Ville Valo - Tumblr Posts
I think the videos from this era (particularly the video for the title track) have been a step up from a lot of HIM’s music videos.
favourite music videos (21/?)
–dance the neon noir with me
NEON NOIR – VV [x] NEON NOIR (2023)
I’m literally shaking as I write this but…we did it. I will be making holy pilgrimage to Tavastia come New Year’s 😭
Gonna tell my kids this was Barbie and Ken.
Ville Valo and Cristina Scabbia for Sonic Seducer Magazine, 2005. All credit to the photographer
I spend a lot more time listening to music on other apps because Spotify’s audio quality is not the best but am sharing this because it’s just my four little goths of the apocalypse and in the midst of it all, PRITAM😂
I gotta hand it to him though, he is an excellent composer.
I have been so absent from tumblr! In my defense, I just got home from a whirlwind almost two weeks in Finland, where I initially traveled to fulfill a long-held dream of mine to see Ville Valo perform at Tavastia on New Year’s.
On that note, I present to you The Finland Chronicles Part 1: New Year’s Eve
Scoping out the area the day before we queued up.
Looking back, I really don’t know how we were in line for as long as we were in those temperatures, even with food and bathroom breaks, and the occasional escape into Kamppi station (right across the street) when the cold got to be too much. But I couldn’t have asked for better people to queue up with and look, we even met Sampo and Juho, who were as sweet as could be.
Had a nice time hanging out once we were inside the club (despite the occasional belligerent in the crowd). Mandatory pics of the famous ceiling Heartagram and hey, what’s that on my ring finger?
One of the ways Ville has most impacted me outside of his own music, has been his impeccable taste and willingness to dispense valuable knowledge to us all. Zetra is one of those discoveries. I first heard their cover of “Beauty Has Her Way” at the Lisbon show in February 2023, as part of a playlist Ville compiled in the break between Kælan Mikla’s set and his, and it made me feel like my soul was leaving my body (and now it's my blog's header, haha). So getting to see them live almost a year after the fact felt like a full circle moment. After the Tavastia show, I’d have to say my current favorite song by them is “Float.”
Then the owner of Tavastia gave a very emotional speech (someone in the crowd told us he is retiring this year) counted down to 2024 with us, and sprayed the audience with champagne. Followed by The Man, The Myth, The Legend. There’s really not too much I can say, other than the usual. Ville and the band were perfect that night, they gave us two encores, and we got to hear Gone With The Sin and Killing Loneliness live once more (due to Tumblr’s limits on videos I had a difficult choice to make, so here’s a snippet of Killing Loneliness).
And then, just like that, the show and the year of Neon Noir were over. My voice was already going when I got to Finland, but I happily sacrificed what was left of it at the altar of Tavastia. I realize how immensely lucky I am for scoring tickets to a gig like this, which I know is a dream for so many. Here’s to hoping the tradition continues (it’s been more than hinted that it will) and thank you Ville for starting and ending the year with us 🩷
Stay tuned for more.
I arrived late in Helsinki on the 5th of January. During the last leg of my 11 hour bus ride I remembered that January 6th is a public holiday in many countries; it is not in Portugal, while it is for our neighbors Spain, so it really varies from place to place and is never a date that's at the forefront of my mind. Nevertheless, my flight back home was on the 7th so I decided to check and sure enough, the 6th is a public holiday in Finland. Since my number one mission during my last days in Helsinki was to visit Aikuisten Lelukauppa, Kari Valo's famous shop, I DM'd their instagram account asking whether it would be open the next day.
Thus began the saga that leads us to the concluding chapter of our story, The Finland Chronicles Part 3: Aikuisten Lelukauppa Oy, and Finland Moi Moi
I got a response from the person who runs the shop’s instagram account the next morning, while I was getting ready, saying that they weren’t sure whether Kari would be coming in. I decided to risk it anyway and headed over there, only to find that, alas, the shop was indeed closed.
Feeling a bit deflated, I decided to just walk into the restaurant next door and the events that unfolded upon me stepping inside were heartwarming. The place was a very small and simple Thai restaurant, run by just one man, who I at the time assumed was Finnish. I made casual conversation with him and informed him of what had just happened, to which he replied that he had seen Kari lock up not long ago and head to the cafe down the road…so I had just missed him! I proceeded to order food, since I hadn’t really had breakfast, and he made me a dish of fried salmon, rice, and pickled vegetables. It was delicious, and I'm pretty sure the blurry corner in the picture above is from my lens fogging up with how hot it was.
