LIVE REPORT: Diamonds Are Forever
Ahh, a rare moment where I crawled out from my cozy pre-snow cave to enjoy some live music once more! I’m still enjoying my post-music-journalism life, but every so often, there’s something intriguing enough to lure me back out to do some writing. This time, on November 29th, 2025, I headed over to Kannusali in Espoo—a place I’ve only been once before—to see Diamonds Are Forever. This was hosted by Showband Spectre, with three vocalists and an introduction by Divalicious. Why did I go? Firstly, because I really love James Bond theme songs, but secondly, because I also really love Helena Haaparanta and I knew she was one of the vocalists.
Is it just me, or is this photo missing a third vocalist, perhaps in that open space on the left?
Kannusali is a bit of a strange venue, and even having been there before, I wasn’t entirely sure where to go on arrival (I had been selling merch the last time, which is why I never saw the hall itself). The whole place is a sort of cultural center built into the ground and has multiple rooms, including—I believe—some sports practice spaces. There was a sign saying where the hall was, but arrows can be a bit ambiguous and when there’s an arrow pointing to a door that locks with a passcode, it’s still a bit disorienting because it feels like a staff entrance. Then again, if you go downstairs, which seems like the logical place to go, you’ll hit another code-locked door which is the actual staff entrance, so all-in-all it’s very confusing and I feel like they should put a big sign on or over the door that says “Kannusali” just so people are clear on where to go, because I wasn’t the only one looking for how to get inside. Fortunately, waiting for everyone else to go somewhere is a tried and true tactic.
Now, before we get into it, here’s who was playing on this night!
Showband Spectre:
Soloists:
Sara Nuutinen
Janne Lohilahti
Helena Haaparanta
Conductor:
Mikko Aaltio
Band:
Drums - Timo Tihtonen
Percussion - Petteri Varis
Piano - Anna-Maria Pappila
Synthesizer - Otto Taipale
Guitar - Jakke Setälä
Bass - Sylvi Saarekas
Brass:
Trumpet - Hugo Haukkamaa
Tenor Saxophone & Transverse Flute - Paavo Huttunen
French Horn - Louna Rantanen
First Trombone - Aarni Häkkinen
Second Trombone - Iiro Jaakkola
Strings:
First Violin - Krista Pulkkinen
Second Violin - Jutta Halme
Viola - Kaisa Saarilehto
Cello - Sara Devoyon
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The show started a few minutes late (or a fair bit early, depending on who you asked), at which point Helena Haaparanta came out to introduce the night, starting off by introducing Divalicious. Now, of course, most of the introductions and banter were in Finnish, so I can’t comment much on that, but ghatdamn… I usually make an effort to not comment on appearances but all of the leading women of the evening were dressed most spectacularly in evening gowns, and none more flashy and The Great Gatsby-esque than Divalicious’ shimmering golden gown.
She kicked off the evening with a rendition of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” after which she was joined by a couple of dancers. I had a soft hope that they would be tap dancing, since they came out after the song was over, but alas, they were not. They still did a really nice job though, so no complaints. After this, Janne Lohilahti came to bring her a pair of long black gloves and a black feather boa for “Why Don’t You Do Right (Get Me Some Money Too).” Finally, she wrapped up, joined by three dancers this time in sparkling black outfits—very fitting for the show—for her only 007 track, “Die Another Day.”
At this point, the band came out and Helena returned to introduce Showband Spectre and the three solo vocalists. Funnily enough, I’m actually familiar with the conductor, Mikko Aaltio… I think Tuomas Välimaa (ex-Ember Falls, Everwave) had shouted him out once for some video game music, or something of that sort, so I’ve been following him for a few years now. That said, I hadn’t seen him live in action before, so this was a very pleasant surprise. Even better? I think they picked most of the best theme songs from the classic film series. He did a great job keeping things together too—they restarted a couple times, but the result was good and worthwhile every time they did.
They set the show off with the traditional and ever-familiar James Bond theme song from Dr. No, the highlight of which was Mikko getting into it and… I don’t want to say he was dancing since his feet were still quite solidly planted on the ground, but perhaps his knees were dancing? Either way, the flapping legs got a big grin out of me—I love watching people enjoying themselves, especially in music, and double-especially a conductor. There was a bit of wonky sound in that first song, but I’m not sure if that was because there was only one trumpet (and trumpets are notoriously loud), so something sounded a wee bit off in a couple moments, but I couldn’t place my finger on exactly what. Beyond that, the original theme is a fantastic song and really came to life live—props to Jakke Setälä on guitars for really bringing out those classic Western-sounding guitar notes, especially whenever there was the classic note at the end of a song.
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The first song with a vocalist was “From Russia with Love,” and I was immediately surprised because I had expected Janne to be singing, but they did a very pleasant gender-bend with Sara Nuutinen doing it. She seemed a little bit jittery, but it went really well and I was very pleased by how great it sounded done by a female voice. Next was Helena’s rendition of “Goldfinger”—not a song I was familiar with but damn if Helena’s deep voice wasn’t robust and absolutely perfect for it. I know she has a powerful lower register but I haven’t heard her use it live before and this show generally was amazing for showing that off. Then came “Thunderball,” the Tom Jones classic, which Janne did spectacularly.
