A Girl Traveling with Her Friends: Frolicking Around Finland to See Auri’s Live Debuts
Album Release Tour @ Kiteesali, Kitee; August 13-14th, 2025
& Röskö Fan Meet-Up
At this point in my life, fewer things give me life in the same way as watching likeminded, talented artists be awesome at what they love. With that in mind — and considering the gatherings I’ve been a part of over the past 2 years — the decision to take another trip up to Kitee to watch the debut shows from Auri surely comes as no surprise. However, this tale starts a bit earlier in the day on August 13th, 2025, from before we found ourselves back at the local auditorium, queuing for another first-ever show, but rather, back in the south, picking up Kathy Criswell and Joanna Orchide…
You can check out my recent interview with the band here, or read Kathy’s emailer here!
Reaching Röskö
It all began on August 13th, when I went to meet Kathy — whom I don’t think I should need to introduce at this point — and Joanna, and we set off on a 4-hour drive to the small town of Kitee, known for being the hometown of many original Nightwish members. You see, though this side project released their first album in 2018 and its follow-up during the pandemic in 2021, they’ve never done any live shows before… at least that were advertised and available to the general public.
Now, admittedly we didn’t do anything cool on the trip to Kitee, but while you imagine us packed into a car, blabbing to and at one another about music and whatnot, I will say that these gatherings have been a small blessing for me on a personal level, because one of the main things I find missing in my life lately is a sense of community. You may have noticed this issue lurking at the end of my recent report for Kosmos Festival, for example. So even though I don’t generally engage or have interest in “fan culture,” so to speak, these events have introduced me to many wonderful people for whom I have a lot of genuine affection.
Because Kathy’s checked bag got left behind in Amsterdam, we didn’t get on the road as early as we wanted to, but luckily her luggage showed up very early the next morning, so we were still off before noon and arrived in the middle of the afternoon at the Röskö leirikeskus [camping center], which is known for being a place where Nightwish have demoed a lot of music over the years. The unofficial-official Nightwish Discord server, Nightdreamers Reacticide, occasionally arranges meetups at Röskö, while the Nightwish Fan Meetup also took place over the two weeks preceding the shows — that’s double-length from last year.
Röskö is a really cute, tranquil place, with two main buildings — Päämaja and Rauhala — alongside a few private cabins, a mid-sized cabin, and some camping space. Oh, and of course it’s right on a lake. This is such a fun place for a meetup, because people were already in varying states of summer relaxation when we arrived. Some were in the lake and sauna, some were just relaxing at the tables, some were off doing… whatever it is they were doing, and of course, many people were still in Kitee at the school, several of whom bounced back and forth between NFM and Röskö.
We only stayed long enough to claim beds in Rauhala really, because many of my pals wanted to go get in the queue. I dropped a few people off at the venue and then went to the store because I had neglected to feed myself for the better part of the day and figured I should probably grab a salad so I didn’t get hangry. We then joined the queue because that seemed to be where everyone we knew happened to be.
It’s rather funny to meet up with some fifteen+ friends from all over the world in the lineup for a show. And I really mean all over the world, because alongside my aforementioned crew and the locals, we had people from the Netherlands, Estonia, Germany, Austria, Denmark, and even Brazil. And more. Truly, a mutual love of music can bring anyone together. I caught up with a few of the friends I met last year while everyone was waiting for the doors to open, and we all raided the merch stand while we were at it (don’t worry, we paid).
The First Show
I can’t actually remember the last time I’ve seen the same show two nights in a row, because even the Altamullan Road shows from last year were spaced out by at least a few days… honestly, it might have been Iron Maiden back in Canada in the early 2000s. Now, there weren’t originally two shows in Kitee, but since the first one sold out so quickly, it seems that they added a second to make up for demand, so lucky me.
