Fugazi

Here's a long interview with Marko on the Bleeding Metal Podcast. He covers a lot of ground about his origins, his inspiration and his views on the music industry. Nothing specific about Nightwish though. Some notes: Getting a diagnosis and treating ADHD 1,5 years ago helped Marko take control of his anxiety. Marko is working on a second solo album.

I don't think this guy has been mentioned here before... He did quite a number of NW songs, he's not super talkative but some reactions were more emotional than others (see The Islander). The Wolff And The Melody - Yours In An Empty Hope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_cnwGZNSI0

Not a band I follow closely, though of course I remember Elise Ryd fronting Nightwish for that one special night in 2012... Anyway, when did they become so electronicore? Here's their latest release:

Dianne van Giersbergen has released a second song, 'Unleash The Siren'. Like the previous, it's full blown operatic metal and for that reason sounds a bit retro to me but there's certainly a demand for this brand of 'classical' symphonic metal that other bands have moved away from.

I almost had a heart attack, for some reason the Nightwish Twitter feed is scrambled today and the first thing appearing on top is Marko's resignation letter. I didn't notice the time stamp and I thought that this was another 'Open Letter' day. 😲

Kai gave a small update on Facebook: "We have finished all band instruments and next is London with symphony orchestra and choirs. Looking forward to that. " I don't know if Floor has had any input on the new music at this point, but I suppose she's been provided with the song demos in order to prepare for the recordings to come?

Further to this, Marko will join Tarja once more for a show in Buenos Aires on March 1st, 2024. https://www.entradaweb.com.ar/evento/tarja_tatunen/36d7c123 They should just do a whole tour together singing Nightwish oldies instead of teasing us like this. 😁

Thanks for the great report! 🤘 I wish I could stay longer in Montreal to meet the band before or after the show, but as it is I had to leave work early then rush to return home at 3 AM -- I was working at 8 in the morning! Anyway, I found the band members all seemed very happy to meet the fans and chat, including Martijn. The burnout days appeared to be long behind him, and I hope it stays that way. I get that people may like or dislike Delain, of course, but those claiming that the new line-up is a bad cover band are clearly biased. The new album is IMO very similar in sound and vibe to the previous Delain material. And the live performance I saw (and the others I watched on YouTube) was great, the band was having fun, they sounded good, Diana has great stage presence, she looks very comfortable and natural, especially considering that she only has one year of live performing experience -- Charlotte had 16! I can't say that the new line-up is better, but it's certainly not inferior to the previous one.

You're right, I don't see extended tours over multiple years and continents in the future like say the Dark Passion Play tour. Unfortunately this could mean them skipping North America next time, as I don't think it's very cost-effective with the smaller venues and long distances between cities. And I doubt Auri or Floor will ever perform on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. At this point, I would even take another virtual show if it means getting something before the 11th album. 😁

