Swedish prog-geniuses OPETH have issued the following update:

"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 sound check (which is actually boring as hell but we figured you'd might like to see how these things work). Sound check usually starts around 4pm-ish. Then we'll take you back stage for a meet n 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 n 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 VIP’s 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 ltd. 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!

Tour dates:

March

30 - Cirkus – Stockholm, Sweden

April

1 – Lichtburg – Essen, Germany
3 – Bataclan – Paris, France
5 – Royal Albert Hall – London, UK
7 – Terminal 5 – New York, NY
9 – The Wiltern – Los Angeles, CA

The VIP tickets are exclusively available though the Omerch webstores:

For the European shows go here and click on Tickets Pre-Order.

For the US shows go here and click on Tickets.

(Standard tickets for the Royal Albert Hall and the NYC and LA dates will also available through these links. Public on-sale for ALL dates will be Monday, Dec 7th through the normal ticket channels)

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See you at the show!"