Auri is a 3-piece band, made up of Tuomas Holopainen (Nightwish), Johanna Kurkela (Altamullan Road, Eye of Melian), and Troy Donockley (Nightwish), though the live act was supplemented by Johanna & Mikko Iivanainen and Kai Hahto (Nightwish). And, if you want to get people riled up, start a conversation about what Auri’s genre might be. Personally, I don’t bother trying to squeeze art into boxes it doesn’t fit into, so rather than calling it progressive Celtic folk pop world music, which I simply cannot abide for being an unnecessary number of words, I feel like I’d summarize it simply as fantasy music. It’s music created by people who love nature, whimsy, mysticality, and the beauty in the world, so I really don’t think it needs to be any more complicated than that… if something doesn’t fit a box, it’s time to find a new one.
Expectations were running high and on entering the auditorium at Kiteesali, this only increased, as we filtered in and found seats, and were able to see the stage setup. Shimmering turquoise sheets were draped across the stage, covering the keyboards and drums, creating a homey and pretty aesthetic, which was only made better by the presence of maybe twenty or so lanterns glowing on stage. If you can’t imagine the ambience? Well…
As Kathy put it, doesn’t this look like an Edema Ruh camp?
The gig promoters also make a point of saying that they were trying to create a more surround-sound experience, which had upsides and downsides… being in the first three rows made things a bit murky, but the worst offender happened to be the first song, and for all I know, that could have been intentional.
You see, the show started with “Those We Don’t Speak Of,” which is a moody and mysterious song that often invokes the season 4 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, called “Hush.” When the music started playing, it enveloped everything, including Johanna’s voice as she appeared on stage, looking like she had stepped right off the set of the “Museum of Childhood” music video. This did two things: it merged Johanna’s voice into the overall mix to create a wall of (surround) sound, but also gave a bit of a feeling that Johanna was smothered and you couldn’t clearly hear her outside of the backing sound. I couldn’t tell you if this was by design or not. Beyond that, however, it was a spectacular way of starting a show and it was really atmospheric. Johanna had taken the stage alone and came to sit next to the mic stand (which was adorned in shimmering sheer fabric and a faux hyacinth) and when I could hear her, she sounded great, giving warm looks to everyone in the crowd.
During “Duty of Dust,” there was a very robust drum sound — a bit loud in the front, but I really enjoyed the oomph that it brought to the music. There was still a bit of an issue hearing Johanna in the mix when close to the stage, but this was much improved on the 14th already.
Already, I want to take a moment to shout-out Mikko Iivanainen, because that man is nonsensically talented on the guitar, but in all the shows I’ve seen with him, I’ve never heard him singing. Troy has a wonderful voice and Mikko’s provided a layer of depth that really brought their work to life.
While I’m at it, I’d also like to shout out Johanna Iivanainen. She’s always been a spectacular singer in her own right, but if you paid any attention to her during this show, you would notice that the work she was doing to harmonize of even vocalize in certain parts of the show — like these huffy staccatos during “Shieldmaiden” — was truly spectacular. She’s such a phenomenal talent and I hope people attending the shows make sure to look over at her once in a while to see how many complicated parts she’s doing, while playing keyboards and possibly even backing up Johanna K when she gets emotional. Songs like “The Duty of Dust” and “The Valley” included other phenomenal moments from her.
“Blakey Ridge” is both a favorite new song and a brilliant live track, which got everyone’s hands clapping and so many of the nuanced details from the album came to life. This transitioned softly into “Kiss the Mountain,” which was followed by “Aphrodite Rising,” wherein they performed while bathed in warm light. Johanna’s enthusiasm was palpable, as it felt like she almost gave a little pounce towards the audience at the start, seeming like she wanted to sweep the whole crowd into a big hug. Also, cheers to her for adding bits of violin here and there — she’s already doing so much that it would have been completely justified if having live violin was too much, but no, she has that gorgeous electric violin and makes it sing as well as she does.
At one point, I started hearing bass notes coming through strong — it might have been during “See” — and it was really getting me excited, but I looked around and couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Mikko and Troy were both still on 6-strings… perhaps it was coming from Tuomas’s keyboard? Either way, it’s no secret that I’m a sucker for a good bass line, so this tickled me just right.