From this point onward, a few songs here and there had backing vocals from the other soloists, starting with “You Only Live Twice” as done by Helena. She’d have been brilliant on her own but the backing vocals added a bit of texture and that extra oomph and flavor that help these songs pop. If you have extra vocalists, why not use them, right? Any nerves seemed to have been washed away by “Diamonds Are Forever,” as Sara showed off true diva nature. I also enjoyed the way the song got funkier—it’s present in the original, of course, but very understated. In this version, it was amped up and dressed up a lot by the band and I loved the way they did it. And I know “Live and Let Die” more for the Guns ‘N’ Roses cover than the Wings original, the latter of which I’m not especially fond of. Janne once again was spectacular. The band’s live bombast retained some of the GnR oomph that makes me like that version better, so I really liked the way this one sounded live. Also, I never registered the reggae moments in the song before, which is a bit bizarre because they’ve always been there; hearing the instrumentals so loudly really brought out some interesting things I either didn’t catch in the album versions.
Another unfamiliar one for me was “Nobody Does it Better,” which I’m sure I had confused in my head with “Nothing Compares 2 U” from Sinead O’Connor for some reason. This is a phenomenal song, originally sung by Carly Simon. The band definitely took this one in a racy direction by the end—very sexy brass, I dig it! And there was so much personality from the singers in general. Helena’s take on “Moonraker,” for example, was very classic and chill, yet alluring, while Janne’s version of “The Living Daylights” stood out for how much he puts his whole body into the performance. Furthermore, I am not a fan of ‘80s new wave acts like A-ha, so this version was a huge step up for me. And another personal highlight of the night was “License to Kill,” another gender-bent song originally from Gladys Knight, which I officially consider to be my favorite stalker/serial killer song (seriously, listen to those lyrics, they’re… alarming to say the least) and Janne was perfect, even nailing all of the original vocalizations—bravo!
“Goldeneye” by Sara was one of those songs that just makes you want to go “yasss queen!” Again, that diva style was full-frontal. “Tomorrow Never Dies” was likewise stunning, with subtle use of guitar and bass for a little boost to the twang. Then we got to one of my all-time favorite Bond songs, “The World Is Not Enough” (originally by Garbage), and Helena’s power gave me full-body goosebumps. And in the third gender-bend of the night, Helena also did Chris Cornell’s “You Know My Name,” which makes perfect sense because she used to sing in metal bands and has the grit for one of the most rock ‘n’ roll Bond themes. Needless to say, it was another highlight.
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Now, again, I’m a big fan of Bond themes but I’m not a full geek about it, so I didn’t know that there was a duet in the newer tracks (though I endlessly lament that the “Summer Wine” cover by Ville Valo and Natalia Avalon should have been a Bond theme because it sure as hell sounds like one… but I guess it was from another film). So lucky me, Janne and Sara took on the duet originally by Alicia Keys and Jack White for my first experience hearing “Another Way to Die.” Damn. Just… wow. Sara was also singing some of the guitar lines—a little showy, but if you’ve got it, flaunt it, right? She then did Adele’s “Skyfall”—one I would have expected Helena to sing due to Adele’s lower voice, but was not disappointed by the performance. I love the pianos in that one and the dramatic ascent was spectacular, especially at the climax. Yowza!
“Writing’s on the Wall” is probably the least interesting of the songs selected (and of the Bond songs overall, it sounds the least like one), but Janne’s slow and dramatic performance still made it work wonderfully. The instrumental, “Final Ascent,” worked as a strong penultimate track, leading into Sara finishing with the most recent Bond song, Billie Eilish’s “No Time to Die,” which I didn’t know existed. She was really missing a spotlight in that one as she stepped away from the others to the front-center for it. It’s not the most exciting Bond song and I wouldn’t necessarily have chosen it for the last, but they were going chronologically, so it makes sense, it’s just unfortunate that it’s not the most killer song to end a show with. A solid choice for a finisher could have been “A View to a Kill”—a personal favorite Bond song and one of the most lively, and one they surprisingly didn’t play… though I saw the Northern Kings perform that once, so I consider myself sated nonetheless. Now, if I could have made one genuine suggestion, it would have been really cool to hear a song that featured all three of the singers as the grand finale, but, alas, I was not so fortunate. That said, it was merely a missed opportunity, as the show was otherwise excellent all around.
Overall? I have no regrets about driving all the way out to Espoo from the middle of nowhere to hear Showband Spectre playing some Bond songs. I’ve never had the chance to hear Bond themes live before, so it was an incredible opportunity and I absolutely adored hearing all the interesting takes on the music, the way the live band added a lot of oomph and flavor to some of the simpler songs, and the way the vocalists really brought everything to life. Live music has a hard time keeping my attention these days due to the 10 years of music journalism, so the fact that time flew by says quite a lot. If I have any feedback, it would relate more to production, as there did seem to be a little tension/confusion at times—for example, what time the show was meant to start. That said, they were minor things that didn’t relate to the overall feel of the event and I would absolutely recommend checking out any of these performers or the Showband Spectre if you get the chance!
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Setlist:
Divalicious
Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend
Why Don’t You Do Right (Get Me Some Money Too)
Die Another Day
Showband Spectre
James Bond Theme (from Dr. No)
From Russia with Love (Matt Monro cover)
Goldfinger (Shirley Bassey cover)
Thunderball (Tom Jones cover)
You Only Live Twice (Nancy Sinatra cover)
Diamonds Are Forever (John Barry cover)
Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
Nobody Does it Better (Carly Simon cover)
Moonraker (John Barry cover)
The Living Daylights (A-ha cover)
License to Kill (Gladys Knight cover)
Goldeneye (Tina Turner cover)
Tomorrow Never Dies (Sheryl Crowe cover)
The World Is Not Enough (Garbage cover)
You Know My Name (Chris Cornell cover)
Another Way to Die (Alicia Keys & Jack White cover)
Skyfall (Adele cover)
Writing’s On the Wall (Sam Smith cover)
Final Ascent
No Time to Die (Billie Eilish cover)
