The rebel never dies – Marko Hietala live at Tavastia, Helsinki 12.2.

Author John Wins - 17.2.2025

A cold winter Wednesday was a hard night for a show, but there was nothing that could stop the hundreds of fans from attending the legendary Tavastia, to enjoy Marko Hietala‘s new show, this time promoting his brand new album Roses from the Deep, released just a week before.

With a venue practically packed, a beautiful backdrop with illustrations of the zodiac, the four band members entered the stage at 20:30 waving to the audience and with smiles on their faces. The night started with “Frankenstein’s Wife”, with Marko’s bass sound very evident. “Rebel of the North”, another song from the most recent album, had a nice performance of the keyboardist Robert Engstrand, who is the new musician responsible for the band’s live keys, replacing Vili Ollila.

Coloring the stage with pink lights and featuring an excellent solo by guitarist Tuomas Wäinölä, “Proud Whore” was presented to the audience, who until then seemed happy with the songs, although just listening, without much interaction. “Isäni ääni” was the first song on the setlist performed in Hietala’s native language, sang with great sensibility.

In 2024 Marko participated in the TV show Vain Elämää, in which musicians gather to talk and pay tribute to each other with versions of classics from their career. The program, which is a success in Finland, brought a new audience of fans to Hietala, which was visible at Tavastia, so it was normal for the bassist to sing something from his participation in the reality show. “Olet lehdetön puu” was well received, although Marko forgot some verses and made some funny faces about it.

“Impatient Zero” had excellent chemistry between the band and the fans, but it was during “Mörkö mainio”, another version taken from Vain Elämää, that the funniest moment of the show happened. Marko left his bass on stage and ran backstage to get his cell phone, made some jokes about what happened and then read the lyrics of the song while singing, always with laughs and his known charisma.

Back on bass, it was time for “The Dragon Must Die“. The progrock song works very well live and had a great drum work of the Finnish living legend Anssi Nykänen, who has been the band’s drummer since its beginning. In fact, Marko never wants the show for himself, but rather to be shared with each of his bandmates. And that’s what happens in “Juoksen rautateitä”, that showed the virtuosity of Tuomas and Robert.

“Two Soldiers” had Wäinölä singing JP Leppäluoto’s parts, who originally recorded the studio version of the song in a duet with Marko. “Roses From the Deep” was probably the most beautiful moment of the night. A beautiful and vibrant performance made by the quartet of musicians.

As previously announced, vocalist Noora Louhimo, known for being the lead singer of Battle Beast, is the special guest on the Finnish tour, and as the first track of her participation, the duet “Left on Mars”, originally recorded by iconic singer Tarja Turunen. Noora is one of the most incredible vocalists in the country, with a powerful voice that matches Marko’s singing, and these two showed a bit of that power in two nostalgic moments of the night. The medley of Nightwish classics, with “Nemo/The Islander/Weak Fantasy/Wish I Had an Angel” was a treat for fans of the Kitee band. Noora is not an opera singer, so she doesn’t imitate or try to sound like Tarja, and it’s her own vocal style that made the versions interesting. The second medley is a tribute to Tarot, an important band in the Finnish metal scene and Hietala’s first foray into the international scene. “Wings of Darkness/The Punishment/Sleepless/Painless/I Walk Forever“, the last one with the return of Louhimo, finished the trip down memory lane.

“Stones”, another song from the album Pyre of the Black Heart, closes the setlist up to that point with a heavy folk song, but a few minutes later came the encore with an already well-known cover present in all of Marko’s shows. Hietala paid homage to his favorite band with “War Pigs” in a psychedelic arrangement and again, with an incredible vocal performance by the band and the audience. “Truth Shall Set You Free” closed the night with the return of Noora, who unfortunately had some problems with her microphone, but nothing that would get in the way of the beautiful duet with Marko’s voice.

After 17 songs, the five musicians said goodbye to the fans, satisfied with the beautiful show, which was another important live chapter in the career of Marko Hietala, one of the most talented musicians that ever came from the land of a thousand lakes. Just a few years ago he had left his career behind, but fortunately wounds have been healed and once again we have the bass, voice and poetry of an artist who insists on persevering and thus continuing to reward us with his art. Whether in Finnish or English, the conversation is always direct to the soul.