“The Valley” felt like it required a lot of tender delicacy with the mouth harp from Troy, but he pulled it off wonderfully. I was already feeling torn at this point, between wanting to close my eyes and let the surround-sound effect wash over me, but I dared not miss the lights and visuals and happy expressions on everyone’s faces… I did do that in Tampere, but I’ll share that experience in another article.
There were a lot of lovely, tender moments between Johanna K and Johanna I during “Museum of Childhood” that felt deeply heartwarming, and I must again credit Johanna K for her microphone technique, as she always kept it at a distance where she wouldn’t blow out the crowd’s ears or overpower the sound with high notes… really, again, can we take a moment to just appreciate how nuanced all the talent on this stage was? And even though I’ve seen Johanna K live now… let’s say at least seven times, this might be the most delighted and animated she’s looked yet. The joy she expresses fills me to my tip-top brim with that reflected joy I mentioned up-top.
But, it’s not just her! The last time I saw notably huge smiles on Tuomas’ face was when Floor Jansen joined Nightwish. That said, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him looking this euphoric… singing along, putting physical flourishes into things, looking like a real artist who’s feeling what he’s doing, but not in the way that annoying people on the internet say. This feels like someone who is doing something he absolutely loves and it really putting his whole self into it while he’s at it, feeling it all throughout his body.
I was admittedly very surprised to hear them play “Them Thar Chanterelles” as the finale for the main set, as it’s a very non-traditional song and the lyrics are mostly “dum-dee-dums”… yet they absolutely played it and it was incredible. I could feel that Johanna just wanted to kick off her shoes (if she was wearing any — it was impossible to tell under that magnificent dress) and start river-dancing all over, but of course, she had to contain herself a bit for the sake of her outfit and hair and all that, but she skipped back and forth across the stage as the crowd in Kiteesali finally couldn’t hold back any longer and everyone exploded out of their chairs to clap along with her. Johanna took some time to visually shout-out her fellow performers and they all received uproarious cheers and applause from the crowd, who was clearly over the moon. The looks they were all giving one another during the curtain call were deeply touching… they looked so magnificently happy.
Now, back in February 2024, I saw Kai Hahto’s solo show, which included “Pearl Diving,” which was the first single from “II: Those We Don’t Speak Of,” so part of me was already familiar with it as a live song… but only the drum parts! It also still reigns as my favorite track on that album, so I hoped the combined fact that it was a single and that Kai already knows it well enough to play it live on his own meant that they would play it, and they did, though I didn’t recognize it at first due to the way the intro sounded. There was a moment where something got fumbled… I wasn’t clear on what happened, but Johanna was laughing a bit back towards her bandmates before she got back into it.
The true final track of the night was, appropriately, “Fireside Bard,” which was beautiful because maybe halfway-or-so through the song, the guests left the stage, leaving the core trio behind. This was a great moment, because it honors the work that goes into the music, while respecting their friends and fellow artists. I really don’t know if they could have ended the show in a better way.
The Continuing Adventures
Kathy managed to wake up well before I did the next morning, so rather than working on my writing when I woke up at 6.30, she and I went for a walk around Röskö. The waters were still and tranquil before the day’s wind picked up and we found some extremely cute spaces hidden down below the Päämaja building. Kathy even sent me down into a kokko [bonfire]pit to take a picture of me being a little… cherub? Gremlin? Bear cub? You can pick.
Is that not a spectacular lake? If you don’t want to move in there, you might be broken and I’m so sorry, do you need a hug?
The 14th ended up being a really fun day of “camp.” After our walk, we drove into town early on to get some more food. I have found a Finstone every summer I’ve been in Kitee so far, which delights me (though I always give them to my friend, because she loves Kitee and rocks). The locals keep the sauna hot pretty much all the time and I heard tales from the 13th of people staying up in the sauna/lake until the sun came up — dedication! We had a lovely swim in the still-pretty-warm lake, toasted a little in the sauna when we needed to.
We headed back into town so everyone could get in the queue again, since the seating was first-come, first-serve. I had considered moving back a bit to see if I’d get a bit more of a balanced surround-sound experience, but half of the fun for me is watching my friends react to the show, which means I do like to have them in… eyeshot? That’s not a word, but it should be. There practically needs to be a janitor to come sweep their jaws off the floor. Part of me wishes I could sit on the floor, back to the stage, and just watch the viewers’ faces.
