Now imagine that this 20+ minute song is at the end of a 17 song setlist. Truly powerhouse musicians.

Troy is playing a Low Whistle, then later the Uilleann pipes - an Irish elbow pumped version of a bagpipe without the drone. Uilleann essentially translates to elbow. This version is unique for the synced pyrotechnics and the use of the low whistle. The Wembley version is worth a watch for the differences, as Troy plays the guitar with an eBow rather than use the orchestral backing as with this version. Wembley is the "Official" version, mainly because of the appearance of author of the namesake book, Richard Dawkins. One significant aspect of this performance is that Floor's parents are in attendance, and it is the first time they saw her live with Nightwish. It is also the "home" appearance for Tuomas, Emppu, Marco and Kai. This is my favorite of the two versions, but whether you react to it or not, PLEASE watch the Wembley version as well. You will marvel at how incredible, yet different each performance is ... just another expression of their true genius. The greatest composition of my lifetime ... just imagine the expression of the entire existence of mankind in about 20 miuntes! Excellent reaction!

Finally… someone doing Tampere. I like this version SO much more than Wembley. Thank you!

Floor’s parents being at this show….How proud they must be to see the positive and joyous effect their daughter and this band has on thousands of people must be almost overwhelming for them. Sensory overload… Nightwish style. The band that can call it “The Greatest Show on Earth” and deliver on all points…incredible

Uilleann pipes is the Irish version of a scottish bagpipe. Instead of blowing air with your mouth, you fill air in the bag with your elbow. And it has a softer sound.

The explosion of the crowd at the end of the "We were here" part is so powerful! What an amazing show!

Great Job guys ......obviously the last song of the night ....when Floor says " we were here , kitos " you can hear how exhausted she is .....she gave everything she had . To me this is Floor and Marco's best singing together , they really push one another .

There would not be a Nightwish without Tuomas. They have survived changes at singer, bass player, and drummer, but without the creative genius of Tuomas, Nightwish would cease to be.

I know I will never experience another band like Nightwish in my lifetime - they will always be my number 1.

"The Greatest Show on Earth" performed live by the greatest live band on Earth. Epicness right there on that stage.

The fireworks are triggered by a midi time code which is playing along with the backing tracks. It is an old style traditional flute called a low whistle. Oboe is a classical woodwind instrument, and rainmaker seemed to be referring to an Australian aboriginal instrument called a digeridoo? An Irish pipe called a uilleann pipe. It does have a bit of a alto saxophone tonality. There is no Nightwish without the genius of Tuomas Holopainen! This is his grand opus to the universe, evolution, and the Greatest Show on Earth, all life on Earth, including both of yourselves as well as all of us and every living thing. The red part with Floor's chilling vocalizations were announcing the impending danger of the toolmakers evolving. The beginning of mankind all all of the tragedy that comes with all of us. Everdream will take you both in a whole different direction. Loved it! Well done my friends.

Good job, Troy was playing a low Whistle then the Uilleann pipes (Irish bag pipes), the figure on Toumas keyboard stand is Groot from the movie Guardians of the Galaxy .

Nightwish Army Wisconsin chapter here. This song truly belongs in a museum. Tuomas is definitely on the level of some of the greatest composers of all time. Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and now Tuomas. He is our generation Metal Mozart. Glad you experienced this work of art ❤

PS I agree we need to have the Queen on all reactions, it’s always good to bounce ideas off of each other .

This is arguably the greatest metal composition ever written. Floor’s parents were in attendance. Loved your guys reactions. ❤❤❤

By all means check out other Nightwish tracks (you won't find a bad one) but Gabriel's list has the best links 😉 Oh, and Troy is playing the Irish Low Flute at the start, followed by Uilleann (Irish) bagpipes. (He's also an excellent guitarist and often plays the guitar with an e-bow)

During the "red" Tuomas has his well deserved wine bottle break as he ducks behind his keystand. I always laugh at the swift shadow movement.

Nightwish Music for the mind, soul and then the ears.

