Every Finn knows the infamous cruises to Tallinn or Stockholm. Lots of drunken people, crappy buffet food and even worse house bands performing evergreen tangos to the seniors. Luckily sometimes there’s a few good exceptions to the formula and these nights were one of those. In last September Nightwish announced that they will be doing two concerts on the cruise ship from Turku to Stockholm. Both nights were sold out really fast but luckily we got a cabin for the second night.When we arrived at Turku harbour I saw lots of dark wearing people coming out of the ship. They all looked exhausted, but still had the biggest smile on their faces. I knew this cruise would be fantastic. The theme for the trip was already set in the terminal. The front wall of the terminal was covered with a huge backdrop (or ad) from the Imaginaerum era. Inside troubadour Bryn Jones was performing acoustic covers while everybody was waiting impatiently to board the ship. Soon the cleaners came out and we got onboard.Before the main event there was time to get something to eat and do a little shopping. The waiter at the restaurant gave us a little “inside tipâ€. Last night there were so much people that they had some difficulties to fit them all in the nightclub where Nightwish was performing. Obviously we wanted a good spot to see the show. We decided to cut some preparing and head there early.We went to the nightclub about 1,5 hours before. Some DJ’s made waiting more tolerable by playing rock and metal hits from bands like Judas Priest and Rammstein. There were a few rows of people standing in front of the stage and more people were coming in. We got a good spot relatively close to the stage. I especially wanted to see Jukka Nevalainen’s replacement Kai Hahto as close as possible.Nightwish released their newest album Endless Forms Most Beautiful in March and I’ve been listening it more regularly than the two albums before it. The Darwinian evolution theme on the record ties the songs together nicely. Best moments of the album are the first two songs and the epic 24 minute long finale.The concert started with the album opener Shudder Before the Beautiful and was followed with Yours Is an Empty Hope. After that it was a mix of new songs (Elan, Weak Fantasy, My Walden), hits (Amaranth, Ever Dream, Storytime) and not-so-hits (Romanticide, 7 Days To The Wolves) from the current and couple of previous records. Halfway through we got one of the high peaks of the concert when a teaser to Wishmaster started playing. The crowd went bananas and sang the whole song through so loudly that I couldn’t even hear Floor Jansen singing. Couple of oldies were also served with Stargazers and Sleeping Sun. I read somewhere that Floor herself requested to take Sleeping Sun back in the setlist. After that it was the time for my personal high peak of the night. The Greatest Show on Earth and Ghost Love Score. I was a bit bummed out because the first one was shortened when compared to the album version. But that was forgotten quickly because it still was awesome. “We were here!†-chants sent shivers down my spine. And so did the last part of Ghost Love Score when Floor gets to use her vocal chords to the max. Chills every time. The concert ended with the familiar ending of Last Ride of the Day.After the two hour concert we headed to the front of the ship where Steve’n’Seagulls started playing. Steve’n’Seagulls plays rock and metal covers in a hillbilly-bluegrass-style. They have gotten famous relatively quickly and are doing a lot of gigs. They will be playing even in Wacken Open Air for four days! I think they were absolutely brilliant. And the audience seemed to have really fun. After that it was time to hit the bed.After a quick breakfast we headed to the back of the ship where a Nightwish related quiz was starting. The prize was a pass to meet & greet the band. Overall the questions were easy, but there were few harder ones that required knowledge or luck. I was a bit annoyed when I noticed that half of the people were using their phones to cheat. Then there was a Nightwish bingo (yep, you read it right) with more meet & greet passes as a prize.The main event for the second day was an acoustic gig by Marco Hietala and Troy Donockley. They started their show by performing Money by Pink Floyd and Wonderful Life by Black. After that Kai Hahto joined them on stage with some percussion and they performed Ace of Spades together. For the remaining few songs Floor Jansen joined them on stage. Now as quartet they performed Alone by Heart and Edema Ruh. I saw that Tuomas (Holopainen) and Emppu (Vuorinen) were watching them from the VIP area and especially Tuomas really seemed to enjoy the set.After that the cruise was almost over. I’m really glad I got to be a part of this fantastic trip. It’s been awhile since Nightwish has played on a smaller stage in Finland. It was a refreshing change compared to the big outdoor stadium gigs (not that there’s anything wrong with those). The band performed perfectly and really seemed to enjoy this special occasion. And so did I.
