Live Review: Nightwish, Taberah

From an alcohol-fuelled mock Live After Death intro tape to playing a teaser from Black Sabbath's War Pigs, Taberah swiftly endeared themselves to the more traditionalist heavy music devotees. Sizeable pockets of the remainder of the diverse attendance were soon converted by the Tasmanian outfit's wise-cracking enthusiasm and anthemic, thrash-inflected power metal. Having several international supports on their CV ensured they didn't appear lost on a larger stage either.

This marked Nightwish's fourth visit to Australia, but the first time in which they had featured the same vocalist on consecutive tours. The support Down Under evidently remained unwavering, but if their 90-minute-plus set reinforced nothing else it was that windmill headbanging, high note-executing Dutch singer Floor Jansen may well be the most potent frontwoman the Finnish symphonic metal act has enlisted. A towering presence with a powerhouse voice to match, she appeared most comfortable on material from latest LP Endless Forms Most Beautiful (her Nightwish debut) peppered throughout the set's first half. That said, she proved versatile enough to tackle earlier favourites a la Nemo, Stargazers and 7 Days to the Wolves.

The overall presentation was perhaps a little too slick and honed, but the entire band were proficient and engaging players. Although understandably unable to utilise some of the more expansive production values typical of their European festival or arena performances, the sextet were still able to exhibit much of their beloved bombast. Nightwish aren't afraid to be ludicrous, not only crossing the line into pomposity, but leapfrogging over said marker via airing epic Ghost Love Score, or passages of Endless Forms Most Beautiful's 24-minute The Greatest Show On Earth, which documents "the complete evolution" of existence. A backing track also substituted for Richard Dawkins' spoken word appearances from their latest disc. Overall, another Nightwish Sydney show, another crowd-pleasing experience; the rabid, packed room could readily attest to that.