finland	Hartwall Areena	—
November 28, 2012	Mexico City	Mexico	Teatro Metropolitan
November 29, 2012
December 1, 2012	San Juan	Puerto Rico	Anfiteatro Tito Puente
December 3, 2012	San José	Costa Rica	Peppers Klubi
December 5, 2012	Lima	Peru	Plaza San Miguel
December 9, 2012	Porto Alegre	Brazil	Clube Opinião	Save Our Souls[14]
December 10, 2012	Rio de Janeiro		Circo Voador	Tierramystica[15]
December 12, 2012	São Paulo		Credicard Hall
December 14, 2012	Buenos Aires	Argentina	Teatro Flores	Abrasantia[16]
December 15, 2012

List of 2013 concerts, showing date, city, country, venue and support act(s)^[12]

Date	City	Country	Venue	Support Act(s)
January 4, 2013	Brisbane	Australia	Arena	Eyefear[17]
January 8, 2013	Auckland	New Zealand	Studio Club	Naquadah[18]
January 11, 2013	Sydney	Australia	Enmore Theatre	Sabaton[19]
January 14, 2013	Melbourne		Palace Theatre
January 15, 2013
January 18, 2013	Adelaide		HQ Complex	Black Majesty[20]
January 20, 2013	Perth		Metropolis Fremantle
May 21, 2013	Osaka	Japan	Namba Hatch	—
May 23, 2013	Nagoya		Diamond Hall
May 24, 2013	Tokyo		Ebisu Liquid Club
May 25, 2013			Studio Coast	Liv Moon[21]
June 8, 2013	Tampere	Finland	Sauna Open Air	—
June 15, 2013	Interlaken	Switzerland	Greenfield Festival
June 30, 2013	Helsinki	Finland	Tuska Open Air
July 4, 2013	Byblos	Lebanon	Byblos International Festival
July 11, 2013	Lakselv	Norway	Midnattsrocken
July 13, 2013	Joensuu	Finland	Ilosaarirock
July 20, 2013	Vuokatti		Sotkamon Syke Festival
July 27, 2013	Liberec	Czech Republic	Benatska Noc Fest
August 3, 2013	Wacken	Germany	Wacken Open Air
August 10, 2013	Kortrijk	Belgium	Alcatraz Festival
August 11, 2013	Hildesheim	Germany	M'era Luna Festival

Personnel

Nightwish

• Anette Olzon – lead vocals (until 29 September 2012)
• Tuomas Holopainen – keyboards
• Emppu Vuorinen – guitars
• Jukka Nevalainen – drums
• Marko Hietala – bass, male vocals

Additional musicians

• Troy Donockley – Uilleann pipes, tin whistle, additional vocals
• Elize Ryd* – female vocals
• Alissa White-Gluz* – female vocals
• Floor Jansen – lead vocals (from 1 October 2012 onwards)

* filled in as vocalist during the September 28, 2012 show in Denver, Colorado while Anette Olzon was hospitalized due to illness.^[22][23][24]

References

1. "Imaginaerum Latest News". Nightwish. Archived from the original on November 11, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
2. "Nightwish kick off the "Imaginarium World Tour" in Los Angeles". Nightwish]. March 14, 2011. Archived from the original on June 24, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
3. "Nightwish Announces First Dates Of European Tour For "Imaginaerum"". Metal Underground MetalUndergroungd.com]. September 30, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
4. "Nightwish: European Tour Dates Announced". RoadRunner Records. 30 September 2011. Archived from the original on 4 January 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
5. "BLABBERMOUTH.NET – NIGHTWISH Plays 'Secret' Gig in Hollywood; Photos, Video Footage Available". Archived from the original on 2012-01-21. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
6. "Nightwish Singer Hospitalized". Antimusic. 2012-10-01. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
7. "Nightwish Part Ways with Anette Olzon". Artist Direct. 2012-10-02. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
8. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Nightwish Kiev(Киев) 17.03.12 Imaginaerum live". YouTube.
9. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Nightwish – Come Cover Me live HMH, The Netherlands 13-4-2012 Amsterdam". YouTube.
10. "Nightwish 11 Atlanta, GA 9 13 12 – Higher Than Hope". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-05.
11. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Nightwish – Hartwall Areena: Arabesque (Fire dancers)". YouTube.
12. "Tour: Past shows". Nightwish.com. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
13. "Reviews and photos of Nightwish+Pain- Manchester, Apollo". Metal-Discovery.com. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
14. "Nightwish: proporcionando um show belíssimo em Porto Alegre" (in Portuguese). Whiplash.net. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
15. "Nightwish: banda acerta em cheio no repertório em São Paulo" (in Portuguese). Whiplash.net. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
16. "Nightwish: Latin America Tour 2012" (in Portuguese). DynamoProd.com. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
17. "Nightwish at The Arena, Brisbane". Pinterest. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
18. "Nightwish live in New Zealand in 2023". UnderTheRadar. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
19. "Sabaton announce one exclusive headline Australia show in Melbourne, 13 January 2013". MayTheRockBeWithYou. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
20. "Nightwish Aus/NZ Tour". Concerts-Metal.com. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
21. "Review of the FINLAND FEST 2013". ToniMattiKarjalainen. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
22. Blabbermouth.net (September 29, 2012). "KAMELOT Backing Singers Fill In For NIGHTWISH Frontwoman In Denver". Blabbermouth. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
23. Blabbermouth.net (September 29, 2012). "NIGHTWISH Singer Explains Denver Concert Absence". Blabbermouth. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
24. Nightwish (September 29, 2012). "Official Nightwish Facebook: Note regarding Anette's absence for Denver show". Nightwish. Retrieved September 29, 2012.