Nightwish paid tribute to late Children of Bodom frontman Alexi Laiho during their performance in Oslo, Norway this past Sunday, November 14.
On-stage monitors showed a photo of Laiho while the band performed their song “The Greatest Show on Earth.” You can watch fan-filmed footage of the tribute below.
Nightwish keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen detailed his friendship with Laiho for Metal Hammer in May:
“[W]e were really close about 10 of 15 years ago. We hung out a lot. I went to his place, he came to my place in Kitee. We shared a love of music, and also Donald Duck and board games – innocent, child-like things…
“We knew he was going through some troubles with his physical health, but when I got the phone call [that Laiho died], I remember falling on my knees – like, ‘no way’.
“It punched me big time. I really miss him. He was a wonderful personality. There was an innocence in him, a naivety when it came to music that I really respected.”
Laiho passed away in December at the age of 41 as the result of “alcohol-induced degeneration of the liver and pancreas connective tissue” (he also “had a cocktail of painkillers, opioids and insomnia medication in his system”). His final recordings, with his new band Bodom After Midnight, were released in April under the title Paint the Sky with Blood.
Nightwish will tour the U.S. in the spring. Dates are as follows:
May 04 – Toronto, ON @ History [tickets]
May 06 – Montreal, QC @ Mtelus [tickets]
May 07 – Lowell, MA @ Tsongas Arena [tickets]
May 08 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 [tickets]
May 10 – Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore [tickets]
May 12 – Chicago, IL @ Radius [tickets]
May 13 – The Fillmore – St. Paul, MN @ The Fillmore [tickets]
May 15 – Mission Ballroom – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom [tickets]
May 18 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield [tickets]
May 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern [tickets]
May 21 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern [tickets]
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