For almost two decades, Nightwish has been a dominate force in the world of symphonic metal. After eight studio albums and two vocalist changes the bands popularity is still on an upswing. Their most recent album “Endless Forms Most Beautiful†was just released and has already been a huge hit with their fans. Nightwish started their worldwide tour in support of the album in North America this spring. We caught up with band founder and primary composer, Tuomas Holopainen, in Silver Spring, Maryland in the USA on the final date of the 2015 North American tour. We discussed the new album, current and future tours, and the joys of wine drinking! Here is how it went:This is Joe Prostredny with Afternoiz and I’m here with Tuomas from Nightwish! Thank you very much for talking with us today!Tuomas: My pleasure.So, we’re here in Silver Spring, Maryland, May 14, and it’s the last day of the North American tour! How has the tour been going so far?Tuomas: We were just talking about this tour with the band mates. This has to be the most relaxed leg we’ve ever done. The organization has been so good, the road tour, the tour manager. It’s been so smooth, so easy. The fans have been fantastic. All the shows have been really good, some even superb. So, absolutely, no complaints.Good! Is anything special planned for tonight, this being the last show, or…?Tuomas: Well, there might be some extra hassle going onstage (laughs). Maybe all the bands will hop up there at some point, there might be some tricks, something going on, I don’t know…I guess we’ll see tonight.Tuomas: We’ll see. (smiles)This is you first tour since the release of the new album, “Endless Forms Most Beautifulâ€. Have you gotten much feedback from the fans regarding the new album and the new songs?Tuomas: Well, yeah, and it’s mainly been really, really positive. We didn’t really expect that. Well, of course everybody brings up Floor, and they seem to be really happy with her performance. Also, Kai Hahto, the replacement drummer has been doing a fantastic job, and people seem to be really interested in the schematics of the album. They seem to appreciate the idea of a scientific approach to this album, so mainly just positive. Some people got a little upset about Richard Dawkins (an evolutionary biologist) being on the album but other than that it’s been just incredibly positive!With all the great songs on the new album, how did you choose which ones you would perform on this tour?Tuomas: Well, the ones that just feel like the perfect live songs; the ones that we enjoy playing the most. We actually rehearsed almost all the songs on the album; we are changing the set list quite a bit. So, some songs just work and those we like to play. We even dropped out “Nemoâ€, which is kind of like our biggest hit.Yeah I noticed, I saw you in L.A. and Phoenix and you didn’t play it at either of those venues.Tuomas: Right. It just felt like a necessary evil so to say. Why do we play this when nobody feels this song anymore, so let’s just give it some space and bring it back at some other tour.You’ve been playing a lot of other great older songs on the tour. Floor has pointed out that “Stargazers†is back in the set list after 10 years. Of all the songs in your back catalog, what made you bring that specific one back?Tuomas: Actually, we talked about which songs to bring back with Floor; which ones she would feel most comfortable with. And “Stargazers†was the immediate choice and “Sleeping Sun†as well, because that’s one of her all time favorites. So, those two for now. In the future there might be something else coming up as well.Any favorite memories from the tour that you’d be willing to share with us?Tuomas: I think the highlight of the whole tour was the Greek Theater show in L.A. because of the surroundings, and because of the audience. Because my mother was there, it was just a really, really magical evening.I shot that show. I was down in the photo pit. It’s a great venue!Tuomas: It’s so beautiful, really inspiring to see all those trees lighted up from the stage and all that. Truly magical.Speaking of magical… “There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.