By Carl Begai

While preparing for the release of the new Leaves’ Eyes album, King Of Kings, vocalist Liv Kristine announced some dates for what has become a traditional year end European solo tour. She then revealed that her former Theatre Of Tragedy bandmate, vocalist Raymond Rohonyi, would be joining her as a special guest for the duration of the tour, performing several songs from the band’s catalogue with her. A very surprising development considering the bad blood stirred up when Liv was fired from Theatre Of Tragedy in 2003 – she was replaced by Nell Sigland – and Rohonyi’s disappearance from the music scene when the band called it quits in 2010. The last time the duo shared the stage was 2002. During our interview for King Of Kings, Liv discussed how she reconnected with Rohonyi.

“Ray is back in Norway and moved to Trondheim recently with his Brazilian wife,” Liv explains. “At some point I tried to get in touch with him by phone, then via Facebook, and many weeks later he got back to me and said that he was back in Norway. We caught up a bit, and I asked him about rumours I heard that Theatre Of Tragedy would be having a reunion some time soon. Rumours that came with the Northern winds, let’s put it that way (laughs). I just wanted to know if I was in or not. Ray said that nobody had asked him so far about a reunion and wondered why I was asking. I told him I had a solo tour coming up and that I’d been playing Theatre Of Tragedy songs at a number of gigs, that the audience really seemed to love it, and then I asked him if he’d be my special guest. He was very happy about the offer and he said yes.”

“When The Sirens supported Nightwish in Trondheim recently I finally met up with Raymond again. We talked about everything, about the beginnings of Theatre Of Tragedy. It was good to clear the table and our history, because we were the ones who formed the band and came up with the whole Shakespearean thing. It was really good talking to him, and we parted in Trondheim on great terms. Alex (Krull / vocalist, husband) is happy everything is clear now and there are no hard feelings whatsoever. I’m really looking forward to the tour, and I think Raymond might be looking forward to it even more (laughs). He’s so excited.”

“So, there are indeed rumours that Theatre Of Tragedy will do a reunion,” Liv confirms, “but that’s not going to happen with me. I’m out of that, so the only way I can play those old songs is to invite Raymond on a solo tour. We start off in Russia with four shows and then we go to Europe, and there’s a show in London. It’s a short tour but it’s not about money. If it was about money we’d never do this. We’re making enough to cover the costs. The good thing is the band I’m bring along is The Sirens’ band, so they know most of my stuff already. Anneke (van Giersbergen) doesn’t need them at the moment so she said ‘You can have my band…’ (laughs). So, between having Raymond on the tour and The Sirens band it’s an awesome package.”

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Liv Kristine has checked in with the following update:

"Good news - here's my setlist for my upcoming solo shows. Raymond from Theatre of Tragedy will be my special guest for the original Theatre of Tragedy duets. Get ready for a unique live experience! This is the first time we will share stage since 2002. Here are the already confirmed dates for my special shows in December. Stay tuned for further dates!"

Confirmed dates featuring Liv Kristine and Raymond Rohonyi are as follows:

December
10 - Yaroslavl, Russia - Gorka Club
11 - St. Petersburg, Russia - Phoenix club
12 - Moscow, Russia - Volta Club
13 - Samara, Russia - Zvezda
18 - Nagold, Germany - Alte Seminarturnhalle

More dates will be announced soon.

The confirmed setlist for the above shows is as follows:

"Commute"
"Image" 
"Siren" 
"Venus" 
"Vervain" 
"My Wilderness" 
"Panic" 
"A Hamlet For a Slothful Vassal" 
"Der Tanz der Schatten" 
"Black as the Devil Painteth"
"On whom the Moon Doth Shine"
"Machine"
"Silence" 
"Oblivious" 
"Stronghold of Angels"