Now, of course the overall set and experience was largely the same as the first night, but after seeing the show on the 14th, there were some notable differences that gave the impression that the 13th happened to function as a dress rehearsal, so to speak, as they fine-tuned a few things from the previous night.
The first thing of note was the hyacinth on the mic stand dropped 10-20 cm, so it was no longer covering Johanna’s face for most of the show. The photographers all surely appreciated this, as the first night, it gave the image of a glorious white flower beard. As much as I love the idea of Johanna the White, floral wizard of Middle Earth, I also really love seeing that radiant smile on her face even more. I also noticed at least two songs where Mikko stood up, which I didn’t recall from the first day, and I saw the little LED lights in the hyacinth for the first time, though apparently that was not, in fact, different from the first day, though it seems I wasn’t the only one who didn’t notice on the 13th.
The overall show was just that wee bit more polished after having had a dry run — no foul balls in “Pearl Divers” this time, wink-wink, and yet again, the highlight was really just seeing these talented people doing exactly what they love to do. The smiles, the shared looks, the dedication, the flourishes… they way they put themselves into everything… this is real art and the way it creates an energy exchange with the crowd is simply priceless. So, thanks to everyone who’s been on that stage and working behind the scenes of it — you’re all doing spectacular work!
The Album Release at Midnight
After the show, we returned to Röskö to grill, sauna, swim, and chat. Naturally, at midnight, the speakers materialized out of thin air and several groups played the newly-released “III: Candles & Beginnings” under the open sky, with waves and murmurs of conversation echoing in the background of the songs. If you were to wander around Röskö, you might have heard the album coming at you from a few different angles, though unfortunately not in sync.
I remember a distinct moment of looking over at Kathy, who appeared to be in a state of complete bliss, arms behind her head like an anime character, rocking back and forth, and while it was too dark to see her face, I could still feel the joy radiating out of her. (If you’d like to know our thoughts on the album, you can listen to us talk about it here!)
There’s definitely something distinctly wonderful about listening to music with a group of friends. Of course, Kathy and I had already heard the album at that point, but hearing it anew in a group in a wonderful setting, with shooting stars occasionally flashing by — the Perseid meteor shower was happening at this point, though we unfortunately didn’t get it in full force — really made it come to life in a very unique and rare sort of way. It had all the nostalgia of cabin trips from childhood, or perhaps going to camp, except most of us were adults. The only way I could have imagined it being better would have been if we were in boats out on the still water.
Now, of course, I was at the show in Tampere too, but I traded the 14th for the 16th with Kathy, so of course you should absolutely check out her review as well, which will follow mine tomorrow, with her travel blog coming later!
All-in-All
There’s something that has always appealed to me about a band that has a complete package, which isn’t just the music. It involves everything around it, from beautiful merch to cohesive outfits, all the way to the stage look and setup. When the band feels all-in on their entire image and vibe, I feel more likely to go all-in as well. This is a place where Auri really goes above and beyond to not just “play a show” but give their viewers a full experience. It elevates everything to such a level that it really sticks with you, ready to warm you whenever you pull up that memory again.
In my case, at midnight on August 14th, I found myself sitting on a dock, gazing up at the vast sea of stars in the sky above, holding hands in a semicircle with friends I’ve made over the last year or two, listening to “III: Candles & Beginnings.” In this moment, I paused to realize that there is indeed one thing that’s even better than listening to talented people do what they love, and that’s sharing the experience with like-minded friends.
This is the thing I’ve been missing, so thanks, everyone.
Setlist
Those We Don’t Speak Of
The Space Between
I Hope Your World Is Kind
Skeleton Tree
The Duty of Dust
Night 13
Libraries of Love
Blakey Ridge
Kiss the Mountain
Aphrodite Rising
The Long Walk
See
The Valley
Shieldmaiden
Museum of Childhood
Desert Flower
Them Thar Chanterelles
Encore:
Pearl Diving
Fireside Bard
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