KAI HANSEN To Tour With AVANTASIA

GAMMA RAY/ex-HELLOWEEN guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen will perform with AVANTASIA, the project led by EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet, on the group's upcoming tour. Also scheduled to appear are Bob Catley (MAGNUM),Jorn Lande (MASTERPLAN),Amanda Somerville, Olli Hartmann and Michael Kiske (HELLOWEEN).

Kicking off in Pratteln, Switzerland on November 30, the three-week trek will bring the prestigious metal-opera event to three different continents around the planet.

Commented Tobias: "Kai will have a vocal role and play some guitar, too.

"We've been friends for quite a while now.

"I remember I was a little kid when I first heard HELLOWEEN's 'Keeper' albums. And that was the instant that lit a spark in me. Unfortunately I never got the chance to see HELLOWEEN with Michael and Kai on stage, but they'll make up for it now! Both have played an important role for me personally and for the history of AVANTASIA and its 'Metal Opera' in particular.

"I am looking forward to sharing the stage with them and play some of our old AVANTASIA classics together."

So far the following dates have been announced:

Nov. 30 - Switzerland - Pratteln, Z7
Dec. 01 - Switzerland - Pratteln, Z7
Dec. 03 - Germany - Lichtenfels, Stadthalle *
Dec. 04 - Germany - Kaufbeuren, All Karthalle *
Dec. 05 - Sweden - Stockholm, Arenan
Dec. 10 - Mexico - Mexico City, Circo Volador
Dec. 15 - Argentina - Buenos Aires, [venue to be announced]
Dec. 18 - Germany - Fulda, Esperantohalle *
Dec. 19 - Germany - Essen, Grugahalle*

* Due to the fact that this is not a regular or annual tour but an extensive AVANTASIA event and experience, these shows will begin promptly at 8:00 p.m.

Tickets for the German dates are available at www.metaltix.com.

"It's gonna be a once-in-a-lifetime affair!" said Sammet when the all-star project first set off on a world tour a few years ago. And although it seemed 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 as magical, once-in-a-lifetime concert experiences.

Added Sammet: "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 know anybody who has taken an all-star 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 [is] 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 AVANTASIA's festival tour of 2008, the band's upcoming dates will be full-fledged headlining performances, with the group performing longer sets than has been the case in the past.

"It was great to play Wacken and Sweden Rock Festival, but playing a festival you only have so much time," explained Sammet. "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!"

AVANTASIA released its new epic masterpiece on April 3 as regular CDs ("The Wicked Symphony" and "Angel Of Babylon"),two separate double picture vinyls, and as a beautiful collector's edition with an AVANTASIA picture book. The deluxe box set features two CDs in two digibooks with impressive booklets, codes for online content (like bonus tracks, etc.) and the AVANTASIA book "The Wicked Trilogy", including many never-before-seen photos from the tour and from photo sessions, etc. An exclusive interview, liner notes, and a biography is also included. All the album versions were released simultaneously on April 3, so no one ise forced to buy everything piece by piece; instead everyone is able to choose a version of his/her choice right from the release date.

"Dying For An Angel", the new video from AVANTASIA, can be viewed below. The clip was shot in late January at the ancient town hall in Hannover, Germany and features a special guest appearance by SCORPIONS singer Klaus Meine.

"The Wicked Symphony" and "Angel Of Babylon" are the continuation of the trilogy that began with the 2008 album "The Scarecrow".

The cover artwork for the two CDs (see below) was created by Thomas Ewerhard, who also worked on EDGUY's "Hellfire Club" and AVANTASIA's "The Scarecrow" albums.

Kiske has appeared on every AVANTASIA album so far, including the first two full-length releases, "The Metal Opera" (2001) and "The Metal Opera Pt. II" (2002).