This is one of those songs that gets better every time you hear it........ And I love this version so much better because it's outside and it's in their home country so to me it's just more meaningful but the Webley one is special because of Richard Dawkins showing up at the end and talking........ And if you ask me this song is way more than a masterpiece......... But I don't know what that word would be LOL

Floor: "Enter Luca" Marko: "Enter Ionia" Emppu: "Enter Sandman" FYI: a regular pop song may take some 40-80 tracks to record. TGSOE took over 600 sound tracks to record, including the tracks from the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

I've been to a sh*tload of concerts and NOTHING compares to the whole crowd shouting 'WE WERE HERE' at the end of a Nightwish concert when Greatest Show on Earth concludes. I've had the privilege to see them twice again end of 2022 after more than 7 years and it never fails to impress. To me 'The Greatest Show on Earth' kind of has become the Metal Bohemian Rhapsody. This is a piece that has not yet gotten the appreciation it deserves. It is just masterful. You can listen to this 100 times and still discover new things. If there is any song for which Tuomas deserves the title 'Metal Mozart', this is it.

This unbelievable band with this UNBELIEVABLE voice tell our story... we were here! what epic music with an epic message! Nightwish should be our musical legacy :)

Man no matter how many times I listen to this song it fills me with dreams, hope, makes me cry, what an absolutely incredible ride.

This song is called 'the greatest show on earth' after the book by Richard Dawkins, the narrator in this song. It starts with the formation of the solar system, then the planetesimals that collide and form the earth, that is what the firework symbolizes. Then the development of life, vertebrates, humans, music (hence the nods to bach, metallica and others) and finally the world we live in today. Sometimes earth is fully alive and e.g. in the red part we have a mass extinction and life springs back in all its glory, but differently.

Amazing tune, love seeing others witness greatness! Saw Nightwish in Minneapolis last year, EPIC!

‼️ This song is a masterpiece. For me, the song lyrics as well as the images in the background are almost more in the foreground than the music itself - which of course is fantastic as always. To put our evolution into a song that is so emotionally conveyed is unique. The fact that Floor's dress represents DNA is just one of many small details. Many times I have watched this performance and every time it grounds me again. Ours is so unique and so phenomenal that with a little more humility we can achieve more than we think possible. .. ‼️🏆👍

Hi guys, greetings from UK This was a great reaction, thanks for sharing 😁

Chills! Every single time. It's one of few songs that I feel like everybody on this planet should hear, it's a masterpiece.

Loved your reaction ❤ Nightwish Army, South Africa 🇿🇦

This video has it all. A story of the universe, LUCA, destruction, Floors dress representing dna strings in finnish colors and twins in the audience. I mean, what can go wrong? Absolutely nothing.

Great reaction! The soundtrack to the history of mankind and life on earth. Floor got most of her tattoos between 2013 and 2015. The thing in front of Tuomas’s keyboards is a tree of sorts, with human-like features. They called it Groot. “WE WERE HERE!” 🌎

The theme of their album Human Nature is Evolutionary Sciences...the stage props reflect that in Tuomas' keyboard stand that looks like a driftwood ship's masthead, and the tree stump painted w fossils that Troy sits on. Also cool fossil wraps on Kai's drums.

Great reaction. Yes ,there are reference from Bach to Metallica. And a tip, when you want to see the Floor iconic Windmilling 7 days of the Wolves, live in Wembley 🤘👍 Tuomas( with the Band)is a genius, and Floor is his Voice.

Hallo 😁, TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN is NIGHTWISH. The child would not have been born without him. Thank you for the reaction. By the time you will be about to react to "THE POET AND THE PENDULUM" please do some research of the background before . Greetings from Germany 🤗 alex

This is one of Nightwish's best performances - telling the complete story of evolution of this tiny planet and explaining just how insignificant we, as a species are. It also says that the Earth was getting along just fine until people appeared. In the very short time we've been here, we have nearly destroyed this beautiful and wonderful planet - it won't be long now, unless we, as a people, decide to make a difference. But ask yourselves; will it ever happen or are we doomed completely?