Since there have been no recent news about Floor's pregnancy and general well-being, here's her last update last month on FloorWorld (her fan community). My dear fellow FloorWorlders, Where do I begin? Life is a rollercoaster ride and once again I went from a great high to a shitty low. I almost managed to keep the energy up for all the last Nightwish shows before our break and album recording time. But the schedule was too much, the stress too high and the needs to really pull it off, not met. Many factors made me crash after our Nightwish show in Vaasa. A scary experience, especially now it’s not only my health that’s on the line. Letting go was inevitable and hard. I don’t easily give up. In all hardship I felt your support and I want to thank you for that so much! In the last few months, I feel I got to know so many more of you. Met so many, read your letters and heard your stories. The family feeling grew tighter! A large one with amazing individuals, with many stories and now also, shared experiences! I’m doing much better, and the pregnancy is going very well. Hitting the last weeks, and those are pretty tough. I’m round and heavy and eager to meet my second child 🙂 I feel grateful for all I could do while pregnant, and now for the down time needed to pull off the last bits. Another massive thanks for all the thoughtful and sweet gifts we so abundantly received! All are either already gratefully used (like the teas and creams!) and the baby stuff is patiently awaiting the arrival of our second little monster (more patiently than me haha, I can’t wait!) We cherish them and will put it to use with good memories to you!!!!!! After my German tour, and right before continuing for the Nightwish shows in June, I had a terrible loss to endure. I had such a hard time with it, that I didn’t tell you yet. You know of my deep love for animals. And so I deeply loved my dream horse Dara. But she had hoof problems since I got her. It turned out that it was worse than I knew of. I had felt it, and I could see it. But she only gave off subtle hints. I got her checked just to be sure and bam…there it was. A shitty combination of problems that gave her pain with every step. And due to that combination, there was nothing I could do to help her move pain free. Within a week she ran into the eternal green fields. This is my last picture with her. I carry a pendant with some of her hair with me. To remember her by daily. She went way too young. And despite her pain, she always wanted to do her utmost best. Heartbreaking. After this loss I spent a good amount of time rethinking having horses. But they bring something in my life I can’t miss. And so I started thinking, feeling, and looking. After a long search I found this handsome young, 2 year old. Meet Man’O War! Named after a battleship…not the band haha. He will come and live with us, and JumJum, as soon as he is recovered from his castration (sorry big fellow…) I don’t see myself calling him by his birth name on a daily basis here in our paddocks. I want to rename him with a Nordic name like Loke or Grim. What do you think fits him? The stables where he is from (Stal Herkules, in the south of Sweden) also happened to have puppies….And I happened to have looked for a friend for Fenris because he loves the company of other dogs so much. And so we decided to have a baby before our baby would come…;-) Meet Saga, a now 10 weeks old chocolate Labrador girl. And so, from the shitty low of late June, to a healthier and happier situation in August. Thank you for all your support, I good and bad times!!!! Miss you! With love and respect, Floor

Anette is working on a third solo album, but she was also featured on the latest single of this young Italian metal band called False Memories.

I don't think Tuomas has commented on the extended touring break so far, but there were other bits of information from the other band members. Troy has mentioned back in May on Facebook: "Well, the time is fast approaching. We have 7 more shows to perform (Stockholm is imminent), and after a glorious couple of years, the harbour is now in sight and it’s time to drop anchor. These Nightwish happenings will be the last for a long time. Very. So if you would like to wave goodbye with a rousing “We Were Here” then you know what to do; by land, sea or air. See you there…" https://www.facebook.com/troydonockleyofficial/posts/pfbid0dMXNHs9tzyLQkPUQxmEd9a4ACUufrGZS6viSLKNtobL77YmEEdkwbfhoqUqGwDNXl "Very" sounds ominous. Also, in a recent interview in Finnish Kai mentioned that among his plans for the next year or so are the recording of the third Auri album, as well as a potential Auri tour in 2025. So the issue is not touring, but touring with Nightwish.

As mentioned on Tero Kinnunen's Instagram a few days ago, "Tuomas finished his parts today, so it’s all done here Röskö… Se on moro Kitee! #nightwish #newalbum #recordingengineer #recordingsessions #genelec #korg" https://www.instagram.com/p/CxJI3ccLJyr/?img_index=1