†That is the final sentence from “On the Origin of The Species†by Charles Darwin and it’s also on the album. The entire album seems to be a tribute and celebration of the wonder, the joy, and the history of life. Nightwish albums have always been a grand fantasy trip, and this one is as well. But this one is also very grounded in the reality of biological science and evolution. Where did that inspiration come from?Tuomas: It’s always been there, I mean, I’ve always been fascinated about natural sciences, especially biology. My biggest heroes since I was a kid include persons like Carl Sagan, Charles Darwin, and then some recent finds like Richard Dawkins, for example. So a few years ago I just (laughs) went deep into that stuff and started reading a lot of books. Then I saw the “Cosmos†series, first the original Carl Sagan one, then the remake with Neil deGrasse Tyson and it made a huge impact on me. And I just started to feel that this is the stuff that Nightwish needs to do now. We have never really explored this end of the spectrum. Nightwish has always been more about personal stories out of my own diary or something fantastic, which is beautiful, but it just felt like the right time to do it.Well I thought the album was a very stunning creation! You know Darwin never mentioned the term “evolution†anywhere in his book. The term “evolved†is only the last word. He kind of circled around it, said divergent development and phrases like that. Nobody is 100% sure why he did that. They presumed that the word was so controversial back then that he was almost afraid to use it.Tuomas: Because of his wife as well.Yeah? Well, even today, with all scientific proof in front of us, so many people deny evolution. And you can’t completely blame religion because the Catholic Church, which is the biggest Christian organization in the world, embraces evolution.Tuomas: Yes!Why do you think there is so much resistance in the world? Why do people deny the evidence that is right in front of them… all around them?Tuomas: I think some people find the idea that we all share the same common ancestor somehow diminishing to the human species. I think it has to do with human arrogance, to put it simply. We think we are above all other creation because we have a really evolved brain. We’re not, we’re all cousins, and to me that’s the most beautiful and humbling fact that there is. But I think for the evolution deniers it has something to do with the fact that they wouldn’t feel superior anymore if they accepted it. I mean the fact is that if you don’t believe in evolution… it’s not even a matter of belief, it’s a scientific fact. The evidence is so overwhelming. So if you don’t believe in evolution, you’re either uneducated or… nuts.I totally agree. The phrase I’ve heard is purposeful ignorance.Tuomas: Yes. Exactly…The album’s magnum opus, “The Greatest Show on Earthâ€, is also the title of a book by the famed evolutionary biologist who you mentioned previously, Richard Dawkins. Is the song a tribute to his work or is it just similar subject matter that led you to call it that?Tuomas: Well, it’s inspired by the book of the same name and I thought there is no better title to tell the story of evolution on planet Earth than “The Greatest Show on Earthâ€. I thought he wouldn’t mind (laughs). Then when I met him I asked “Is it ok that I use this?†and he said “Absolutely, yeah, go aheadâ€.You even had him do narration on the album, which I thought was a really cool idea, by the way! But he had never heard of you before.Tuomas: No, never.What was his reaction to the album? Did he actually listen to it?Tuomas: I met him in London a few months ago and I had a chance to play him this song, “The Greatest Show on Earthâ€. He listened to it through earphones and sincerely seemed to like it. He said “Yeah, this is really good stuff, but I need to go deeper into this black holeâ€, so that’s it. But I think he was sincere that he really enjoyed it.This is you first studio album with the new vocalist Floor Jansen. Floor is well known in music circles for her powerful voice and her diversity of singing styles and I’ve personally been a fan of hers for years. She has done a lot of operatic type vocals in the past. Because of that, a lot of people were expecting a more operatic album, similar to Nightwish’s earlier days. A lot of people were surprised that you didn’t take more advantage of that. But what surprised me, because I hadn’t heard Floor live before, was just how powerful her voice is when she is singing soft lyrics! There are tremendous examples of this on the album. And I just loved it! I just floated away on that voice. Did you know she could do that?