Or, as the couple on the beach would have it: “Holy shit.” “Here we are now, after 20 years and all the ups and downs, doing these kinds of shows. “We’re country boys from Finland,” says Tuomas Holopainen, the keyboard player, musical mastermind and king of understatement who’s steered Nightwish from the backwaters of the Northern European symphonic metal ghetto into the wide open seas of international success. Since they formed almost 20 years ago in the sleepy town of Kitee, eastern Finland, they’ve done more than any other group to turn symphonic metal from a cult concern into a worldwide commercial juggernaut. Already today, they’ve had their photos taken by a pair of middle-aged women in a hotel lobby, been congratulated on their achievements by the owners of the oldest sauna in Finland, and been watched from afar by a group of dog-walkers near an old observation tower deep in the woods.īut then that’s life when you’re the most successful band Finland’s ever produced. Either that or they’ve learned to take it in their stride. “Can we get their autographs?”īy the lake, the six members of Nightwish – and it is definitely them – appear oblivious to the attentions of these two unlikely fans as they line up for a photoshoot.

“Holy shit,” he reiterates, just to make sure.

Andrew loyd