Back in January there was an interesting Metal Hammer article discussing the songs Nightwish have never performed live. I thought I would be fitting to add it in this thread. It seems pretty accurate to me. Here are all the songs Nightwish have never played live By Catherine Morris ( Metal Hammer ) published January 04, 2023 https://www.loudersound.com/features/here-are-all-the-songs-nightwish-have-never-played-live Symphonic metal giants Nightwish have recorded around 117 songs, with only 34 never seeing the light of day If you’ve ever seen the Finnish symphonic metal giants Nightwish at one of their 951 gigs (at the time of penning this list), there’s a good chance you’ll have heard them play Nemo, Wish I Had an Angel and Dark Chest of Wonders. The band’s top three most-played songs all come from the 2005 album Once, but what are they not playing? With the help of tour Bible and gig reviewer’s best friend, Setlist.fm, we found 34 tracks from the band that have never been played live. For context, there are around 117 recorded songs in their discography; “around”, because their later albums have frequently been accompanied by a second disc of purely orchestral versions, and because Tuomas Holopainen has a penchant for composing songs that go over the 25-minute mark and consist of multiple movements. Some of these, like the Lappi (Lapland) quadrilogy, are treated as four separate tracks here per the album’s tracklisting, whereas songs like The Greatest Show On Earth are treated as one long song. Cover songs that are B-sides such as Where Were You Last Night, and the instrumental Imaginaerum soundtrack album, haven’t been included, nor has the second disc of Human. :||: Nature. Now that we’ve explained our highly sophisticated scientific methodology, below are the songs that have never seen the stage lights. Is your favourite Nightwish song on here? Get ready to strap in, and nerd out… Angels Fall First (1997) Besides the recently released Human. :||: Nature, the band’s debut album is the one they’ve delved into the least when it comes to live shows: the aforementioned Lappi (Lapland) and the largely acoustic Nightwish demo have all been skipped over, as have the mellow Return to the Sea and the folky Nymphomaniac Fantasia. Oceanborn (1998) The release of Oceanborn saw the band start to tour outside of Finland, and with the 1998 record full of tracks like Sacrament of Wilderness and Passion & The Opera, you could forgive them for overlooking The Riddler and Nightquest. Though if you ask us, we might swap Walking In The Air for either. Wishmaster (2000) From the band’s second-most played record, there are just two songs they’ve consistently skipped over: the mournful ballad Two for Tragedy, and the histrionic Bare Grace Misery, a song with a delightfully melodramatic chorus that frankly deserves at least one live outing. Century Child (2002) 2002’s Century Child and the addition of Marko Hietala’s powerful voice ushered in a new era for Nightwish and brought what would become a new setlist staple in the form of the stunning Ever Dream. It’s not surprising they favoured other songs over the slow, plodding Forever Yours and Ocean Soul, but we reckon that the sultry Feel For You should have its day in the sun at least once. Speaking of which… Once (2004) Once is big for many reasons: their most played album, their last with Tarja Turunen, and the one that gained them a significant new following outside of Europe; of all its songs, only one has never been played, and it’s the guitar-driven Dead Gardens. Dark Passion Play (2007) The Dark Passion Play tour was, and still is, Nightwish’s biggest tour to date, which is why it comes as little surprise that they’ve played nearly every song on the record with the exception of the sweet mid-tempo For The Heart I Once Had and the vitriolic Master Passion Greed. With the latter widely understood to be a thinly-veiled jab at Tarja’s husband, perhaps the band felt that playing the song live would be taking things a bit too far, or that those bitter feelings are best left in the past. Imaginaerum (2011) With a feature film to promote and another massive world tour, only the instrumental Arabesque and the gentle folky ballad Turn Loose The Mermaids were missed off the setlist for the Imaginaerum shows. The latter, featuring a gorgeous violin solo by Pekka Kuusisto, definitely deserves to be heard in a live setting. Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015) Enter Floor Jansen to take Nightwish into their Attenborough-metal era. Nothing says “I’ve got a National Geographic subscription” like writing an instrumental track called The Eyes of Sharbat Gula as tribute to the publication’s most iconic cover photograph, featuring the piercing green-eyed stare of a young Afghan woman. Of course, instrumentals are tricky to do justice live, so we’ll let them off for not giving this one an airing. Human. :||: Nature (2020) They band are only now touring their most recent record two-and-a-bit years after its release, thanks to a little something we’d probably rather not think about anymore, but so far they haven’t shown any love to the album opener Music (except as an intro played over the PA), Procession or closing track Endlessness. Watch this space. Deeper Cuts Like any band with as many albums and singles as Nightwish have, they bring out the odd B-side from time to time. Personally, we’d love to hear Floor have a stab at the ludicrous The Heart Asks Pleasure First, a sweeping, cinematic waltz from with some eye-wateringly high notes and beautiful violin outro. They’ve also never played Away, Lagoon, Live to Tell The Tale, Once Upon a Troubadour, Sagan, Sleepwalker, The Wayfarer or White Night Fantasy. While there’s probably little chance of them playing Erämaan Viimeinen unless Floor really knuckles down in her language studies, perhaps Tuomas’ wife, Finnish singer Johanna Kurkela, could join in for the Dark Passion Play-era jig.

Indeed, I'm holding out hope that Tuomas will start working on the next album as soon as this one is released so that they can tour again within a couple of years.

