If you do not think music cannot bring people together, think again. Israeli prog metal masters Orphaned Land have announced a 18-date European tour with Palestinian rock band Khalas, also known as the Arabic Rock Orchestra, just as Israeli and Palestinian officials have agreed to meet for the first organized peace talks in half a decade.
Orphaned Land will share the stage and the same tour bus with Khalas for the three-week trek to support the release of their sixth full-length, All Is One, which was released last month via Century Media. At a concert in Tel Aviv last week, Orphaned Land vocalist Kobi Farhi explained:
"We can't change the world, but we can give an example of how coexistence is possible. Sharing a stage and sharing a bus is stronger than a thousand words. We'll show how two people from different backgrounds who live in a conflict zone can perform together."
This tour announcement comes during an interesting time given that media outlets have been going wild after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's recent announcement that Palestinian and Israeli officials could be traveling to Washington soon to begin peace talks after several years of not wanting to cooperate at all.
Khalas lead guitarist Abed Hathut seemed to agree with Farhi's sentiments, saying:
“We are metal brothers before everything. There is no bigger message for peace than through this tour.”
Here are the dates:
20 Sept FRI FR COLMAR GRILLEN KICKOFF SHOW
21 Sept SAT FR LILLE SPLENDID
22 Sept SUN BE TONGEREN SODOM KLUB
24 Sept TUES GER ASCHAFFENBURG COLOSSAL
25 Sept WED GER BOCHUM MATRIX Tickets
26 Sept THUR GER HAMBURG ROCK N ROLL WAREHOUSE
27 Sept FRI DK KOBENHAVN AMAGER BIO
28 Sept SAT GER GERA SACHSISCHER BAHNOF
29 Sept SUN GER NURNBERG HIRSCH
1 Oct TUES CZ PRAHA EXIT US
2 Oct WED PL WARSAW PROXIMA CLUB
3 Oct THUR PL KRAKOW Lizard king
4 Oct FRI HG BUDAPEST CLUB 202
5 Oct SAT AT VIENNA REIGEN CLUB
6 Oct SUN SK BRATISLAVA RANDAL CLUB
9 Oct WED TR ANKARA JOLLY JOKER BALANS
10 Oct THUR TR ISTANBUL KUCUKCIFTKIK PARK
11 Oct FRI BG SOFIA MIX TAPE 5
12 Oct SAT GR ATHENS GAGARIN 205
13 Oct SUN GR TESSALONIKI EIGHT BALL CLUB
18 Oct FRI SB BELGRAD DOMOMLADINE
19 Oct SAT CT Sarajevo Kriterion
20 Oct SUN SLOV MARIBOR MC PEKARNA KLUB
22 Oct TUES IT ROMA TRAFFIC LIVE
23 Oct WED IT MILAN ROCK N ROLL ARENA
25 Oct FRI CH PRATELN GALLERY Tickets
26 Oct SAT FR LYON O TOTEM RILLIEUX MJC
27 Oct SUN FR TOULON LE VOX
28 Oct MON FR TOULOUSE CONNEXION LIVE
29 Oct TUES SP BILBAO ROCK STAR
31 Oct THU PT PORTO HARD CLUB
1 Nov FRI PT LISBON Santiago Alquimista
2 Nov SAT SP MADRID RAMDALL
3 Nov SUN SP BARCELONA APOLO 2
4 Nov MON FR MONTPELLIER L'ANTIROUILLE
5 Nov TUES FR ANGOULEME LA NEF
7 Nov THU FR PARIS DIVAN DU MONDE
8 Nov FRI NL ZOETERMEER BOERDERIJ
9 Nov SAT NL APELDOORN GIGANT
11 Nov MON UK NORWICH WATERFRONT
12 Nov TUES UK BILSTON ROBIN 2
13 Nov WED UK LONDON THE GARAGE
14 Nov THUR UK MANCHESTER SOUND CONTROL
15 Nov FRI IRE DUBLIN THE PINT