I’m soooo looking forward to this reaction🎉

🤗🍒🤘🏻😘Well done both and yes Floor had all tattoos (2 years later)

Masterpiece song about Evolution & Life on our planet ! A science lesson in this epic Masterpiece 👏👏👍 Nightwish are the best Symphonic Metal Band On Our Planet By Far 😝 Nightwish Disciple from Australia 🇦🇺🏄‍♂️🍹

🇫🇮❤ To really appreciate this masterpiece about the birth of the universe & the history of planet Earth, evolution of life and the progression of mankind, just google "Why Nightwish’s “The Greatest Show on Earth” is also one of the greatest songs" and read the article by Katia Karpenko. The album version of this song is little over 34 minutes & it took 2,5 weeks to mix all the 800+ separate audio tracks together in the studio. .P.S. I'm glad that you did the 2015 Tampere Ratina Stadium version. One is truly lucky to be born just the way s/he is, as the probability for that is less than 1 divided by the number of atoms in the entire universe.

I live about 2 miles away from where this concert was held and I still remember either seeing or hearing the fireworks but I was confused because I had no idea what was going on at the time until I saw stuff of the event on the internet 🤣 Tuomas (the keyboardist) is both an amazing composer and a songwriter so you just have to appreciate the music he makes even if you don't actively listen to Nightwish. He has some solo stuff too. This is also a nice reaction from you guys. Greetings from Finland by the way 😀

Beautiful, beautiful reaction, guys.....period!

Awesome, as always! The Wembley version is also great - song different production and instrumentation in the first part & a special guest at the end ;) Yes, that was a metallica riff in there at the end of the history of music part - there was a harpischord playing and a famous composition by another musical master etc. You should check out all the Easter eggs hidden in the song - its brilliant.

Troy plays the Irish Low Whistle and then the Uilleann Pipes which is the Irish version of the bagpipes. Instead of blowing air into the bag like with the Scottish Highland Pipes the Uilleann Pipes uses a bellows that is pumped using your elbow to pump air into the bag. The Uilliann Pipes in my opinion has a milder, less harsh, more melodic sound than the Highland Pipes. I see you caught Metallica but missed Bach which along with other things were add to note the evolution of music during the evolution of the planet. This is one of those pieces that you really need to listen to several times without the commentary which of course you can't do during a reaction. Good job you two and keep up the good work.

You really appreciate their songs more if you know what they are about. But I'm glad you like this. Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱

Thanks 4 reacting to this masterpiece!

This served as your introduction to Marko's singing versus screaming/growling. Everdream is the the next, logical step in that progression. Then, jump into High Hopes (Pink Floyd cover) or The Islander.

The "burnt up corpse" holding up the keyboards is Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy. Groot, and it's not a flute, it's an Irish low whistle.

🇬🇧 Norfolk reporting for duty strapped in for Troy’s low whistle ,the drums and Floor in her dna 🧬 dress and unicorn heels plus everything else 😊masterpiece Keep them coming 😊

this is one of the two different concert DVD's that make up the album "Vehicle of Spirit", the other being Wembly arena later that same year......this illustrates the fact that Tuomas is truly the Metal Mozart.....first Troy pipe is a wooden flute (a recorder is much smaller)...an oboe is a double reed woodwind.....Troy then plays the Uileann pipes, which is an Irish bagpipe, with air being pumped by squeezing a bad with the elbow, rather that blowing into it (Uillea; Gaelic for elbow)....also, he's then freed up to join into the singing....the grunts represented our distant ancestors forming the first elements of speech; Floor, Marko, and Troy were doing them....this song is the story of our planet emerging into existence (the multiple fireworks representing the Big Bang), then; the various stages of development, ending with us, mankind, being the Greatest Show on Earth.......think of this as a symphony in 3 movements.....Nightwish Army, South Carolina, USA

I agree with your Queen...I feel the music...

Yes Latin opus is a movement, perfectum is perfection. Marko, Troy and Floor doing the "Oh ah ah part

The master of instruments of the band. Troy Donockley play everything. Its a Flute. Altflute Tuomas paints also music in his head, write it down and making beautiful songs of it

It was Marco and Troy both singing with Floor. Troy plays all of the various pipes and guitar sometimes.

