Interviews

Nigthwish took Suosikki on their tour where everything is big and awesome.

19.2 Krakow, Visla Hall

Nightwish's European tour's only gig in Poland has been sold out a while ago. In Finland less than 2000 tickets would be sold for the same size hall but the old saying the more the merrier seems to true in Poland too.

- At least 3000 people are coming, Nightwish's manager Ewo Pohjola sneers when looking at the line that wriggles in front of the hall.

Nightwish's musicians are sitting backstage when there's still an hour left to the show. Bass player/singer Marco Hietala is reading fantasy literature, drummer Jukka Nevalainen stares at a movie from the computer screen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen fiddles with his instrument and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen devours infrormation. Tuomas tells reading different nonfiction books. Quite receantly he learned all the states and their capitals of the US.

- I've also done anagrams for example from the names of band members and other people close to me, Holopainen smiles.

Anette Olzon, known to friends as 'just Arska' arrives later than the others. The singer has been relaxing at the hotel.

- I don't really like backrooms. I'll rather read or meditate at the hotel. Or go to the gym, Olzon thinks.

The air electrifies only an half an hour before the gig. Marco and Anette open their voices, Jukka does push ups and Tuomas retreats to his own space.

Emppu is Emppu, the camera loving man takes all kinds of pictures. The guitarist also starts to tell stories from Nightwish's tour to China in January.

- No one spoke English. A band's guestlist was a foreign concept. Fingers got quite cold since it was only five celsius in the concert hall!

The temperature in the Visla Hall is quite different when the band's intro tape begins to roll. Soon Jukka stands up behind his drum kit and the enthusiastic crowd starts to give an ovation. And it's showtime! Tsum tsum pum pum, the effects bombs boom and the flame showers slit the stage's front. Finnish flags sway in the audience and flags with the texts "Tuomas show your tits" and "Nightwish connecting people" are in the front row. Smiles in the audience, smiles on the stage.

Before the encore Nightwish representative in Poland Metal Mind Productions' Metal Mike takes the stage and gives the band real Polish gold records. It's a tough achievement when you consider the East-European piracy industry.

- An amazingly awesome record. Real metal, Tuomas admires after the show.

Then the night is over. Nightwish's tour bus lunges to the darkness of night.

20.2 Prague, T-Mobile Arena

The morning in Prague dawns on clear. Emppu stays at the hotel but the rest of the band goes to the town. The sun shines on the famous Charles Bridge and a huge fortress rises on a near by mountain. It's a beautiful scenery.

- This is great! Can anyone feel bad on a moment like this, Anette admires.

Later on the afternon Nightwish heads to the HC Sparta Prague - ice hockey team's hall that acts as a gig place. T-Mobile Arena gives a true idea of the Finnish band's status at the moment.

- Over ten thousand people are coming to tonight's gig, Marco ponders casuallly.

Over ten thousand Czech fans? Some serious booing to the Finnish ice hockey team has happend in this hall, but the guys from Kitee take it all back with interest.

- This is definitely my biggest gig with Nightwish so far. Though I think there are bigger shows ahead on this tour, Olzon smiles.

The evening in Prague darkens and the concert begins. It's impossible to imagine the musicians feeling on stage under thousands of adoring eyes. But with certainty I can say that a Finnish by-stander's heart beats fiercly as the Nightwish hits bounce the Czechs. After the gig Tuomas lies on the floor backstage quite a while without moving. What's going on in the man's head? The answer comes a little later:

- It was pure ecstasy.

21.2 Berlin, Germany

It takes only a few hours to drive from Prague to Berlin so the bus doesn't move before the morning. The trip goes by quick; some read, some watch movies and others sleep. The day goes on familiar tracks. Nightwish's technicians prepare the stage after which a quick sound pressure test is done. The band gives a few interviews and poses for a German photographer. Hunger can't creep up on anyone, Nightwish's portable kitchen takes care of that. Four different foods are served at all times.

- You have to be careful not to put on weight. The food is so good that it can end up badly if you don't think about it, Jukka laughs.

Different kinds of people have arrived to Berlin like it is custom to Germany. Besides the youth in the front row there are two mature Polish women whose trip has gone from Krakow via Prague now to Berlin. At the back there's an older German mister who loves Finnish heavy rock. Besides the Nightwish shirt Lordi and Sonata Arctica buttons decorate his chest.

- Finnish hard music is the best. Period, he says.

After the show there's quite a hulaballoo backstage when familiar and unfamiliar people tap the musicians on the back.

- Let's not forget the basics. I'll get my sausage potatoes from Kerava's grill no matter how well things go, Emppu sneers.

Soon the caravan moves towards new adventures. After a few days I get a text message from Ewo Pohjola: "13 000 people at the Zürich gig. Quite an athmosphere."

Quite an atmosphere in Nightwish. The band might be in the best shape of its life.

Nigthwish tour in numbers
175 000 tickets
5 000 water bottles
2 500 portions of food
1 700 litres of limonade
1 000 setlists
8 000 hotelrooms
600 towels
55 crew persons
39 gigs
4 trucks
4 busses

Tuomas' answer clinic
The strangest places you've signed?
1. Cover of the Bible 2. On skin with the comment: write it neatly, I'm getting it tattooed 3. On a passport/phone/iPod/car

When were you afraid?
1. On a Panama Air plane from Columbia to Panama. "Two hours in a thunderstorm. The plane swinged and staggered and banged. Didn't laugh at all."
2. On the USA tour. "Our bus driver went 120 kilometers per hour on the highway and we hit for example a truck. When the trip was over you noticed you were shaking. We had to say to the driver that thank you but we'll continue without you."
3. In Quito, Ecuador. "We got serious and real like death treats before a show. The letter said 'this is a shamanistic country we don't want rockbands here. If you go on stage you will be shot.' That was scary and straining."

The best pirate album you've seen?
"From Tallin we found in 2000 Nightwish Greatest Hits Platinum Edition. It had 28 songs. Which is funny because it was after our third album and the band had something like 35 songs."

What are Nightwish's best covers?
1. Walking in the Air 2. High Hopes 3. Phantom of the Opera

What are Nightwish's best songs?
1. Poet and the Pendulum 2. Creek Mary's Blood 3. Dead Boy's Poem

 

Transcribed and translated by Afrodite from the Nightwish Discussion Board