Finnish symphonic metal giants Nightwish are coming to the end of their world tour which began a year ago, partially to support their last album, ‘Human :II: Nature’, and which has embraced both North and Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
The final seven shows are back in Europe, with one each in Sweden and Norway and two in Finland including in Kitee, the home town of the remaining founder members, Tuomas Holopainen and Emppu Vuorinen.
Some of these shows are at festivals, where sets can be shorter than in the case of individual shows.
And that’s one of the reasons I’m recommending the first of them, in Stockholm, on 3rd June at a venue called Evenew, a flexible tent/marquee which can hold up to 6,000 people and which is located in a large grassy area next to Stockholm University, about 5km north of Gamla Stan (regarded as the centre of Stockholm) and with a subway (rail) station close by.
If you haven’t seen Nightwish live I very much recommend that you do, while you can. In all the years I’ve been watching live music I’ve seen very few bands that come close to them for the standard of the live performance, their tightness, and the epic atmosphere they generate while they are the only band I can think of which creates at least one memorable hook in every single song. I have to go all the way back to the top prog bands of the 1970s (ELP, Yes, Genesis et al) to make any sort of comparison.
Not to mention the fact they are fronted by a woman, Floor Jansen, I have described as the #1 female rock singer on Earth right now.
Nightwish perform ‘Seven Days to the Wolves’ in New York, May 2022
And while they are nominally ‘symphonic metal’ you can’t attach any single genre to them; they play everything from Gaelic folk to prog to power ballads to metal, often in the same song.
This from ‘Progarchives’. I couldn’t put it better.
“Finland’s NIGHTWISH has founded a medium where pure angelic vocal beauty combines with rugged metal guitars, and where intricate keyboard arrangements team up with driving rhythms, creating a soaring stylistic mix.”
Why do I say “see them while you can?”
There is some uncertainty about their future at the moment. They have announced that they will not be touring their next album which is scheduled for release in 2024 and will go on indefinite hiatus. Moreover that album is the last of a trilogy. Meanwhile Floor Jansen, who has been ill during the last year but who seems to have recovered and to be back to full fitness, has been forging a solo career of her own, which I suspect may drag her further away from the band in years to come.
I hope I’m wrong about that but it is a possibility.
So this is the time to see Nightwish. They know themselves that they are playing what will be their last gigs for quite some time, and after a decent break following their Asian tour, I’m sure they will be very much ‘up for it.’
Oh, and for Floor Jansen it’s a ‘home’ gig. She might be Dutch and sing in a mainly Finnish band but she lives only 200km north of Stockholm.
Information on remaining Nightwish shows:
https://www.nightwish.com/tour/upcoming
Information on Evenew (in Swedish, English translation is available directly from search engine): https://www.evenewarena.com/
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nightwish
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NightwishBand
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nightwish/