Hi to you both from Sheffield Yorkshire England ye FLOORS range is astronomical and when you thought youed herd her full range wow yes she hans a guteral GROWL yes GROWL to die for 😂❤😂😂❤❤

Thanks, greetings from Colombia

Great reaction! thnx for using this version i edited

Great reaction. The keyboard stand is Groot from MCU. Love from Sweden

I love your imagination when it comes to this opus. Saw them last year in SANFRANSICO and in person you're soul for a brief moment is protected from all negativity! FYI half man half goat are satyrs very beautiful creatures in folk literature, you both have a very open heart and what Troy is playing is electric bagpipes!🌹

As mentioned by others Troy uses these Whistles different sized which create a different sound. That corpse thing as mention some claimed is Jesus on the cross but all it is, is groot Tuomas loves groot. Or Tree man. There is actual differences between the Tampera version and the Wembley version. Wembley hasn't got the cool stage you can walk out amongst the audience nor has it got the fireworks, But i does have the scientist doing the speaking part Sir Richard Dawkins and to acompany the Keys Tuomas plays Troy Plays an electric guitar using his hand held effect the E-Bow device which sounds like electric violin which is amazing. Thank you again guys for a fun reaction.

Thanks for this reaction, guys. You are so genuine and feeling the music so deeply that for me, it's like re-experiencing the joy of newly found pieces, on songs that are very familiar to me. I'm a Finn and have seen Nightwish a number of times. Was actually present in this exact show close to where I live and it was magical, like always. I found your channel by one of your Cakra Khan reactions and it was a fun surprise to see you react to one of my favourite Finnish bands as well. :) You were wondering on some of your Nightwish videos... Between the first female singer Tarja and Floor there has been a Swedish singer called Anette Olzon. I think she has a more pop voice than the other two. Not bad but different. For example, Storytime was originally sung by her. Btw, congratulations on your engagement and pregnancy!!

Troy Donockley is playing the low tin wistle and the uillean pipes in this great song about the origin of earth till the present day😁🤯💥💯🤘

Nice reaction. Greetings from Mexico City 🇲🇽

The difference in 'lighting' inside the stadium as opposed to outside, is down to camera exposure. On an overcast day, the exposure of the artificial light on stage is brighter than the ambient daylight. The camera operators have to set their exposure for the performers - the stage light - and this makes the ambient light - the daylight - seem darker than it is.

The story of evolution from the beginning of earth, and a brief history of music in there as well

Great reaction. Liked and subbed with Love from NW army South Africa 🇿🇦

No, you need to see the Wembley version too. Its very very special in its own ways. Trust me on this.

Kitee 1997 for so simple a beginning endless songs most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are been , composed.

Great reaction. Figure on Tuomas's keyboard is Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy. Tuomas is a big movie fan. Song is inspired by the writings of evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. The spoken word sections in the song and the beginning of the outro are from his writings and are spoken by him. Greatest Show on Earth is evolution making it's imprint on life on Earth. Song is the story of life on Earth in 20 minutes. Troy is playing the Irish Low Whistle. Whistle's have different tuning and harmonics compared to Recorders. Troy's second instrument is the Uillean pipes (Irish bagpipes). Uses a bladder pumped by the right elbow to fill the bag on the left instead of blowing into like Scottish bagpipes. Lets the piper sing and drink while playing. Some terms from the lyrics. Luca - Last Universal Common Ancestor, the common ancestor from which all life descends. Little Lucy of the AFAR - oldest human skeletal remains named Lucy discovered in the AFAR region of Africa. The section with the harpschord and the Enter the Sandman riff is a nod to the evolution of music. Starts with Dies Irae, Minuet in G major by Christian Petzold, Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 by Johann Sebastian Bach and Enter Sandman by Metallica accompanied with a Tibetan chant sung by male parts of the choir. Tuomas is a big fan of Metallica. When he was a high school exchange student living in Michigan his host family took him to a Metallica concert and he was blown away and became a fan of metal music. The last spoken word at the end is a quote from Darwin's Origins of Species read by Richard Dawkins. This is one of the big 3 by Nightwish (Ghost Love Score, Poet and the Pendulum, and this one). An amazing piece of art. The song and the outro are such a celebration of life and so uplifting. Last song of their current setlist. I encourage you to listen to the song again with this understanding of the story behind the song and see if it doesn't make you even more emotional.

