www.soundi.fi listopad 2005

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NIGHTWISH and the apocalyptic moods in Brazil and Finland.

Over 1 000 000 sold tickets. 20 000 beers. 6000 plectrums. 5000 flights. 300 nights in hotels. 127 played gigs. 18 months. Several damaged hotel rooms...
...and that one letter.

The guitar player Emppu Vuorinen is sitting on the backstage of the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki after the last concert of the tour promoting their Once album, thinking about the numbers from the the world tour of Nightwish mentioned in an ingress of the moment. "Whew. Those are pretty big numbers... I think it's high time to hibernate...".
For Nightwish, who recently put their line-up in redecoration, the break is as much a welcome than an unavoidable situation. This is because the relationship between the male members of the band and the vocalist Tarja Turunen and her manager Marcelo Cabuli ran totally on the rocks during the exhausting tour that lasted 18 months.
Vuorinen, the keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, the bass player Marco Hietala and the drummer Jukka Nevalainen sought for a solution to their problems for a long time but in the end they were left with only one possible choice. Sacking their lead singer.
The musicians gave Turunen an informative letter immediately after the Hartwall Arena show. The revealing and unembellished examination, signed by all four of them, shoots at Tarja for example following sentences: "You have said yourself that you are merely a ”guest musician” in Nightwish. Now that visit ends and we will continue Nightwish with a new female vocalist." and "It was agreed by the five of us that Nightwish would be the priority in everything that we do during 2004-2005. Still so many things were more important to you. The ultimate example being the already sold-out show in Oslo, which you wanted to cancel because you needed to rehearse for your solo concerts, meet frieds and go to the movies."
Also Tarja's manager husband receives some really harsh criticism: "Somehow Marcelo has changed you from the lovely girl you were into a diva, who doesn`t think or act the way she used to. You are too sure of your irreplaceableness and status."
"Well, that was it. Many things came to the end of their road today and that's why the forthcoming live DVD is going to be called End of an Era" says Nevalainen who keeps his deepest emotions carefully hidden half an hour after the letter was given to Tarja.

Holopainen, the soul of Nightwish, is for his part in a very moved state of mind. Surrounded by his nearest and dearest the man praises the Hartwall gig as "Nightwish's best ever" and isn't necessarily very wrong at all. The darkly painted eyes of the Jack Sparrow -lookalike musician are damp with tears. "There has been a hangman's noose around my heart. I haven't been able to sleep well in several months because I've been constantly thinking about this matter. Unfortunately we were left with only the final option because we were not ready to bury the labour of 9 years of work yet."
Tuomas, reflecting upon his words slowly and thoughtfully doesn't seem bitter, though, but more like a tragic, crestfallen knight who has given up all his strenght. "The topmost feelings are bottomless frustration and disappointment. And I don't think these feelings are going to change in a while."

The confused Turunen for her part tells that the decision to fire her came as a total surprise. "I'm utterly devastated about it. It is cruel to bring something like this into public. I'm also sad that my husband was dragged into this. We could have ended up in the same result by other means. I'm just glad that this decision can never destroy the great music that Nightwish published during its career this far. I will nevertheless never forget the fact I wasn't given a chance to say goodbye to the fans as the singer of Nightwish."