On October 1st, NIGHTWISH officially parted ways with vocalist Anette Olzon, citing personal differences. The band has since announced the addition of substitute vocalist Floor Jansen from The Netherlands (ex-AFTER FOREVER, REVAMP), who will help the band complete their current Imaginaerum world tour.

Multi-instrumentalist and NIGHTWISH touring musician Troy Donockley (pictured at left), has posted the following update from Nightwish's current North American tour:

"'Keep Calm and Carry On....'. Oh yes indeedy. These were the famous words written on "morale boosting" posters by the British government at the beginning of WW2. Now, I am not for one moment suggesting that the first half of our US tour has been like the outbreak of the war, but those words are pretty bloody pertinent!

Oh how we love touring the states. It's trite to say that the fans here are so brilliant (they are of course) because the fans are brilliant EVERYWHERE. But they have been particularly lovely to us; especially in light of the recent explosive events.

Yes, a split with the singer Anette occurred but it was really, really for the best. Believe me. The joy of this adventure was being wrecked and everyone was feeling very insecure... It was seriously interfering with our tasting sessions of the fine wines from the Napa Valley. Outrageous!

I mean, we never could have predicted that myself and Tuomas would find ourselves on stage, alone, asking an audience of over 1,600 in Denver to vote by a show of hands on whether the band should perform or not. Touchingly we were met by a sea of upraised hands; beautiful but how surreal.

Anyway, we have fully embraced the slogan from that heroic old poster, and we are all feeling a squillion times better. Our replacement singer Floor is simply majestic and we are having fearless fun. And on evidence of the ecstatic response to the last two shows, the fans seem to understand that this "vehicle of spirit" cannot be derailed so easily."

Fan-filmed video of Nightwish performing 'Nemo' in Seattle, and a 22-minute overview of their Portland show is available below:

Jansen released an update on her first days of touring with Nightwish:

“I am writing to you sitting here in the tour bus with Nightwish! We are heading to San Fransisco. The sun is shining bright here and the scenery is beautiful. I am trying to find words to describe how I feel, but it’s impossible to really cover it. I am on a high!

What do you do when Nightwish asks you to join them on tour? Stay calm and say, well OK…? Or does your heart start beating twice as fast instantly, hands start to sweat and your mouth is unwilling to pronounce words like ‘that sounds amazing’. I guess I don’t need to tell what happened to me.

The time to prepare was scarily short… I packed my bags and left and printed the lyrics into my head all the way over from Amsterdam to America. Fifteen hours of airplane later I arrived with a jetlag, a full head and the most happy feeling ever. The next day I jumped on board on this bus and the adventure truly began. I was welcomed into the group as an old friend and I felt great instantly. It is now 10 years ago I joined Nightwish on tour with After Forever as their support act. We stayed in touch ever since and that made the whole situation so much easier and smooth.

The day of the first show we also did a long soundcheck to rehearse the songs. That was the only possibility. You cannot imagine how nervous I was before that first show started! Next to nerves my voice was battered by a cold due to all the travels, lack of sleep and airco’s.

The intro started… I ran on stage… and all nerves were gone! The music and the guys took me in and so did the audience. What an experience! The excitement lasted the entire show, and way after. When I went to my tour bus bed that night I still had a smile on my face. I felt so happy and satisfied I fell asleep instantly.

The next morning I woke up – ahem - afternoon… in Portland. Show number two was there already. So were the first online reactions and the massive amount of press that responded to the news. You must be living under a stone if the news didn’t reach you yet. I even did an interview with the Dutch radio, standing outside the venue in my stage outfit. With a nine hour time difference…

My cold got worse and the doctor had to give me some power supplies to help me. Thank goodness for that, they helped instantly and the second show was an amazing blast. The Crystal Hall in Portland is a beautiful venue and the atmosphere extraordinary! Again the audience welcomed me warmly! I am so grateful!!!

Today we’ll play in San Fransisco! I always wanted to see this city so I hope there is some time (and energy) left for this! I will keep writing to you. And for those who came to the show: thank you for your support!”

Remaining dates on the tour are as follows:

October

5 - The Grove - Anaheim, CA
6 - House of Blues - San Diego, CA
7 - The Marquee - Tempe, AZ
9 - Diamond Ballroom - Oklahoma City, OK
10 - Emo's - Austin, TX
11 - House Of Blues - New Orleans, LA
13 - Revolution - Ft Lauderdale, FL
14 - House of Blues Lake Buena Vista - Lake Buena Vista, FL