@Killermcknight: Ah, now you get to The Greatest Show On Earth! As I may have mentioned before, this is a song that Tuomas wrote to pay homage to the creation of the universe, and everything in it, including life, and including this "pale blue dot" that we call Planet Earth. Tuomas took 14.6 billion years of history, and boiled it all down into a song that originally was 40 minutes long, but had to shorten it to 24 minutes long, because it would not have fit into the time constraints for a live performance. Lastly, at the end, you'll hear Dr. Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist, speaking. This is what he says, which is an excerpt from his book titled, "The Greatest Show On Earth": "We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die, because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place, but who will in fact never see the light of day, outnumber the sand grains of Sahara. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this, because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds, it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here. We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state, from which the vast majority have never stirred?" ~ Dr. Richard Dawkins, _The Greatest Show On Earth_ Edit: Actually, what Troy Donockley is playing is a low flute. Most flutes you see are played to the side -- while a low flute is played similar to a recorder. A recorder actually has a sharper tone than a low flute does, which is how you can tell the difference acoustically. Most low flute music could be considered tribal or traditional in nature, being used in a lot of cultural or native music. As such, it has a softer tone than most other flutes that have higher octaves or higher pitches for notes. Edit 2: By the way, the fireworks are not timed -- they are electronically controlled, which gives a much faster response time in terms of igniting the gunpowder contained in each firework.

Thanks "Killermcknight" for the good show: The greatest show on earth with singer Floor Jansen -from Germany and all the best greetings to Easter!🤟

this is from before the Nightwish period. this is a song from Floor's old band After Forever. Floor Jansen & The Red Limo String Quartet - Energize Me . Acoustic , No mic , no audio amplification , no audio tricks simply 100% PURE Floor-Power . link : kzfaq.info/get/bejne/q-CHZM11ptqaaYU.html .

Bold move...to do this song. This song is Massive,...Song about Evolution of the Universe , Earth and Life . The song title is taken from a 2009 book by evolutionary biologist and atheist writer Richard Dawkins, concerning the evidence for biological evolution. Dawkins also contributes towards the album. Holopainen explained to HMV in March 2015: "I wrote him a letter a bit more than a year ago and explained the ideas we had for this album, mainly to do with evolution. Since one of the tracks would be named directly after one of his books, it felt like a perfect match to try to get him do some reciting on the album. He sent me an email a few weeks later accepting the invitation." "Later in 2014 we then recorded his parts at Hats Off Studios, Oxford. This is a huge honor for us, since Dawkins is one of our biggest heroes and his writings have been huge inspiration for the album." NWSU/FloorFan 🤘😎🤘.

we were here

The song is about the evolution of the universe, of life, and of mankind. You also briefly picked up on what is a montage on the history of music... you can here low "throat singing", and what sounds like chating around a camp fire, then Johan Sebastian Bach's minuete in G, followed by Enter Sandman (there are more besides that only keener ears than mine can pick up on). The details in the song (besides the overall composing brilliance) are just ridiculous. I heard a historian react to this once (cant remember the name of the channel) and he came up with a theory on Tuomas' opening melody on the piano... youll notice the melody is in brief bursts of six notes, then at the end of that group theres a much longer one, then back to the groups of six.... now, the atomic number of carbon (essential for all life) is 6.... and does the longer group of notes signify the coming together of individual carbons into longer, more complex organic molecules, eventually leading to life? It sounds wild ... but i can imagine this to be the kind of detailing in Tuomas' mind. Nothing is ever there for the sake of it. Just an unbelievable composer.

Thanks for choosing the Tampere one!

It's the history of the world from the big bang to now

Thanks ... always love people how to appreciate real talent🤘 .. greetings from Amsterdam ✌

The difference in light levels is because of the different cameras having different light sensitivity.

Fireworks can be controlled bij midi that system is a connetion system for electronic instruments. Certain time frame points make the fire work go of...

My very greatest hobby nowadays is to react people reacting The Greatest Show on Earth.

