AMANDA SOMERVILLE

AMANDA SOMERVILLE Sends A Christmas Greeting To Fans And Friends

AVANTASIA / HDK vocaliust Amanda Somerville, also known for her work with EPICA, has sent a Christmas greeting to her fans and friends. Check it out below.

Go to this location for BW&BK scribe Carl Begai's latest interview with Somerville.

Vocalist Amanda Somerville Posts AVANTASIA World Tour Video Blog Parts 9 And 10


AVANTASIA vocalist Amanda Somerville has issued parts 9 and 10 in her series of video blogs from the band's current world tour, see below:

"Our final show overseas, Buenos Aires proved to be once again the passionate place it was last time. We did our best to keep cool in the heat, but our hearts remained warm from the welcoming we received from everyone there.

The club was packed and roiling in steam from the close proximity and excitement of everyone there and it made us nearly pass out, but give every ounce of energy we could muster to play our hearts out for our wonderful Argentinian friends. We flew back to Europe reluctantly, but with the hope that we'll be back again someday and hope that it'll be sooner than last time!"

"Coming back to European soil, our journey continues from Frankfurt on to Fulda - Tobi's home town!

We had a great, sold out show, which had some events in it that we unfortunately didn't capture on film. ;-) The usual suspects, the expected silliness... have fun!"

Avantasia's Tobias Sammet recently issued the following update:

"The Avantasia tour is over. 2010 was a great year for Avantasia and also for me in general. But this final tour has become the icing on the cake. Not only because we have got the nicest fans on earth who made this tour a real big success. But also because I had the chance to travel around the world with the greatest people on earth, with friends, extraordinary musicians, funny characters, intelligent, lovely people: great individuals. And I can’t thank you all enough. I am sad that the end of the year is drawing near and it is really depressing to be at home and have no tour to look forward to. I am in the black hole that sucks you in after every tour.

In Buenos Aires Michi said to me, that it feels as if the tour had just begun and that he was ready to be on the road for another two months now. Couldn’t have said that better, that was pretty much what everybody thought. I miss my Avantasia mates already a few days after the last show. I guess the fans got what they expected, but let me tell you: I got way more than I expected, not speaking about the business side here. I have had the time of my life, despite the travelling, the snow, the rain in South America, the traffic chaos, the waiting and the unwilling ‘jump’ off stage in my hometown.

Everybody was always in a good mood, we had a KILLER crew who made the impossible possible on more than a dozen occasions. Although Bob Catley once called the tour rightfully “No sleep till we get back home - tour 2010”. Nobody ever complained, even though the tour started with a cancelled flight and everybody’s luggage getting lost. It was awesome for me as the biggest Magnum fan on earth to hear Bob enchanting the crowds with the voice of a true storyteller. It was Bob’s first time in Japan and South America and the fans loved it!

Also I will remember the shivers that were sent down my spine each night when Michael and Kai came on stage. Kai has been a long time friend of mine, but on this tour we have spent more time talking than ever before. And once again I realized, how big his influence has been; on me and the whole genre I guess. Without Kai and his songs, I wouldn’t be into Metal today. Not to forget Michi Kiske: If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be a singer today (yes, I know what most of you are thinking now: I am no proper singer anyway. Shut up! At least I am a perfect example for not giving up trying.

In an interview in Japan's Metal magazine’s number, Burrn, a famous journalist, the one and only Naomi Ohno asked me when I first met Michi Kiske. She was very surprised when I said ‘two weeks ago’. You can’t believe it? It’s true! We had been in touch for years over the phone, but it happened only late November when we first met and I fell in love with the guy. In a PLATONIC way! He is the good guy in the purest sense of the word: respectful, lovely, tolerant, professional with a good heart! Everybody who says anything to the contrary is an asshole! Period!

Overall, this tour was a great and colorful mixture of all kinds of voices, of course a female one too. I wanna thank Amanda Somerville for being the only woman in a band of machos, chauvinists, vandals and vikings.

Of course not to forget the main Viking, my ‘wingman’ – as I call him – Jorn Lande. There is no need to say anything about Jorn, because everybody who understands anything about music and Rock-vocals knows him anyway. And I guess it really stands to reason that the remaining Black Sabbath members had picked him to be their vocalist at the Ronnie James Dio memorial concert earlier this year.

Speaking about vocals: Funny that some people seemed surprised about the astonishing voice of our guitar player Oliver Hartmann. People, Olli has been a singer in the world of Avantasia since the beginning, maybe I was surprised when our producer (and guitarist and friend who talked me into doing Avantasia live) Sascha Paeth revealed that Olli is also one of the best guitar players in Heavy Metal. But it was obvious from the start, that this man’s got pipes! Olli and Sascha are an infernal Metal guitar twosome and with our legendary Miro Rodenberg on the keys plus Heavens Gate animal Robert Hunecke on bass and my Edguy-buddy Felix Bohnke on drums, musically this band is as good as a band can get. There is absolutely no head room. Perfect musicians!

People, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Just like the first Avantasia tour (that will be featured on the forthcoming double DVD), this tour will remain in my memory forever. I wish you all a Merry merry Christmas and a happy new year. God bless you all, without you I would be nothing! Yours forever, Tobi”

AVANTASIA - Vocalist Amanda Somerville Posts Final World Tour Video Blog


AVANTASIA vocalist Amanda Somerville has checked in with the following update:

"It's always hard to say goodbye. This tour, however, it was especially tough. We had our last show in Essen, Germany, and gave our all - heart and soul - for one last time. What a ride it was. Thanks to everyone and we hope to see you all - and even more - sometime around again... maybe at Wacken!"

As previously reported, Avantasia - founded by EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet - are set to release their new double DVD concert film and documentary called The Flying Opera: Around The World In 20 Days, due out in March by Nuclear Blast Records and in Japan/East-Asia on Avalon-Marquee.





According to a press release, both DVDs portray the allstar ensemble's journey on their first ever world tour in 2008. Within just a few weeks the studio project Avantasia became a traveling live event featuring many artists from various bands who got together and set off on the road under the flag of Avantasia for the first time. The Flying Circus: Around The World In 20 Days will be available as a two-DVD set featuring the documentary movie, a live concert film, and additional bonus material. It will be also available as a double live album on CD and as a limited edition two-CD/two-DVD boxset.

Sammet says: "I am so proud of this DVD package and the featured footage, even though it took a little longer to finally complete it. It gives people an idea of what an impact the first appearance of Avantasia on stage had, and you will get an idea of how everything went beyond our expectations and what the roots and the seeds for the current Avantasia tour are. It portrays one year in Avantasia's history, maybe the most important year in the project's history because that is when a studio-project became a traveling institution. There are many Metal Operas, but we made it something real, something to take hold of. Something alive..."