Where You Go We’ll One Day Follow, pt. III
AKA Tears of the Front Row
Eye of Melian, Forest of Forgetting Finnish Tour 2026, March 17-21, 2026
After a broken laptop, spring gardening, and injuring my back (as I am wont to do on a nigh weekly basis), it’s time to finally wrap up the tales of Bear and Kathy and our fellow International Cheering Squad members as we watched all of the Eye of Melian shows during the Finnish tour. The last of the shows took place in Helsinki, and then Turku, Kuopio, and Tampere.
You can listen to Kathy and I talk about Eye of Melian’s discography at length here! Gig photos are by Joanna Orchide from the show in Kitee. Still hoping for an interview at some point as well…
Back in the south
Kathy and I both had a couple of days to ourselves to regroup and recharge before the final leg of the tour, with a few days on either side of the Helsinki show for us to use to rest.
The Helsinki show had a lot of international visitors, lured in surely by the Meet ‘n’ Greet before the show, so it’s always nice to meet up with friends. Personally, I haven’t been to an M&G in ages because, as a writer, I usually have my own opportunities to meet the artists if I’m so inclined—namely by doing interviews. Ergo, I like to leave the option to meet the bands available for those who aren’t occasional journalists. And I really like this particular crowd of people. A few of us even met up to get some food at Levant before the show, which was just two blocks from the venue.
There did seem to be some confusion going around about the meet ‘n’ greet (re: panic), because the information didn’t show up until about an hour or so before the event, so those who had traveled were in a wee tizzy over it. However, once we headed to the venue, there were signs telling people where to go and people had congregated in one place, so that was ultimately fine. It was pretty funny to realize that we knew 9/10 people in the queue. There were maybe two small groups of one or two people that we didn’t know, but otherwise, everyone else there were just our friends that we’ve made over the past couple of years at Johanna’s shows.
Beyond the initial pre-event confusion, the actual M&G went really smoothly. Tour manager Sam was back at the forefront, wrangling people into two queues, one for the signing session and one for the photos, and she took photos with the guests’ phones, so they were able to share immediately. I admittedly do get a kick out of watching my friends get so delighted every time. The attendees were giving the band artwork and homemade candles and all sorts of things, showing off their own creativity, inspired by the music.
We were allowed to hang around the venue afterward until the show started, which was cool. In all the years I’ve lived and gigged in Finland, I’ve never actually been to the Aleksanterin Teatteri before, and it had really gorgeous old-school theater decor, complete with a domed ceiling that was painted with little winged folks who occasionally seemed to be holding severed heads. Finnish art is fascinating, hah!
Even better, despite having booked myself a single ticket to this show (I wasn’t actually technically attending this one as a journalist, but at this point, I may as well write up all the shows, no?), I was sitting next to a bunch of people I knew, so that was wonderful. Except… they all thought that I was sleeping through the show. I assure you, I was not asleep at any point. You see, every so often, I like to shut my eyes and just zone out to a show and let my imagination wander where it may. I’m a fantasy author, after all. And since the soundscape in Aleksanterin Teatteri was spectacular, this was a perfect venue for me to shut my eyes and allow myself to get enveloped in the music, which felt like it was surrounding me like a big, warm hug.
Now, unlike the Auri show linked above, this was less of a literal journey through my imagination, so most of the things I was visualizing were akin to what I was already inspired by when listening to the album. “Wings of the Dawn” was an anomaly there, as I felt like I was soaring on the wings of Tolkien’s eagles, but “Elixir of Night” had me imagining Johanna making sleeping potions in an herbalist’s gazebo at night, while “Symphonia Arcana” took me through several mage colleges, and mystical forests were the destination during “Forest of Forgetting.” It was delightful and I had a blast.
So, to anyone who saw me second row, center, looking like I was asleep, I can assure you that I was well and truly wide awake and enjoying myself as much as I possibly could.
After the show, I believe a bunch of the gang went out to the bar together, but I was having issues with my parking, which was in the opposite direction, so I opted to just head on home and preserve my energy for the final few shows.
Turku Castle, Turku
Turku is a pretty easy road trip for a there-and-back, since it’s only about a 2h drive. Okay, for people from smaller countries, it might seem like a lot, but I’m from Canada, where we don’t have intercity trains, so a 2h trip is nothing for me, especially during these wonderful shows that start around 19-20.00.
I have a few restaurants that are my go-to places to visit when I’m in town, but sadly, the Chinese restaurant, Yangtze, had since changed, having split into two separate restaurants, and word on the street was that the one I knew had dropped in quality, so we went to the riverside Aura Yangtze instead. It was very good still, no complaints, it was just in a much more confusing area to park at.
