The Dutch six-piece will play their only UK date of the run at the London venue on October 6, 2027, with tickets on sale this Friday.
Epica will mark 25 years with a show at the Royal Albert Hall in London on October 6, 2027, backed by a full orchestra and choir.
The date is part of “The Symphonic Synergy” tour and is the band’s only UK appearance on that run. It will be their first time playing the venue.
“Playing the legendary Royal Albert Hall in London for the first time, surrounded by a full orchestra and choir, will be an absolutely magical experience. Hearing our music come alive in a way it is supposed to sound, on such an iconic stage, will be a moment we’ll remember forever – come and be a part of it!” the band commented.
Tickets go on general sale on Friday, September 4 at 10am UK time through epica.nl/tour. The show is scheduled to start at 6:30pm.
The format is not new, but it is rare. Epica staged four Symphonic Synergy shows in 2024, two in Amsterdam and two in Mexico City, playing to a combined 30,000 people with an orchestra and choir behind them. All four sold out.
The band intend to take the format further afield, though only on selected dates. As things stand, the Royal Albert Hall show is the only date on their calendar confirmed to include the full orchestral setup, and it will sit inside a wider world tour that has not yet been announced.
Epica are on the road behind Aspiral, released in 2025, and head to Asia this month for six shows, opening at the Liquidroom in Tokyo on September 14 and finishing at Modern Sky Lab in Shanghai on September 22.
The anniversary dates themselves begin in the new year:
- Jan 29 – Koninklijk Theater Carré, Amsterdam, Netherlands (sold out)
- Jan 30 – Koninklijk Theater Carré, Amsterdam, Netherlands (sold out)
- Jan 31 – Koninklijk Theater Carré, Amsterdam, Netherlands (sold out)
- Oct 06 – Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom
A Latin American run follows in March, with Italian symphonic death metal band Fleshgod Apocalypse supporting.
Mark Jansen started the band in the Netherlands in 2002 after leaving After Forever, the band whose singer at the time was Floor Jansen, later of Nightwish and no relation. The group began under the name Sahara Dust and took the name Epica from the Kamelot album of the same title.
Singer Simone Simons, then Mark Jansen‘s partner, and keyboardist Coen Janssen joined the same year. Those three are the only members to have played on every Epica record, starting with 2003’s The Phantom Agony. The current lineup is completed by guitarist Isaac Delahaye, bassist Rob van der Loo and drummer Ariën van Weesenbeek.
The band have sold more than a million albums. Their 20th anniversary was marked with a sold-out show at Poppodium 013 in Tilburg on September 3, 2022, which opened with a short set of rarities and an After Forever cover performed under the Sahara Dust name.
