New NIGHTWISH Bassist JUKKA KOSKINEN - "Everything Felt Natural From The Start And I Couldn't Be Happier"

On May 28th, 2021 Nightwish announced Jukka Koskinen (Wintersun, ex-Norther - pictured left) as the replacement for bassist Marko Hietala, who left the band in January 2021. Koskinen was tapped as the band's session bass player for their Human. :||: Nature. world tour. 

On August 21st, Koskinen was made an official member of Nightwish. The band issued the following statement: 

"We're delighted to announce our dear friend Jukka Koskinen is officially inaugurated as a member of the band. We've been incredibly thankful to have him on our side while touring and it only feels natural to have him join the band officially."

Koskinen has since checked in with the following message:

"It was a little more than year ago that I had the honour to join as a session bass player and start playing the amazing music of Nightwish with the wonderful people. Everything felt natural from the start and I couldn’t be happier for this journey that we are in now together!

And not the least, thank you guys all over the world for officially welcoming me now into the Nightwish family! Looking forward for the future shows and the Nightwish album #10!"

Nightwish performed at the 2022 edition of Hellfest in Clisson, France on June 23rd. You can watch professionally-filmed footage of the band's full set below.

The setlist was as follows:

"Noise"
"Planet Hell"
"Tribal"
"Élan"
"Storytime"
"How's the Heart?"
"Dark Chest Of Wonders"
"I Want My Tears Back"
"Nemo"
"Sleeping Sun"
"Shoemaker"
"Last Ride of the Day"
"Ghost Love Score"
"The Greatest Show On Earth"
"Ad Astra"