Quick recap of last night: Venue in Montreal was tiny, perhaps 200 standing. It was the band's third time in this specific venue, but the first Canadian show for Roland and Sander as Delain only stated touring Canada in 2013 or so. Diana mentioned that it was very emotional for her to be singing on the stage of the venue where she used to come and watch bands back in the years she was living in Ottawa. Anyway, the band members were in a good mood despite the heavy touring schedule (7 nights in a row, from Charlotte to Toronto to Chicago?) and they were very generous with their time. Diana and Ronald performed a beautiful acoustic version of Mirror Of Night (see photo above), I got my stuff signed by the band plus Robin La Joy (Martijn's wife and lyricist on the album) who was supervising the meet-and-greet and staffing the merch stand. I don't know Visions of Atlantis very well, but I had heard a couple of their songs. I have a hard time getting into these bands with strong themes -- like Sabaton -- but VoA's opening act was great, full of energy and great crowd interaction. Singer Clémentine Delaunay being able to chat the crowd in French certainly helped. Also, I think there were as many VoA shirts in the crowd as Delain, so they appear to be better known here in Canada that I give them credit for. And the crowd also welcomed Delain very loudly, as I mentioned we were in a small venue but I think the band felt our enthusiasm. There were may newcomers to Delain as well (VoA fans who didn't know Delain) but I don't think they left disappointed. The setlist was great, I would have liked to hear Masters Of Destiny and a couple of other recent songs but they focused on some early albums (April Rain and We Are The Others) and of course Dark Waters. Diana was on top of her game, no sign of being tired despite being relatively new to touring. As noted, this was night 4 of 7 in a row, with loads of road travel between each city. The band seemed happy on stage, and happy with the crowd reactions. Hopefully they make some profit with the tour so they return to North America shortly. Martijn and the band alluded to another Delain album to follow perhaps as soon as next year, so we can hope for another visit in 2025 or so. Oh and the band have posted a couple of pictures from the Montreal show on FB, they're better than any of my own pictures. https://www.facebook.com/delainmusic/posts/pfbid02FGVCnQexSHyNJ1haMzPrFsGEeqTzPeCQYUSW6C4TNks1DZ9cd9JokbP3zb7epSYQl

In the venue right now, meet and greet was amazing! Will tell you all tomorrow, there's a long trip back home after the gig and I'm working at 8 am!

That's amazing. So you're telling me one could ask and find out if Anette had good grades during her nursing bachelor degree? 😁

That kind of access is amazing from a North American perspective, especially since this sort of information is straddling a very thin line between public interest and personal privacy. But what we really want to know is, what day is garbage collection in their area? 😁

In preparation for the shows, here's an early-2023 Face Culture interview with Martijn Westerholt. There are very interesting tidbits, Martijn speaks about the split, forming the new line-up, finding Diana Leah on social media, the genesis of the new album and more.

Who would have thought that within less than a year, we would see new live performances of The Phantom both by Nightwish and the original 'strange duet' Tarja and Marko? I can't choose which I like best, because the emotions each performance evoke are completely different. Anyway seeing Marko share the stage and sing this iconic song with Tarja after so many years apart is strange and wonderful. And they're doing good job of it -- even though they'll never be able to top that 2005 Helsinki performance!

Thanks for keeping track of the tour, @Moondance! 👍 I guess we might eventually find out if there was anything special in store for the last show in Oslo, but otherwise the setlist has been very static during the whole tour. I would say that the surprising song picks were 'Planet Hell', 'Sahara', 'The Phantom Of The Opera' and 'Our Decades In The Sun', even though the last two had been road-tested by Floor solo. The return of '7 Days To The Wolves' was also a good call. I wish 'Pan' and 'Alpenglow' could have made the setlist beyond the virtual concert though. Still holding out hope for some sort of DVD but there's been no hint of camera crews during this summer's shows, right?

