Thirty of the sixty bands have been named for January’s sailing, and two of the performances will be the last Rhapsody ever play outside Latin America.
70000 Tons Of Metal have announced the first half of the lineup for their 2027 cruise, which sails from Miami to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic and back between January 14 and 18 aboard Royal Caribbean’s Freedom Of The Seas.
Thirty bands have been confirmed. Thirty more are still to come, taking the final bill to 60.
The listing names Rhapsody with the note “final shows”, which undersells what has been booked.
Luca Turilli and Fabio Lione will appear together, and the two performances on the ship will be the only final Rhapsody shows staged anywhere outside Latin America.
“It gives me tremendous pleasure to have Luca Turilli AND Fabio Lione together with Rhapsody playing their only Final Shows, anywhere outside Latin America except for these two exclusive performances on 70000 Tons Of Metal 2027!” said Andy Piller, chief executive and self-styled Skipper of the event. “This is what The Original, The World’s Biggest Heavy Metal Cruise is all about: Unique moments, writing Heavy Metal history. Being with our global Metal family, all on one massive ship, peaceful, together and in unity! We are the United Nations of Heavy Metal at Sea. I can’t wait to welcome you all on board in January!”
Finland’s Wolfheart will play their forthcoming album live for the first time anywhere during the cruise, and are filming it for a music video.
“It is an absolute honor to step on the deck of the mighty 70000 Tons Of Metal for the 3rd time, on one of the most majestic metal events in this universe,” said Tuomas Saukkonen. “This time we are bringing something special with us: the world live premiere of our forthcoming album!!!”
The bands confirmed so far:
- Abigail Williams
- Æther Realm
- Arch Enemy
- Avaland
- Battlelore
- Brainstorm
- Brymir
- Die Apokalyptischen Reiter
- Enforcer
- Equilibrium
- Evergrey
- Exmortus
- Exodus
- Famous Strangers
- HammerFall
- Melechesh
- Moonspell
- Mors Principium Est
- Naglfar
- Obscura
- Origin
- Primal Fear
- Rhapsody (final shows)
- Sinister
- Talia Hoit
- Thulcandra
- Uli Jon Roth
- Warbringer
- Wolfheart (live premiere of forthcoming album)
- Ye Banished Privateers
Public sales open on Monday, September 7 at 12:00pm EDT, 18:00 CET, through 70000tons.com.
The event bills itself as the original heavy metal cruise, with every band on board playing at least twice across the four days, and passengers sharing the ship with the musicians for its duration.
