Swedish progressive/ death metal legends OPETH have announced a 20th anniversary international mini tour ( 'Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology' Tour) as the band are booked for Stockholm, Sweden; Essen, Germany; Paris, France; London, U.K.; New York City and Los Angeles.
FROM OPETH:
Commented frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt: "I can't believe it, but...fuck...we're celebrating 20 years!! 20 years I've been in this band, ever since I was 16! It's insane! As far as I remember, we've never had a release party, never celebrated anything officially. Well, now is the time, you hear?
"We've set up a string of shows, six of them actually, around the world. To say that they will be super-exclusive is beyond an understatement!
"We've discussed the setlist already and it seems like we'll pull out a few
"I can't stress enough how exclusive this will be! We will not add any more shows on top of the six that we've confirmed already, so please make up your mind early on whether you wanna go or not (of course you fucking do!) as I would assume there's quite a few of our fans that might be interested in seeing a thing like this.
"We'll spend the better part of January-March rehearsing for this. All to make YOU fucking happy! OK, we'll be tight, very tight indeed… come see us! It's a celebration!"
At each show, OPETH will perform two sets. The first set will feature the band playing its breakthrough epic "Blackwater Park" in its entirety. The second set will consist of mixed material from the band's extensive catalog. The band will be playing for over two hours at carefully selected venues in order to achieve an element of intimacy and exclusivity, and an overall "You had to be there" vibe!
The venues include the famed and prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London, as well as the luxurious Lichtburg in Essen, the oldest fully seated cinema in Germany.
The band will offer exclusive VIP ticket packages to all shows which include a laminated VIP pass exclusive to each show, access to sound check, a meet-and-greet with OPETH, a t-shirt exclusive to that particular show, a signed tour program and a special edition CD/DVD of "Blackwater Park", with a 5.1 mix and a 30-minute, never-before-seen documentary all nicely packaged in a hard cover digipack designed by artist Travis Smith. The special edition will be released in March 2010 through Sony Music. All the OPETH loot will be included in an OPETH rucksack. The VIP laminate will also allow early access to venues without seat allocation so that VIP's can get the best seats in the house.
FROM OPETH MYSPACE: "Perhaps you've already heard the news that we're celebrating the 20th anniversary of our band with six very special shows next year and we'd hereby like to offer you, our beloved fan the first chance to get VIP packages for each of these shows.
"We've got some pretty cool stuff lined up for this such as a sweet-looking laminated VIP pass which will allow you to come in early in the day so you can watch how we soundcheck (which is actually boring as hell, but we figured you'd might like to see how these things work). Soundcheck usually starts around 4 p.m.-ish. Then we'll take you backstage for a meet-and-greet with all of us, splitting you up in groups so you can be sure you'll get some proper one on one time to fire off some questions you've always wanted to ask or just get some stuff signed.
"At some venues you'll be asked to leave after the meet-and-greet (for security reasons set by the venues which are beyond our control) until doors open again and at some venues you'll be able to stay and wait until the show starts. If you're at one of the venues where you'll be asked to leave, we've arranged that anyone who can show a VIP pass at the door can get into the venue again at least ten minutes before the doors open to the standard ticket holders so you'll be guaranteed of a short cue at the wardrobe and you can calmly head off to stand or sit wherever you like.
"The Lichtburg venue in Essen will be quite special as it's a completely seated venue. We've reserved the first two rows of the balcony for our VIPs at this one so you're still close enough to see our nose hair but far enough for not having to smell our breath. (and that's a good thing, trust me!) At the venue you'll also get a nice OPETH rucksack which will be filled with a limited-edition t-shirt, unique to each show, a signed tour programme and a copy of the 'Blackwater Park' special edition CD/DVD, which includes a 5.1 mix and a 30-minute, never-before-seen documentary, all nicely packaged in a hard cover digipack (to be released end of March via Sony Music so don't buy it already if it's out before the show!).
"That just about sums it up for now.
"We'll be playing the 'Blackwater Park' album in its entirety followed by another set which will include songs we've rarely or never played live before. All in all, more than two hours of OPETH. Exciting times for our band and we hope that you'll be there to share it with us!"
Below are the dates and venues.
Mar. 30 - Cirkus - Stockholm, Sweden
Apr. 01 - Lichtburg - Essen, Germany
Apr. 03 - Bataclan - Paris, France
Apr. 05 - Royal Albert Hall - London, UK
Apr. 07 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY
Apr. 09 - The Wiltern - Los Angeles, CA
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-
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