Love you the nest reactors to come🥰😍❤

The fireworks are timed with the click track that they are playing to. It goes along backing tracks as well.

Yes, Tuomas can control many of the SPFX from his keyboards & computer/control box. Jukka used to do some with triggers on his drum kit - don't know if Kai does it now or not. Taylah? Taylor? - Tuomas would like the images in your head - that's how he "sees" much of his music before he writes it! I thought it was Groot holding up his keyboards! ....Uillean Pipes - literally (Irish) "Elbow" Bag- pipes - with a bellows under his elbow instead of having to breathe into it - lets the player sing as well. Floor and Marko got to sing enter Life/LUCA/Ionia..... - of course Emppu played a little "Enter Sandman"!!! From the Big Bang to the Big Oops! Floor's parents were there so she made it extra special, they all did! Tuomas had to shorten this work - to make it physically possible to be played live!

Great reaction 👋👋👋👋😍😍😍

This was consert’s ast song in Tampere Finland. Richard Dawkins is Evolutionary Biology whonis talking

Ahh. Yeah. You got to it! Nice

Wounderful reaction. For your next Nightwish reaction I think you should do "Poet and The pendulum". But to get The full experience you need to do some research of The mening of The song before. Looking forward to see your reaction. Bring tissiues.

If you want to hear Marco clean singing and Floor growling "Yours is an Empty Hope" Probs one of their heaviest too. Great song. Is about internet Trolls

Floors parents where at that show. A dutch tv show did a program about floor it is on you tube it was about her classmates in the rockacademy the first year in the netherlands

Traditional flutes are typically blown on the side, whistles/recorders (a type of whistle) are blown on the end.

Remember this is the home crowd! Floor's parents were at this show as well!

NICE REACTOINS. NICE SONG MUST SEE THE POET AND THE PENDULUM LIVE

Hi, I also like this version better! the whole concert was awesome, especially Marko doing the "Islander".

I love nightwish! There was absolutely a hint of entersand man from metallica at that one section you caught. I also love the trans siberian orchestras. There are two one for the east coast and one for the west coast. I actually got to see one of their christmas concerts last year with my family. The lead singer of night wishes husband is a part of one of the bands. Its always so cool to see their music portay stories and such. They are so amazing. As you say its like watching a movie. My favorite trans siberian orchestra albums have to be night castle, beethovens last night, and their christmas albums. In fact the trans siberian orcheastra was formed by producer Paul O Neil who brought in two members of the heavy metal band sabatage (Jon Olivia and Al Pitrelli) as well as keyboardist/co producer Robert Kinkel to make the creative team. It consists of a full 60 piece orcheastra and a Choir. Al pitrelli was Alice Coopers Guitarist and Musical Director from 1989 -1991. So thats a peek at what to expect from them. Its a good band to check out.

The Greatest Song on Earth💪💪💪💪

Before I state my point, I want to clearly state that I have been a fan of Nightwish since I discovered them in Sam Dunn's excellent documentary "Metal Evolution". One of my all time favorite albums is "Dark Passion Play". I saw them play live here in Chicago in 2018 at the very small Aragon Ballroom. A brilliant show that if you can believe wasn't close to selling out. What you see here is the complete Nightwish experience. Unfortunately now that Marko has left, that has ceased to be. Floor is one of if not the greatest vocalists in music. Try as she might, she can't replace Marko alone. That's the reason I did not see Nightwish when they returned to Chicago last year. I am guessing Marko had valid reasons for leaving, however I wish he didn't. Call me greedy if you must but I saw the real thing in 2018. I can't settle for less.

At this same concert - "The Islander", by Marco!

I prefer the Wembley version, partly because I was there but mainly because of Troy with the E-Bow, you can see who's making the primitive sounds and Richard Dawkins in person. The keyboard stand is Groot. It's neither, it's a whistle, in D. Uilleann (elbow Irish pipe) Fireworks are the planets colliding.

Tampere has outdoor fireworks. Wembley has live Richard Dawkins. Sonically it is identical.

🤩👌💥💯🎼 *OPUS PERFECTUM* 🤘😎 🇫🇮 💙