… was that planned? Or did it just kind of evolve with the songs as the songs were created?Tuomas: Well, we knew that she is such an astounding singer but I don’t think I’ve ever heard her sing in a really ethereal way, a really soft way. So I wanted to explore that and Floor was really intrigued about the idea, you know, “I’ve never done this kind of singingâ€, like she does in ReVamp for example. So it was a lovely challenge and turned out to be just fantastic. And when it comes to the lack of operatic vocals that was a common decision. We all agreed that is just doesn’t sound right to our ears so why use it. Never do stuff just because you can. The first track, “Shudder before the Beautifulâ€, we tried operatic vocals for that one and it just sounded horrible. Well, not horrible, that’s [the wrong word]… it sounded wrong, it didn’t tell the story.“Our Decades in the Sunâ€â€¦ I mean the album is new and this may change, but that’s my favorite song on the album. I just love the way her vocals sound on that song.Tuomas: It’s an incredible song, it really is… and the subject matter.I’m a parent, so that speaks to me too.Tuomas: We haven’t dared to play that song live yet but at some point we definitely will. It’s gonna be hard (laughs).Well. I hope I’m at that show when you do! Nightwish’s music is always very rich and complex; so many layers. Between the band itself, the choir, the orchestra, the percussion sections, how many musicians do you estimate actually contributed to the making of this album?Tuomas: With this album, I think it was about 120.120? That’s quite impressive!Tuomas: Yes! I find the idea that you cannot do everything yet with computers and keyboards. That you actually need to have a real choir and real orchestras to make it sound like that.I think you can tell.Tuomas: You can tell the difference.It sounds more alive.Tuomas: Yeah, it does.Especially the strings.Tuomas: Yes, they do.You did the album and the tour without your long time drummer, Jukka. Kai has stepped in on both the album and the tour due to some health issues that Jukka was having. Now, we haven’t heard much since his departure, how is he doing?Tuomas: He’s doing much better. He visited us in New York for the beginning of this tour. He’s doing much better but still struggling with insomnia. It’s not a new thing; it started in 2004 already, so it’s been going on for more than ten years. We just decided that we’d do this whole tour with Kai and then give it a little breather and let’s see in 2017 how he feels. But he is very much a member of the band, still.I know on the website he is still listed as your primary drummer. On your website, if I’m understanding it correctly, it looks like he may be joining you at Rock in Rio in the fall?Tuomas: Yes, he will! Just to play one or two songs.Well, the fans… they’re gonna love that.Tuomas: Well, Jukka will love it! (laughs).Now, in June, you’ll be doing the first ever Nightwish fan cruise. What can you tell us about that? I’ve just seen a little bit about it on the internet.Tuomas: (laughs) Well, the idea didn’t come from us; it came from the ship company. They have done similar things with a couple of other Finnish bands… and also with Sabaton, I think… and they were great successes so we thought, why not? I mean, if I was a fan of a certain band I would love to go on a cruise which is like, themed after the band, to see a show and just be there. I thought it was a wonderful idea.It sounded really cool. Is that something you’d do again? Or just see how this goes? Is it a one-off?Tuomas: Not definitely a one-off, we’ll just see how it goes first.You have your European headlining tour toward the end of the year. What are the band’s plans for 2016?Tuomas: 2016. First Australia, then there might be, uh, actually… yes… there is another U.S. leg coming.Oh good… Good!Tuomas: Yeah, during the first half of 2016. Then another festival season, then something in the fall then that’s it. I think we should be done by November 2016.And do you jump right back in the studio?Tuomas: I think we’re gonna take some time off after that actually, but we just made a five year plan with the band, so we pretty much know exactly what’s gonna happen until 2020. So interesting things coming up, that much I can say.We’ll be hanging around to find it out! Something else I have to ask… You keep a wine bottle holstered under your keyboards during the live shows, and I’ve seen the fluid level in that wine bottle really drop (laughs). Is that really wine, or is that water in the bottle?Tuomas: It’s wine. Throughout the years, it’s become my thing. Because I’m not a beer drinker.I’m not either, but I love wine!Tuomas: I absolutely adore wine, and I know it’s a bit rough to drink it straight out of the bottle… but it’s just become a habit and it’s kind of my thing on stage.Well, it’s cool, and fans look for it. I just wondered.Tuomas: I never drink before the show and I’ve kind of learned how to do it throughout the set list so that I don’t get too hammered (laughs).