You may have read this already, but it's an interesting comment by Tuomas on the NW discography so far. Every Nightwish album ranked in order of greatness by Nightwish’s Tuomas Holopainen By Polly Glass (Metal Hammer) published May 18, 2023 https://www.loudersound.com/features/tuomas-holopainen-ranks-every-nightwish-album If anyone is allowed to put Nightwish’s epic back catalogue in the correct order, it’s the band’s keyboard player and songwriter Tuomas Holopainen. From fantastical realms to elaborate filmic sagas and love-letters to Darwinism, the Nightwish discography is rich in intrigue – and low on dull moments. As its central creator, Tuomas Holopainen is inextricably bound to the sounds, feelings and memories that saturate each of these nine albums. His life is in this music. But if it came to it, in a castaway situation, which albums would he most (and least) want to be stuck with? It’s a tough call. “They are my children,” he pleads, “how would they feel if they saw the ranking? Wishmaster would be so sad!” Still, he did manage to settle on an order, and here it is... 9. Wishmaster (Spinefarm, 2000) “It went to No.1 in Finland, but to me Wishmaster is one of those albums that was kind of ‘in-between’. It doesn’t stand out to me on a personal level. There was nothing revolutionary about it after [1998’s] Oceanborn. It was made in a really good spirit – everybody in the band was happy after the success of Oceanborn – so this was just a natural continuation of that. But it didn’t really introduce anything spectacularly new for me personally. I think that’s my problem with it. If Ihad to pick a favourite song, I think I’d pick Dead Boy’s Poem; lyrically, it’s very much in the essence of Nightwish.” 8. Angels Fall First (Spinefarm, 1997) “Our debut sounds so innocent because it was done as a demo. It was never supposed to be released, but we sent it to the record label and they said, ‘Let’s put this out!’ It still has my parents’ home address on the booklet. “When I founded Nightwish in July 1996, I just wanted to do moody acoustic music. Since me and Emppu [Vuorinen, guitars] had a strong metal background, it was a natural transition to do something heavier, but that original acoustic band idea can be heard strongly. We couldn’t find anybody to sing, so I kind of dug a hole and fell into it myself. "We played Elvenpath years later on the Decades tour, and I can’t understand how Floor was able to keep a straight face singing those lyrics – to her credit, she did! I just remember the kid that I was back then, writing those songs, and I kind of miss that kid, because it was all about Donald Duck and fantasy books and snowmen and things fantastical. "Nymphomaniac Fantasia? Not my proudest moment. But it was done because there was a young kid who had some, I don’t know… issues, ha ha ha! Love-life gone wrong or something. It was a different time.” 7. Century Child (Spinefarm, 2002) “After Wishmaster, I seriously considered quitting the band, especially thanks to the departure of the [original] bass player [Sami Vänskä] and my slight burnout. Then I went on a hiking trip in Lapland with Tony Kakko from Sonata Arctica, and he talked me over that. "We needed a new bass player, and we needed management because until then it was me and Jukka [Nevalainen] the drummer taking care of the business side. So we got management, and we got Marko [Hietala, bassist/ singer until 2021], who was already a big name in Finnish metal – we were all big fans. "There was a lot of bad stuff happening in the band as well – that’s reflected on the album. Slaying The Dreamer was a way to get rid of all that frustration. Artistically I found film music, Hans Zimmer above all, and that really can be heard on Century Child. But the album didn’t take us much on the next level. Artistically it did, but not commercially.” 6. Dark Passion Play (Nuclear Blast, 2007) “It was a really easy album to write because all the emotions were there so strongly, after what happened with Tarja [Turunen, original vocalist who was dismissed from the band in 2005], and everything in my personal life. I was about to lose my mental health, and then doing the songs for this album saved it. "I’m a very private person, but I write about some really personal things, and these people – Anette [Olzon], for this record – are singing it out for the whole world to hear. I needed to do a song like The Poet And The Pendulum, where I killed myself in the lyrics; I had to do it for my mental health, and it ended up being a wonderful piece of music.” 5. Imaginaerum (Nuclear Blast, 2011) “Again, this was a pretty easy album to write – we all had a good time with it. When it comes to songwriting, I’m a morning person. I’ll wake up about six when I’m at home, then a litre of coffee and I’m off. Usually I’m done by two or three o’clock. I write songs upstairs in my little home studio – just a keyboard and a lakeside view. In the studio with the band, the other members and the engineers are more night owls. Also in the tour bus it’s always me up first, making coffee downstairs. “It was clear from the start that this would end up being a film. We thought, ‘What haven’t we done yet? Let’s do a music video for every song on the album, and then somehow combine them to become this really weird film.’ It’s a very optimistic album. It just puts a big smile on your face.” 4. Once (Nuclear Blast, 2004) “One of the best times that this band has ever had was 2003-2004, making the Once album, and the first part of the tour after that. In late 2003 we flew to London to record the orchestras. I rang the studio doorbell and Rick Wakeman opened the door. I think I said, ‘Errr… [makes incoherent starstruck noise] Thanks!’ "We went to the studio, started playing Ghost Love Score and my face melted. Like, ‘I’m next to Wembley, listening to the orchestra playing a song that I wrote, this is really life at its best.’ "Something happened with that album – all the stars were aligned. I remember looking at the album charts and seeing ‘Nightwish, Michael Jackson, Anastasia’ and going ‘Really?!’ I don’t think any of us were quite prepared. You get sucked into this massive world of big tours and worship from the fans, then the money starts to flow in, and it’s easy to lose your perspective. Impulse purchases? I did a round the-world trip on my own, it was wonderful. But money has very little meaning to me." 3. Oceanborn (Spinefarm, 1998) “Our ambition went through the roof after Angels Fall First, because we all realised that this is actually really fun. I was studying biology, Tarja was studying singing, I think in Germany, Jukka was studying to be a computer engineer, Emppu was working in a carpet factory. "Music was just a hobby. And then we realised, ‘There’s something going on here, so let’s put all the focus in Nightwish for maybe a few years, and see what happens.’ It was eight hours every day in the rehearsal room, playing the songs and just really feeling it. It was the watershed album for us, it took us to the next level. "All the guys, we had just gotten out of the army so we all had short hair, we had no idea about the metal scene at all. We were complete countryside hickeys who just happened to like metal music, and we were given this chance to show what we could do with a three-album deal. It shouldn’t have worked on paper, but somehow it did.” 2. Endless Forms Most Beautiful (Nuclear Blast, 2015) “If Floor hadn’t come along, I think that would have been the end of the band. We got over an ugly divorce once [with Tarja], then again with Anette, then Floor comes along and everything shines bright again. She learned the setlist in 48 hours – when I called her, she was at her sister’s wedding. Even from the first show the fans embraced her. So we took a lot of that good feeling for Endless Forms Most Beautiful [named after a line from Charles Darwin’s On The Origin Of Species]. "We went to Röskö campsite in Finland to record. It’s a four-hectare area by a lake in the middle of nowhere, belonging to the Boy Scouts. We stayed for three months. Every morning we’d rehearse for a few hours, have lunch, go back, rehearse and then spend the evening with each other by a campfire, barbecuing, playing acoustic guitar, singing, going to the sauna and talking about the songs all the time. The Greatest Show On Earth, that’s the Nightwish desert island song. I’m sure we’ll play that at the end of the setlist until forever. "We recorded Richard Dawkins’ part in Oxford. He’s quite the character. I’m a huge fan, so I was really starstruck. He did his parts beautifully, it was over in about 30 minutes and then he gave us a ride back to central Oxford in his Tesla. And halfway back he asks us, ‘So are you musicians or something?’ Ha ha! So his head’s somewhere… all the time! But he’s a wonderful guy.” 1. Human. :II: Nature. (Nuclear Blast, 2020) “I immediately knew after Endless Forms Most Beautiful that ‘OK, we have to do more songs about this.’ And so the idea of Human. :II: Nature. was first to have songs about humankind, and then you play the other CD and relax and go into nature. My memories of making the album are of happy times, no conflicts. We returned to Röskö to make it. "When the pandemic hit, it was like, ‘Should we postpone the release?’ But it was all printed and the advertisements had gone out to the papers. So the record label said, ‘Let’s go with it. Maybe people will have more time to concentrate on it…’ "Noise was a big single, but there’s also something about Shoemaker [named after famed geologist/astronomer Eugene Shoemaker]. It’s on the artsy side, but not in a pretentious way. "Realising what evolution is… it’s about realising our mortality, at least for me. And it’s made all the difference. When I kind of realised that this is very likely the only life we’re gonna have – it’s only after that that I started hugging my dad. I never hugged my dad before that. I’ve just felt much more liberated and in the light ever since.”

The only musical I remember going to is actually Cats, about 10 years ago, it was a great night and for a while I used Cats avatars and Cats-inspired nicknames on every social media lol! 😸 Toronto is a more likely place to see big musical productions than where I live. Most good shows will stop in Montreal but skip Quebec City more often than not.

Quebec, Canada. I have visited Stockholm twice, beautiful city, but I don't think I have been anywhere north of that. If I'm not mistaken, Floor lives somewhere near Gothenburg?