Former HIM frontman Ville Valo has officially debuted his new solo project VV in concert. He performed in Helsinki, Finland on Friday (January 13) and yesterday (January 14), and at both shows, delivered a set of new cuts and classics from the HIM catalogue.
Valo performed 18 songs across the first two shows in Helsinki – a third is also locked in for tonight (January 15) – showcasing nine of the 12 songs on his debut VV album, ‘Neon Noir’, as well as HIM tracks like ‘The Funeral Of Hearts’, ‘Right Here In My Arms’, ‘Wings Of A Butterfly’ and ‘Poison Girl’.
Following tonight’s show in Helsinki, Valo will tour ‘Neon Noir’ extensively throughout the rest of Europe and the UK. The run will pick back up midway through February, running until mid-March before he heads over to North America.
Have a look at some fan-shot footage of the first two gigs below, then see the full setlist:
Ville Valo played:
1. ‘Echolocate Your Love’
2. ‘The Funeral Of Hearts’ (HIM song)
3. ‘Neon Noir’
4. ‘Right Here In My Arms’ (HIM song)
5. ‘Loveletting’
6. ‘Buried Alive By Love’ (HIM song)
7. ‘In Trenodia’
8. ‘Wings Of A Butterfly’ (HIM song)
9. ‘Heartful Of Ghosts’
10. ‘Join Me In Death’ (HIM song)
11. ‘The Foreverlost’
12. ‘The Kiss Of Dawn’ (HIM song)
13. ‘Run Away From The Sun’
14. ‘When Love And Death Embrace’ (HIM song)
15. ‘Soul On Fire’ (HIM song)
16. ‘Salute The Sanguine’
17. ‘Poison Girl’ (HIM song)
18. ‘Saturnine Saturnalia’
Speaking to NME earlier this week, Valo explained that ‘Neon Noir’ was written during the pandemic, which he said “hit me pretty hard, emotionally speaking”. Opening up about what kind of headspace he was in during the process, he said: “I wouldn’t call it clinical depression. I come from a country [Finland] that has a peculiar history with people being rather morose… it’s probably due to the winters being very dark.”
He also revealed the sage advice that Ozzy Osbourne once gave him in regards to hyping up a crowd. According to Valo, the Black Sabbath legend suggested to him that “if you can’t get the first row going [during a live show], show them your tits.”
As for a potential HIM reunion, Valo recently hinted that it’s possible, saying in an interview: “HIM was so much more than just a band to me. If there would be a good reason, a good sort of idea or good cause, or if, all of a sudden, everybody would start to gravitate towards each other, I think that would be the best thing.”