Nightwish – The end of an era

The cooperation of Nightwish and Tarja Turunen is history. A few hours after the last show of the ‘Once Upon A Tour 2004-2005’ in Helsinki Tuomas Holopainen sacked the image of the band. Rock Hard accompanies the band at their last common weekend and finds out the reason for the split as the first magazine in a moving interview.

The calm before the storm
During the approach to Helsinki Finland shows itself from its most beautiful side. It is a sunny autumn day. The woods and the meadows shine in different tones of brown and green and the white clouds are reflected in the steel-blue lakes. All the passengers at the airplane are pressing their noses against the windowpane to admire the nature. Only a young American pesters a stewardess with an unbelieving expression if she is really sure that Finnland is not a part of the Netherlands.
The drive to the hotel passes by in no time because the radio of the bus driver plays songs by HIM, Children of Bodom, Green Day and Europe. But Nightwish seem to be the true heroes of the Finnish music scene at this weekend. Their show in Hartwall Arena is announced on the radio every few minutes. The Finnish quintet does have the whole town of Helsinki in its grip. Not only on the radio the reports about the last show on the next evening follow hot on each other’s heels - in the daily press, different teeny mags and for the ladies at the hotel’s reception desk Tarja and Co are topic number one as well.

But then the first disillusionment comes up because of a phone call with the band's manager Ewo Rytkönen. The rehearses for the upcoming gig will last until midnight, so there will be no time for the planned interview with Tarja. “Tarja is not available for an interview anyway”, the blond giant adds. No explanation is given why Miss Turunen will not do the interview which was planned for a long time.

The situation gets really strange when we find out that Tarja doesn’t stay in the same hotel as her bandmates.

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