After bringing me the food, this sweet man proceeded to turn the entire restaurant upside down looking for Kari's phone number, which he had written down on a slip of paper; he did in fact have a smartphone but informed me he didn't have time to be saving people's numbers in it, dontcha know. 😂 He said there was a possibility Kari could come back but it wasn't looking likely. Eventually, a girl who worked at the café next door came over, since she helps write the signs and menus for the restaurant due to her impeccable calligraphy, and gave him the number. He dialed it, hit call and a few seconds later we heard a voice identical to Ville’s say (I assume), "Kari Valo speaking." The restaurant owner explained that someone had come *all* the way from Portugal just to see him and handed me the phone. So I got to talk to Kari a bit. He told me he'd locked up for the day and asked me why I hadn't come earlier, and when I said I was considering extending my trip a bit he responded, "I'll be waiting for you every day." Ville wasn't kidding when he said he got his verbal acrobatics from his dad, huh. Sidenote: I thought I'd headed out pretty early, all things considered, but now you know, the early bird gets the Kari, especially if it’s a public holiday.
Heartened, I hung up and got on my own phone to make the arrangements to extend my trip, intending to return to the shop without fail on Monday the 8th. A part of me felt a little silly, but that was overridden by the feeling that my time in Finland wouldn’t really have been complete without a visit to Aikuisten Lelukauppa. Luckily, it was pretty cheap and dealing with that left me with time to relax, enjoy the rest of my meal, and talk to the man who had gone out of his way to make sure I got to speak to Kari. It turned out his name was Pedro, he was originally from Spain but had been living in Finland for 45 years, and had learned to cook Thai food from his second wife. Upon finding out he was from Spain, the conversation promptly switched from English to Portuñol, and he told me all about his family over Thai coffee after I'd finished my meal. I left the place after some time, feeling warm and fuzzy at the fact that complete strangers had gone above and beyond for me, but not before laughing at the fact that as quickly as Pedro had reobtained Kari's number, he then proceeded to lose it for a second time and was once again turning the place upside down looking for it as I headed out the door.
In all seriousness, if you're planning on including Aikuisten Lelukauppa in your Helsinki itinerary, consider stopping by Pedro's place as well. It's literally right next door, so it's impossible to miss, the food is great, and the hospitality, well...if you've read this far then you've probably figured out it's second to none.
Afterwards I took the time to explore the city a little more and went to see Helsinki Cathedral and check out the other sights around Senate Square. Extending my trip also allowed me shop more leisurely for family and friends before heading home for the evening.
Sunday was a day dedicated to doing absolutely nothing, which I felt I had earned, and fun fact: my Airbnb hosts were the proud owners of eleven (11!) cats, including the four kittens pictured above. All this while having a spotless home with almost exclusively white furniture. Why would you want to leave the house? I only realized long after the fact that I could have used my Sunday to take the ferry from Finland to Estonia and spend the day in Tallinn's old town, but I think the fact that it didn't even cross my mind just shows it wasn't meant to be. You can't fit everything in on one trip and you have to stop to rest at some point. All in all, a Sunday well spent.
Then the fateful day arrived! I got up, got ready, headed out the door, and took the bus to the stop nearest to the street where Aikuisten Lelukauppa is located. In the few minutes left where I was walking up to the shop, my heart started pounding and I was pretty sure I was gonna act completely starstruck but...it was fine. More than fine. There was only one other customer there when I walked in, and they left almost the minute I entered. I said hello and told Kari that I was the person he'd spoken to on the phone the other day, and he apologetically explained that he'd had responsibilities other than the shop to attend to that day which resulted in him leaving early. What followed was me getting almost 2 hours of his time just chatting, as it had been over a week since Helldone and there weren't many fans flocking to the shop. He truly is a gem of a person, he seemed more than happy (and I hope he truly was!) to discuss his interest in cars, the movie Taxi Driver, how he acquired a lot of the memorabilia around the shop, how he got involved in this particular line of work, the state of taxi drivers these days (NOT good, he’ll have you know!), some of the shows he'd seen on the Neon Noir tour, and asked me about myself as well. Thanks to Kari I learned about Aki Kaurismäki, a Finnish director who has lived in Portugal for over 30 years, and now have some new films on my to-watch list. He also provided me with some tips for things to do around the city, including enthusiastically telling me I should go swimming (eherm, maybe next time) and to visit Temppeliaukion kirkko, a Lutheran church that was excavated directly from solid rock.
I would be remiss not to point out a significant moment in my visit. Kari received quite a few phone calls while we were chatting, and most of the time the phone ringing would prompt him to cry out, "Perkele!" One of the calls, however, he simply answered without any fuss. I could hear a man's voice but since the conversation was in Finnish, I distracted myself with my phone. Once he'd hung up, Kari turned to me and asked, "Do you know who that was?" to which I replied, "Who?" and he exclaimed, "Ville!" then burst out laughing and grabbed my shoulders as my jaw dropped. Then he told me that Ville had called to ask a question about Kari's car (the famous Checker Taxi, I believe) and implied it was being used for some sort of project? We shall have to wait and see. It was a very cool moment anyhow. I got a photo with him as well and asked him to sign my Neon Noir CD booklet, which he decorated with his famous doodles and catchphrases, most notably "Kari Valo, Boy's Father."
