Nightwish keyboardist / founder Tuomas Holopainen is featured in a new interview with Metal Hammer discussing the band's upcoming virtual livestream show and the departure of bassist / vocalist Marko Hietala in December 2020. Following is an excerpt from the chat.

Metal Hammer: What are you going to do with the set-list (for the livestream)? Will it lean towards the last album, or will it be more of a greatest hits set?

Tuomas: "There will be songs from the new album, which will be a world premiere because they’ve never been performed before. But then it will also feature songs from all the albums – ‘best of’ or ‘greatest hits’ or whatever you want to call them. I’ve never been a fan of playing a certain album from beginning to end; it just doesn’t have the drama for me. And naturally, because Marko has now left the band, there are some prolific songs that we were intending to perform that we cannot perform now: 'The Islander', 'While Your Lips Are Still Red', and 'Endlessness' from the new album. But just have to adapt.

Metal Hammer: Is it going to be weird playing without Marko?

Tuomas: "He was with us for 20 years, so it's gonna be really weird. And when he announced his thing – this was last December when he sent us a group email – I have to be honest, I was completely devastated for a few days. I was almost completely sure that this was the end of the band. I remember calling our guitar player, Emppu (Vuorinen), and saying, 'Should we call it quits? This is too much, it just keeps happening and happening to us.' He said, 'Yeah, let's do it, there's no future.' But then after a few days passed, we had a little meeting with the band and the management, and I realised the music is still there and that's the most essential part of this whole thing. I want to write songs, the band wants to perform them, there's still so much to give to the world that we should give it one more chance. And another point was that it's been 24 years and quite the ride. This is not the way to end it."

Read the complete interview here.

Nightwish recently released a new trailer for their upcoming livestream show, An Evening With Nightwish In A Virtual World. Watch below:

The interactive An Evening With Nightwish In a Virtual World concert experiences that will kick off the Human. :II: Nature. World Tour has been rescheduled from March to May due to changes in the band’s touring schedule. The new dates are Friday, May 28th and Saturday, May 29th.

Nightwish will perform in a tavern called The Islanders Arms built in a virtual world for two nights in May. On both nights, the fans will experience an unforgettable 1.5-hour performance, hearing songs live off the latest album, Human. :II: Nature. for the first time ever. These two nights will have their own, slightly different setlists.

- Friday, May 28th: Europe: 8pm CET / 7pm GMT, duration approx. 90min
- Saturday, May 29th: North and South America: 8pm ET (UTC-5) / 5pm PT (UTC -8) / 10pm BRT (UTC-3) / 7pm CST (UTC -6), duration approx. 90min

Virtual VIP sessions with the bass player will be held on both dates before the show (schedule to be confirmed later).

The live events to be experienced at Burst.fi. A recording of the concert will be available for 48 hours after the event for all the ticket holders. More details and tickets at Nightwish.com.

Tickets purchased for the original March dates are automatically valid for the new May dates and do not need to be exchanged.

If you have purchased a two evening ticket and would like to upgrade to a VIP package:

Choose the addition option VIP Europe upgrade or VIP World upgrade on www.nightwish.com. Customers in Europe can choose either one of the options. VIP packages will go on sale February 15th. Limited quantity.

If you have purchased a two evening ticket + t-shirt bundle and would like to upgrade to a VIP package:

The t-shirt sold with the VIP package is different from the one in the prior ticket + t-shirt bundle (additional print on the back). It is not possible to cancel or exchange a previously purchased t-shirt for the shirt sold with the VIP Europe package. You can complement your order by choosing the addition option VIP Europe upgrade (in addition to a two evening ticket and a virtual session, you will receive 2 different shirts and a VIP pass) or VIP World upgrade (you will receive a two evening ticket and a virtual session, but not the VIP shirt or a VIP pass) on www.nightwish.com. Customers living in Europe can purchase either one of the options. VIP packages on sale February 15th. Limited quantity.

The t-shirts and VIP passes will be mailed during the spring.