Nevertheless, we made it in really good time to get some food and get to the Turku Castle (Turun Linna) and be almost first in line to get in, behind one dedicated fellow who beat us there so he could save spots up front for his wife and kid. We then met up with an Instagram acquaintance and saw Sam quickly as she popped out to say hello to a local friend. We chatted a bit with the people in the queue—there was one extremely well-dressed young woman whom I’m sure I’ve seen around at shows before simply because I recall her great outfits (and that says a lot coming from this frumpy ol’ hippy), so it was nice to meet her properly and actually learn her name after seeing her around for who knows how long.
The castle itself is one I haven’t visited before, so I was actually quite surprised that it was unlike the other local castles I’ve seen, like Raasepori, which is more or less a stone ruin, or Olavinlinna, which looks a bit more like the traditional stereotype of a castle, or red brick Hämeenlinna fortress.
This show was particularly unique, because it was in a room that’s not generally designed for concerts, but seemed more like a banquet hall. There were chairs lined up and the stage was easily the smallest they’d played on, with Martijn unable to use his full-sized piano due to the space limitations. Also, since the stage was so small, there were four large, round lamps in place of the backdrop, which surely wouldn’t fit in the room.
Since we were up front (no seated tickets for this one), we were able to save a spot for someone who had to drive to Turku immediately after work and made it to the venue mere minutes before the show started. And again, it was just fantastic to be up front and be able to encourage everyone and cheer them on while they kicked all sorts of hind. I definitely had a nice close-up view of Robin and probably the best view I had throughout the tour of Martijn at this show.
This was easily one of the most intimate shows and we could hear Robin better than we’d been able to at any point before, which was great. Her hard work paid off, because she was sounding just right. No complaints, no feedback. She did wonderfully.
We stayed for a while afterward to chat with a few of the friends we recognized and made at this show. I was delighted to meet some people that I’ve so far only been acquainted with on Instagram, and one person that I’ve seen around at shows before but never spoken to, so that was really fun!
Maxim, Kuopio
This was easily one of the weirdest of the shows. First of all, a day trip from my place to Kuopio was a choice. Because it’s just a casual 4.5h drive, each way. But I figured that Kathy was getting screwed with her flights thanks to the orange goblin’s bullshite back in the US, so I could suck it up and drive us there and back.
We arrived in Kuopio in very good time and were lucky enough to find parking right outside the venue door, so we planted our wheels there and wandered around the center looking for somewhere decent to eat. The city seemed to have been overtaken by some sort of hockey event, though I couldn’t say what it was actually about.
We found some sort of unique fast food place that was sort of like Kuopio KFC, which was an experience, to say the least, and then we went by Teerenpeli so I could introduce Kathy to their mustikkasiideri [blueberry cider], which has always been one of the rare alcoholic beverages that I genuinely adore, and which sadly doesn’t seem to be in supermarkets anymore, for whatever tragic reason. It had probably been years since I’d last had one, so it was nostalgic as much as delicious.
Then we just waddled around the square and made our way back to the venue, at which point we realized that this place had actually put together some specialty drinks for the event, so naturally, Kathy had to try one or two out. To my recollection, they were successful.
It was a cool-seeming venue. The upstairs was tiny, but the downstairs was considerably bigger and seemed to have some sort of sponsorship from Hendrick’s gin, which is an excellent gin, if you’re into that sort of thing, and their decor was cool, as such.
This was, however, easily the most questionable show of the tour. It wasn’t because of the band, by any means—they were as whimsical and professional as ever—but rather, the crowd.
The first weird thing was that nobody seemed to be checking tickets at any point, which made me wonder how many people actually paid to be there, versus how many drunk hockey fans just wandered in and got a free show? I couldn’t say.
Then, well, let’s just say that towns like Kuopio and Lahti have a bit of a reputation, and Kuopio rather upheld this reputation. I mean, who gets drunk and starts screaming at the singers in a show that’s seated and mostly symphonic sounding? Kathy and I both got pretty annoyed by the broadly disrespectful nature of the crowd. If I recall correctly, Kathy had a bit of a beef with the obnoxious attitudes of some of her seat neighbors, too. It was just a bad scene. Some cities feel like all they want out of an event is to drink beer and get rowdy, and that’s not quite the right attitude for shows like this. It’s a bit like treating the opera like a monster truck rally.
Beyond that, this was a really good set! Once again, no notes, no complaints—I was still enjoying myself despite having heard the same show repeatedly. The major thing of note this night was simply that “Wings of the Dawn” was mysteriously left off the setlist. We wondered if there was a time restriction, or was that song pushing someone past their limits for some reason on that night. The reason remains a mystery.
Then, it was a mere 4.5h trip for us to get back to our respective beds and prepare for the final show the next day in Tampere. And don’t worry, the speeding ticket was minimal.
