27.9.2019 Marko Hietala @ Tavastia, Helsinki

Some months ago, MARKO HIETALA surprised the world with his solo debut “Mustan sydämen rovio”. As NIGHTWISH is preparing for their upcoming album, there is a little break in activities, that’s why Marko Hietala has the possibility to now tour with his brand new album, on 27 September 2019 the band took a stop at Tavastia, Helsinki. We packed up our gear and made sure we were present to hear those proggy songs live.

During our interview, Marko Hietala described his songs as hard prog, a combination of things he had done in the past. We haven’t had the opportunity to truly immerse ourselves into the songs in a live setting, as we only managed to catch a couple of songs from his set during Tuska. Yet, this album has truly been one of my favorite releases from 2019, and finally being able to watch those songs played live, has been something I’ve been really looking forward to.

An electronic intro marked the beginning of the evening, it didn’t take the band long to arrive on stage on the tones of “Tähti, hiekka ja varjo”, a strong start of a great evening. The venue was quite packed, but still there was a lot of room, with an audience that seemed a bit older, this sure isn’t music you can dance to or start moshing on but however it was clear most people in the audience enjoyed the songs to the maximum and zoned out a bit while listening to the music. “Kuolleiden jumalten poika” followed in the same style, before “Isäni ääni”, Marko Hietala spoke to the audience introducing the first single of his debut album.

A lot of the songs from his debut album followed, and showed us their true colors, with vibes from progressive rock, folk, and many more, it was a perfect mixture of songs. The band, however, surprised the audience also with some Finnish classics – that I had never heard of before, starting with “Olet lehdetön puu” by HECTOR. My favorite song of the evening, however, was “Juoksen rautateitä”, which was perhaps the most energetic song of the evening, and induced the loudest cheers and applause. “Muukalainen” was another cover, that the crowd seemed to enjoy a lot, even though again it was an unfamiliar song to me. Another great moment was “Kiviä”, a song that the audience helped Marko sing.

Wondering what the encore could be, we were again surprised. This time by a cover of BLACK SABBATH, something Marko Hietala used to do with his cover band SAPATTIVUOSI. “War Pigs” (or “Sotasiat” in its Finnish rendition) was a definite surprise to hear, I would have perhaps expected a PINK FLOYD cover or something, but definitely a welcome surprise. One track of his album hadn’t been played yet, so finally it was time for the introspective “Totuus vapauttaa”. A beautiful ending to an outstanding night.

This music, or show may not have been the most energetic performance of Marko Hietala we have ever seen, but the music allowed to just relax and get into a zen state of mind, as is what progressive music and especially rock usually does for me. People were having a great time nonetheless. Hopefully, Marko gets the chance to do more of these shows as time progresses.

GALLERY

Setlist

  1. Tähti, hiekka ja varjo
  2. Kuolleiden jumalten poika
  3. Isäni ääni
  4. Laulu sinulle
  5. Vapauden kuolinmarssi
  6. Olet lehdetön puu (Hector cover)
  7. Unelmoin öisin
  8. Minä olen tie
  9. Juoksen rautateitä
  10. Muukalainen (Fredi cover)
  11. Kiviä
  12. Sotasiat (Sapattivuosi song) (encore)
  13. Totuus vapauttaa (encore)

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