(Laughs) Well, Tuomas, we’d like to thank you for taking the time to talk with us today! Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans before we leave you?Tuomas: Thank you for the loyalty. I mean, it’s been nineteen years now and lots of ups, lots of downs. Seeing the reaction from the audience on this tour; more fanatic and more passionate than ever and I think the band is doing better than ever before and the fans are still there. So a huge thank you for that!Thank you very much for your music, it’s awesome and I hope it’s around for years to come!Tuomas: Sure hope so! Thank you!Kiitos!Tuomas: Kiitos! It was a lovely chat!
â€Bullying made me braver†Other's bad mouthing taught Floor Jansen to face hardship with her head up high. She became Nightwish’s singer while still recovering from burnout.– Turning down work doesn’t come easy to me, but I have learned to say no. Floor Jansen hurtles through the lobby bar in Hotel Helka slightly wrinkling her eyebrows. Vigorous steps are accompanied by head shakes.- I can do a lot of things but nothing stupid like that, she snaps.The words come as an answer to the suggestion that would Floor mosh or sing for a video.- No. No, no, no. I’m a serious woman, Floor continues.The 183 centimeter long Floor clearly knows exactly what she wants. She has been creating her career for 20 years and has become one of top names in metal music.The climb to the top has required this sort of sense of direction and a thick skin. On the way there Floor has come across byllying, a lot of bad mouthing and one burnout. Friendship with Tarja Nightwish booked Floor as a vocalist for the first time in 2012. Back then the previous singer Anette Olzon quit the band in the middle of the Imaginaerum-tour.- We quickly became a tight group, Floor tells about the assembly’s early days. Now she’s smiling.Nightwish’s first singer Tarja Turunen was fired from the band via open letter in 2005. Firing came as a shock to Tarja, which made her cry daily. In 2013 Anette Olzon told in an interview with MeNaiset that also she was fired suddenly and before that the band members had decided almost everything for her.Nightwish’s other members have denied the allegations made by the ex-singers.Floor doesn’t want to speak out about the conflicts between the band and previous singers. She and Tarja are on warm terms. They have performed duets together and Tarja has dedicated songs to Floor in her own concerts. At the moment they don’t get to see each other often though since Tarja lives in Argentina. - We are good friends with Tarja. There has never been any problems between us. Whatever Tarja and the other members have between them, it doesn’t affect me, Floor says.- I think Tarja is a fantastically beautiful woman, with a strong personality. Not caring about bullying “Good, ordinary and positiveâ€. These are the words Floor describes her childhood in Holland. The family that included Floor, parents and also a little sister, moved often and usually didn’t live in a town longer than two years.Young Floor wasn’t interested in performing.- I was bullied, so standing in front of an audience wasn’t something I would have wanted to do. I didn’t want the attention, Floor tells.The spark for performing was born when in her final year the school organized a musical. Big roles went to the popular kids but Floor was enjoying her small part in the background wholeheartedly. She stood on stage holding a fruit basket, feeling proud about herself.- It was a magical feeling standing on stage in front of my bullies full of courage. I don’t have anything to prove to them anymore, but back then it was amazing, she recalls.- In my case bullying only led to me becoming braver. I wanted to show to my bullies that I can be exactly myself.Feeling like a winner made Floor continue performing. At 14 Floor got the lead role of a school play ’Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ based on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical. She joined the school band, took part in new plays, made her own music and learned to play the guitar. A stop to learn from At the end of 1990’s Floor did small gigs for friends’ birthday parties. In one she was asked to join a metal band as a backup singer.That band, After Forever, was up and running for 12 years. Because the urge to sing in a metal band didn’t go away, Floor founded the band ReVamp. Two years later the band had to be put on hold, since Floor suffered from burnout.