Start date June 22, 2002 End date September 27, 2003 | No. of shows 59 Associated album Century Child | |
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World Tour of the Century was a concert tour by Nightwish in 2002 and 2003 to promote their fourth album, Century Child, released on June 24, 2002. The tour was the debut of Marco Hietala, that replaced Sami Vänskä as bassist in 2001. A subsequent tour DVD was released, End of Innocence, with a limited release of a live CD made during a concert at Summer Breeze Open Air Festival, in Germany.
In the end of 2002, the band release a small pause of 3 months; during this time Tarja was to a music conservatory in Germany and the male members played with their other bands: Tuomas with For My Pain..., Marco with Tarot, Jukka with Sethian and Emppu with Brother Firetribe. The tour started again in January 2003.
In this tour, Nightwish debuted in some countries: United States, Slovakia, England and Norway. The band also played at many big festivals in Europe, like Lowlands, in the Netherlands, and Bloodstock, in the United Kingdom.