Tuulensuun Palatsi, Tampere
The upside to Tampere being the final show was that the drive there is only about an hour and a half, because juggling my therapy and the meet ‘n’ greet and finding food ended up being more chaotic than expected, and we had to sacrifice the local book fair in order to do more important things. I was told that it was okay though—the fair was apparently obscenely overcrowded.
This was again a new venue for me—one I’d never even heard of before—and we had the fun experience of realizing there was a pub of the same name two blocks away, so you can imagine some last-minute panicked shenanigans as we got to the M&G just in time.
The venue was gorgeous, Sam’s a professional as always, and this time I finally said hello to everyone, because why the hell not, there hadn’t been as many opportunities as during past shows with this crowd. I used the opportunity to give them a copy of Fabled Magazine, because it’s great and I figured they were the right audience for it. Some of the folks from NFM/Röskö were present for this one, so again, there were more pleasant reunions as well. Though, I will confess that I was pretty burnt out at this point, so if I was cranky with anyone, assume that was a me thing, and I’m sorry.
This nice little candid moment was caught by Kristina Dineva (@krisdineva)
The highlights of this event included, obviously, that final show energy. The emotions are always a little higher, the crowd’s always a little extra annoying—Kathy mentioned someone doing some bad falsetto next to her throughout the show, who also nearly succeeded in ass-launching her off her chair at some point—and the conclusion is always bittersweet.
I think there was definitely some noteworthy extra emotionality to this show. The band surely knew they were almost done the tour, which always has complicated feelings. Considering Kathy saw the whole tour and I came damned near close, that feeling is really legit. On one hand, you know you get to rest soon, but on the other hand, the magic must get put on hold indefinitely afterwards.
Compared to the other shows, I think the finale emotions were the main difference, although it was interesting to note that this was the only show that didn’t have an intermission and costume change. Rather, Johanna and Robin were each in either the red or green dress the whole evening.
Afterwards, we said goodbye to our friends and headed back to Helsinki. My partner was having a rowdy weekend with his hometown friends, so I opted to come to stay with Kathy at her extremely nice rental in Jatkasaari. We had the weirdest, tiredest meal of all time when we got back at a really good kebab place that was across the street, and then she took the couch and let me have the bed since she was up at something like 4 a.m. to get to her flight and head back home.
We’ll Be Back…
So, that concludes our journey through the Forest of Forgetting. Fortunately, it seems that now that these guys have toured Finland, they’ll be bringing the show to the Netherlands next, with at least ten shows coming up in March 2027! If this hasn’t convinced you that you should absolutely go check them out, and possibly meet up with Kathy (surely!), as well as some of my other acquaintances and friends, there’s nothing more I can do for you.
All I can say is that if you love fantasy, scores, and the idea of watching elves performing, you shouldn’t miss out on this band or their live shows. They might just heal a little something that was broken inside you. I’m not sure if I’ll be going to any of them, but let’s just say that it’s not an impossibility.
❤️🐻
Setlist
Lady of Light
Child of Twilight
Wings of the Dawn
The Bell
Tears of the Dragon (Bruce Dickinson cover)
Doorway of Night
Everstrong
Ainiaan
Forest of Forgetting
Vita Nova
Intermission
The Buried Well
Blackthorn Winter
Symphonia Arcana
Elixir of Night
Of Willows and Shadows
Under the Grey Sky
Dawn of Avatars
Rainfall
Encore
Light
READ MORE:
Interviews: On the Record with Auri (2018); Off the Record with Eye of Melian (2022); Off the Record with Altamullan Road (2024); On the Record with Altamullan Road (2020); Off the Record with Timo Kurkela (2024); Guest Interview with Altamullan Road (2024); On the Record with Auri (2025); Guest Interview with Auri (2025)
Podcast Reviews: Bear & Kathy Talk “Auri III” (2025), Bear & Kathy Talk “Forest of Forgetting” (2026)
Live Reports: Altamullan Road Kitee (2024); Altamullan Road Hyvinkää (2024); Altamullan Road Porvoo (2024), Altamullan Road Dordrecht/Zwolle (2024); Auri Kitee (2025), Auri invokes imagination in Tampere (2025); Guest Live Report of Auri in Tampere (2025); Eye of Melian pt. 1 (2026)
Travel Blog: Altamullan Road in Kitee (2024); Eye of Melian in Zwolle (2025); Eye of Melian in Zwolle (2026)
Guest Travel Blog: Altamullan Road in the Netherlands (2024); Altamullan Road pt.1, pt. 2, pt. 3 (2024); Eye of Melian in Zwolle (2025); Auri in Finland pt. 1, pt. 2, pt.3 (2025)
Gathering of Geeks - Trivia Showdown ft. Eye of Melian (2024), Auri (2025)
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