- I had too many things to do at once and I wasn’t working in a way that suits me best. I was so exhausted. I couldn’t do anything for over a year, she describes.- The accumulation of a burnout takes years. Getting rid of it takes as long.The meltdown taught Floor a lot. She understood that exhaustion didn’t come from the amount of work, but from the way she was working. Earlier she would press on so stressed, that she would fall ill always when a vacation came around. When free time was spend getting better, there was no time for really relaxing.She was still recovering when Nightwish invited Floor along to the US tour in 2012.- I had basically no time to think, pack and learn the songs. Suddenly I was onstage in front of people, Floor tells.- Of course I was scared at first, but taking that leap was good for me. I wondered what on earth had I been doing lying on the couch, Floor laughs.In 2013 the position in Nightwish became permanent for the singer. A year later Floor packed her things and moved from Holland to Joensuu. The band's front man Tuomas Holopainen lives about a 100 kilometers away in Kitee, the birth place of Nightwish.- We spend a lot time together with the band. People bring their spouses and companions to social evenings. We are like one family, Floor tells.- I had thought about moving anyway and I chose Finland, since I wanted to learn to speak the language properly. I think I’m a better fit up North than in Holland.- I noticed I liked everything about Finland. Finnish aren’t fake. Dutch are much more superficial. Salty liquorice and internet hate Instead of her new home Floor more often falls asleep in a hotel room's bed. The singer’s weeks are spent sweating on stage. Floor believes that she has learned to work in a way that she relaxes too.- Now I try to actually have a vacation on holidays and relax every day. I have learned to say no, she tells.- Turning work down isn’t easy to me, since I have such a fire and passion for what I do.Floor takes care of herself in the gym and having massages regularly. Taking care of your health is a must. Floor can’t even imagine living the mythical rock star life with booze and partying.- Bands who do that, don’t live more than a couple of years, since they face problems with their health. The lifestyle may sound cool, but it is physically impossible, Floor tells.Trendy diets are not Floor’s thing. She doesn’t eat meat since she finds its production questionable. One Finnish specialty Floor is hooked on.- I love salty liquorice ice cream!She gets to buy her ice creams quite peacefully since fans don’t swarm around her in her hometown Joensuu or even in Helsinki. Sometimes she gets the feeling everyone is watching though.- When I go to buy bread after a workout at the gym my face all red and sweaty, I hope no one recognizes me.In her own music genre Floor is very well known. Most fans accepted her in Nightwish with open arms. But she gets critique too. Some for example claim Floor joined the band only for money. Also her voice and clothes have caused all sorts of views.- Everyone has the right to their opinion. I however don’t understand how people talking online think they know me, Floor snorts.- And I really don’t understand that if someone really doesn’t like me, they set up a hate site and spend all their time there. A found soulmate Now the most important things to Floor are family, friends and Nightwish. The singer flees to Holland for a vacation whenever possible. There, with her parents and mixed breed dog, she can be exactly who she wants to be.- They are the rare few who saw me grow up and know who I was before Nightwish. To them I’m a girl who lies on the couch with baggy pants and watches TV, Floor tells.In the future Floor hopes to find the perfect balance to work and her personal life. A subject she wrote about in the song ‘Wolf and Dog’ released a few years ago.- In the song the dog represent my life at home: the desire to sleep in the same place and be with the people I love. The wolf represent my work, which is sometimes wild and social. Between wolf and dog lies my happiness, Floor says.Even though work at the moment comes first to her, Floor doesn’t rule out getting married and having children.- They would be building blocks to a good, balanced life, Floor smiles.Love she has already found.- I have found my soulmate. I have the love of my life in my life, she reveals.- I have a lot of people around me, who care about me. Without them I wouldn’t have an amazing career or anything at all.
