Helldone was an annual

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

organized by

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

gothic rock band HIM. Typically held on 31 December at the

Tavastia Club The Tavastia Club ( fi, Tavastia-klubi) is a popular rock music club in Helsinki, Finland. The house is owned by Hämäläis-Osakunta, one of the student nations at the University of Helsinki, but since 1991 the club has been operated by a privat ...

, and its companion club the Semifinal, in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland, Helldone began in 1999 as an annual

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

show for HIM, which grew out of vocalist Ville Valo's "hatred for music parties" and need to "do something more than just get fucked up at midnight".Juho K. Juntunen (2002). "HIM – Synnin viemää" p.262. WSOY''Metal Hammer'' Presents HIM: ''Tears On Tape'' Fanpack Magazine - pg. 109 The shows were expanded into a festival in 2005 and renamed Helldone after the band's booking agent Tiina Vuorinen, née Welldone, and their hometown of Helsinki. Helldone also took-up a policy of named tickets, where attendees were required to provide identification matching their ticket upon entry to the venue. In 2008, Helldone was expanded into a tour, which took the festival across Finland, before returning to Helsinki on New Year's Eve. Helldone took breaks in 2010 and 2011, partly due to HIM drummer

Gas Lipstick Mika Kristian Karppinen (born 8 February 1971), better known as Gas Lipstick, is a Swedish-Finnish musician, best known as the previous drummer of the Finnish gothic rock band HIM. He is also a drummer for other bands currently on hiatus, such ...

's health issues, before returning in 2012. The festival took another break in 2016, due to the band members' other commitments. On 7 August 2017, HIM announced the return of Helldone for 31 December 2017, which would also serve as the band's final show before disbanding. Additional dates were later released going through 27 December to 30 December 2017 across Finland, including a show at the

Helsinki Ice Hall Helsinki Ice Hall ( fi, Helsingin jäähalli, sv, Helsingfors ishall) is an indoor arena located in Helsinki, Finland. The arena has a seating capacity of 8,200. History Helsinki Ice Hall has been the home arena of HIFK of Liiga since its cons ...

. Annually sold-out and attended by people from around the world, Helldone hosted many bands over its tenure, including local artists such as

The 69 Eyes The 69 Eyes are a Finnish rock band. It was founded in 1989 in Helsinki by vocalist Jyrki 69 (who also writes the band's lyrics), guitarists Bazie, Timo-Timo and bassist Archzie, joined in 1992 by drummer Jussi 69; the lineup never changed sin ...

, Swallow the Sun and

Children of Bodom Children of Bodom was a Finnish melodic death metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993 as Inearthed, the final line-up of the group upon their split in 2019 consisted of Alexi Laiho (lead guitar, lead vocals), Jaska Raatikainen (drums), Henkka Sepp ...

, as well as international acts like

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

Anathema Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...

and

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

Performers

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2012

2013

2014

2015

2017

In a smaller "Black Box" capacity

References

External links

* of HIM {{HIM HIM (Finnish band) Music festivals in Finland Heavy metal festivals in Finland Rock festivals in Finland Festivals in Helsinki Recurring events established in 1999 Music festivals established in 2005 Winter events in Finland