A visit to Aikuisten Lelukauppa naturally demands that you buy some merch so I bought a new tshirt for myself with the alternative design (as a friend had gotten me the more well-known version during her visit a few months prior), merch for friends, and stickers, but also left armed with several Finland/Helsinki guides that Kari provided me with, and a map where he wrote down the name of the rock church. Cutest of all, he just up and gave me some vintage Moomins stamps, which I will cherish forever. After all this, I said I’d be heading out as I did not want to take up any more of Kari’s time but it was a highly memorable first visit, and while I seriously doubt he will ever come across this post I nevertheless feel like I have to express my gratitude to him for his time, his ear, and his generosity. Kiitos paljon Kari! ❤️
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This was the rest of my afternoon: a visit to the famous Cafe Regatta, which was very cozy, following Kari's advice and visiting the beautiful, peaceful Temppeliaukio Church, and finishing my visit off with an early dinner at a traditional Finnish restaurant, where I had the piniest tasting G and T of my life (I love the smell of pines, not so sure how I feel about drinking them). Couldn't have asked for a better last day in Finland.
The next morning I had to be up at 5 to catch a flight to Frankfurt and then Lisbon, but the discomfort of a super early flight paled in comparison to the happy, floaty feeling of discovering a new place to love and come back to. Thank you so much Finland, you were a dream! I hope to come back sooner rather than later and potentially write another Finland Chronicles, maybe in warmer temperatures! Moi moi for now, though!
And to finish this off, here's a little Aikuisten Lelukauppa haul with all the things I mentioned above, as well as a small Helsinki/Helldone haul, since I didn't think to do one for the very first instalment of this series. It includes a VVgram beanie, an eyebrow pencil and two eyeliners from Finnish brand Lumene (conspicuously absent was their Nordic Noir range, I wonder if Ville bought it all up lmao), and face wipes. Yes, face wipes, because they saved me multiple times when the snow settling then melting on my eyelashes would cause my mascara to melt and smudge all around my eyes. Pro-tip ladies: have some wipes in your bag when experiencing Finnish winter, or just snowy winters in general. Or maybe just wear a more resistant mascara than the one I use.
Thanks to anyone who read through these posts, and apologies for how much longer they got with each update. Nevertheless, I hope it was an enjoyable read and maybe even useful to those of you considering visiting Finland. Much love and here's to hoping 2024 brings many more adventures! 💙🤍
Fuck it, here’s a solo post of my pic with Kari. Because it deserves one 😼
I’ve been depriving people. When I saw Ville performing Killing Loneliness at Helldone I made the original video shorter to make it more insta-friendly and saved it as a new video. That’s the version I’ve been running with and used in my Helldone post, until I was reminded that I have the uncut original while scrolling through my camera roll this past weekend . So here’s the intro, entire first verse, and chorus of Killing Loneliness in all its majesty.
My view did get slightly obstructed at certain points because it was packed in there…but I hope everyone enjoys 🩷
A little something I shared on instagram almost two weeks ago that I figured I should finally share here, albeit slightly modified since tumblr allows us to post more pics. I was very fortunate to have been able to see Ville perform on the Neon Noir Tour 5 different times, so here are some moments from all of those concerts, plus a little ode to the end of the tour. 💕
So it’s now been a little over a week since the end of the Neon Noir tour, and while this may be a topic I’ve beaten to death on my socials, it wouldn’t feel like a proper goodbye without one last post. HIM and Ville have been a part of my life since I was 12 (a few weeks shy of 13) and even while there was a period of years in my twenties where I was less involved with all things relating to that universe, the mark Ville’s music leaves on you is like a first love; indelible, and in many cases, you have no choice but to return“home.” The pandemic was a turning point in me delving back into that world, and shortly thereafter Ville came out of hiding to announce a new project and world tour. It felt like fate. And more so due to the fact that at a certain point in the tour, I was grappling with some things after being deeply disappointed by someone I thought cared about me. Being able to meet so many people through the fandom and the tour, people I laughed with, vented to, weathered sub-zero temperatures with, who gave me rides home, really gave me some perspective at a time where I was questioning a lot of things about myself. And the times I traveled to see Ville also gave me the opportunity to see places I’d dreamed of for years and subsequently meet even more special people outside of the HIMverse. I really truly love you all, even if I couldn’t include everyone here, and you have no idea how much you’ve done for me. And that’s what it really comes down to, and part of why I continue to have this strong emotional attachment to Ville and his music, especially in the “second act” of my time as a fan. Maybe it didn’t need to be him, but in this case it was, to impart that lesson to me: there will always be friends, old and new, places and things to discover, and most of all: there will always be music. So until we meet again, Ville. Don’t be too long. Forever Villin’ Time 🖤
FAIRUZ, WE HIELDEN ZOVEEL VAN MEKAAR // WE LOVED EACH OTHER SO MUCH (2003) dir. JACK JANSSEN
One whole year since we did it, reddit 😭
I’m literally shaking as I write this but…we did it. I will be making holy pilgrimage to Tavastia come New Year’s 😭
christmas was ass he wasnt under the tree 💔💔💔
Reblogging my old Tumblr because I miss being obsessed with Ville Valo.
One of my favorites.
