Even if « Dark Passion Play » was released in September 2007, the schedule of the band was still very busy in 2009: the release of the blu-ray of End of an Era and of the EP «Made In Hong Kong (and in various other places)» was announced. The fans had to wait for the latter since the boxset which was first announced was simply cancelled and the EP was delayed to be released on March 13th 2009 only. The tracklisting was revealed at the beginning of February and many fans were disappointed: all the live tracks are from « Dark Passion Play » while many were expected early Nightwish songs, reinterpreted by Anette. The band justified their choice by saying that they did not want to live in the past anymore and that they wanted to avoid comparisons between the two singers.

However, the DVD of the EP and its long documentary on the band on tour makes it a valuable product. As far as the blu-ray of “End Of An Era” is concerned, it was delayed many times and was eventually released in a general indifference from the media.

During their break, Nightwish met to rehearse the last part of the tour that had begun in 2007. They even rehearsed songs that they had never played live before (Romanticide, for instance) or that fans were hoping to hear (such as Ghost Love Score). Tuomas chose to make some changes on the set-list; one of them was to stop playing “Bye Bye Beautiful” because its subject belonged to the past. That is why there is little chance that we might hear it again one day… The tour resumed in London on March 11th and was a great success: the band was in good shape, they had more time in between shows and the set-list was particularly efficient. Besides, the band had a new production with a nice set (there was a bow of a boat in front of Tuomas’ keyboards) and pyrotechnics were even more noticeable. Finally, Troy Donockley took part of the show several times and gave it a very special mood. His first appearance on the tour was in Paris, when he joined the band to play the traditional song “Finlandia” as an introduction, and then later on “Last of the Wilds”.

The final show of the tour was then announced: it would take place on September 19th in the “Hartwall Areena”, in Helsinki (where “End Of An Era” was recorded), almost 2 years after it started.

Since the end of the tour was more relaxed, Tuomas had the time to start composing for the following album. At the beginning of summer 2009, 3 songs had already been composed (among which a 3:30 minute instrumental interlude) and Tuomas had already announced that the new album would allow him to fulfill a dream he had had in mind since he started playing music. It is obviously impossible to know more about it and the late release date (end of 2011) could drive a fan crazy.

The last show of the tour took place and one can regret that it was not recorded for a DVD (the band preferred to record two more albums with Anette before shooting a new DVD) : indeed, this show probably was the best show the band has ever given, maybe even better than “End Of An Era” – 19 songs, Troy Donockley as a guest on 5 songs, the violin-player Pekka Kuusisto on “The Siren” and “While Your Lips Are Still Red”, fireworks all around the arena, fake snow, water curtain, confetti, a unique interpretation of “Meadows Of Heaven”…

The show ended with « The Heart Asks Pleasure First », the cover from « The Piano » whose composer Michael Nyman had refused to let the band use on their album. After this show, the band almost disappeared from the spotlight – apart from Marco who appeared on TV a few times and Anette who created her own blog.

Two releases were made at the end of the year: a box containing the band’s six albums and two EPs (in Finland), and they also took part of a tribute album to Jaako Teppo by playing “Hilma Ja Onni”.

The fans were left with two dates to remember: back to the studio at the end of 2010 and new album to be expected at the end of 2011. A long wait…