OPETH's ÅKERFELDT Explains Finnish Festival Cancellations

July 5, 2003

OPETH mainman Mikael Åkerfeldt has issued a statement clarifying the group's reasons for canceling their previously announced appearances at Finland's Tuska and Illosaarirock festivals, scheduled to take place July 11 and July 12, respectively.

The statement reads as follows:

"Dear friends,

"We are extremely sorry that we had to cancel the two festivals in Finland. Reason is that we have to rehearse for the upcoming U.S. tour. Might seem to be a lame reason, I know, but we have been so busy touring this year that we only have say 4-5 days off in between tours. As you know, the U.S. tour is not more important because it's in the U.S., it is because it will be a whole new live gig for us. We'll have acoustic guitars, a keyboard player (a new member, in a way) and all the songs we're gonna play we've never played live before. It is very hard for us to keep up with the demand for gigs especially since we did two albums in a row.

"However, a Scandinavian tour is in the making and Finland is our number one priority for obvious reasons. Look at it this way, instead of a 4-song, 50-minute festival set you'll get a full hour and a half and also you'll get some of those songs that we've never played live before.

"We all sincerely hope that you'll still come and see us once we finally get over to Finland. Please don't hold this against us, even though we understand you're pissed off and you paid a lot of money for those tickets. Somehow we'll try and repay you for this fuck up, hell, we'd even take requests to please you.

"And last but not least, please refrain from all the 'we're gonna kill you' comments. I think that's uncalled for. Again, we're fucking really sorry for this, but hope to see you in the fall.

"Cheers, Mike on behalf of OPETH"

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