"It's gonna be a once-in-a-lifetime affair!" said AVANTASIA mainman Tobias Sammet when the all-star project set off on a world tour a few years ago. And although it seemed to be impossible to bring the project onto the stage after an extensive preparatory time, Avantasia headlined some of the biggest summer festivals in 2008. To this day many fans recall the Avantasia live shows a magical once-in-a-lifetime concert experience.

Actually Tobias didn't see a chance to bring Avantasia on stage again, but they will do it again:

"There has always been the desire to do it again, but of course there is always a risk. It requires a huge amount of time and energy, there are no figures based on experience, because I don't anybody who has taken an allstar Metal Opera on the road to play indoor venues. The stage production is abnormally expensive and you must not forget the many people who are involved and who come from different parts of the world. It requires a good timing. At some point we sat together and checked if and how we could possibly do it once again and we soon found out, that December 2010 would be the right period to do a real tour. I admit that four weeks are not really a long time frame, but it's better to do a short tour than no tour at all. And if we hadn't taken that chance, it would have never happened because we will come with a lot of musicians and vocalists and it's a nightmare to mind all our individual schedules with our main bands."

Unlike during Avantasia's festival tour in 2008 the band will seize the fact that it's their own tour and their own shows and play a lot longer on their winter tour:

"It was great to play Wacken or Sweden Rock Festival but playing a festival you only have so much time. You play ten songs and people have a party and everybody's got fun. But doing our own tour we can really create an atmosphere, we can play a lot longer and take people on a journey through the history of Avantasia. We can actually take people to the world of Avantasia itself. Fans can expect a bombastic concert experience. Many so called "Metal Operas" have been released on albums recently, but Avantasia will bring it on stage and take fans around the globe with them.

"You can't compare a normal band to what we are going to do. If all your favourite singers appear on one stage at the same night to take you on a musical journey, then this isn't just great, it's über-great!"

Tour dates will be announced soon. Register to the backstage area at TobiasSammet.com and subscribe the news letter to be informed as soon as tickets are available.

As previously reported, Avantasia are among the acts confirmed for Wacken Open Air 2011, scheduled for August 4th - 6th in Wacken, Germany. They will perform a "best of" set.

Acts on the bill now include: APOCALYPTICA, AVANTASIA, BLIND GUARDIAN. SUICIDAL TENDENCIES.

Go to this location for further information and updates.