In Hong Kong’s Dark Times Any Live Show is Respite – So Opeth Cancels Hong Kong Show?

In case you haven’t noticed, our beautiful city of Hong Kong has been burning for the past 5 months. Under the negligence of the Hong Kong government, our legal gangsters, the so-called “Hong Kong Police”, have been running rampant throughout the city pummelling protestors, bystanders, first aiders, children, the elderly, the press with batons, shooting rubber bullets and live ammunition, spraying them in the face with pepper spray or shooting tear gas at them. Not only that, but they have been making arbitrary arrests of anyone whether or not they are protestors, because they know full well they will not be held accountable to anyone. The government has indeed given them free reign to do whatever they want.

It has been 5 months that all of us Hong Kongers have been glued to our phones, computers at all hours of the day keeping track of what other disgusting, despicable things are happening to our fellow Hong Kong citizens. Just last weekend over 300 arrests were made, over 200 of them from just one part in Wan Chai. The arrestees had numbers written on their hands and then boarded onto couches to take them to police stations. These were not people even dressed in the typical “protestor” attire (black from head to toe, face mask, yellow helmet, gas masks), they were just your ordinary people caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. On a separate day a deranged lunatic got into a political argument and stabbed people and bit a legislator’s ear off. Later on that night, a college student was running away from tear gas fired and jumped from the third floor to the floor below. He has been in a coma for days, operated on, and is now on life support.

Under all of this darkness, Hong Kong promoters continue to put their weight behind shows that they’re trying to organize. Many of us look forward to these few shows as a way to escape, even for just a few hours, the madness and toil on our hearts and minds. We need respite for even a few hours. It is a financial risk that Hong Kong promoters are taking. Many bands continue to make their way over here to support Hong Kong. Marduk just performed here a couple weeks ago, Loudness is performing this weekend, Implore, Toe, As I Lay Dying, Stiff Little Fingers, Deafheaven are scheduled to play in the next few months. We thank all of these bands from the bottom of our hearts.

For months now many of us were greatly looking forward to Opeth coming to Hong Kong. But yesterday word got out that Opeth had announced they were playing Singapore on December 8 – the same night they have been scheduled to play here. What? Singapore is almost a 5 hour flight away from Hong Kong – how in the world would they be able to play both cities in one night? Rumors started churning and then today, finally…the band released the statement below.

“It is with regret that Opeth are forced to cancel their December 8th performance in Hong Kong due to logistical issues.”

Hong Kong is a world renown financial and transport hub containing one of the world’s most efficient transport networks of any developed city anywhere on the planet. So what is the logistical issue? The Opeth facebook page has been flooded by disappointed fans who have been asking all sorts of questions. Why the band is okay with playing in the authoritarian regime of China on December 2 and 3rd but for some reason can’t play Hong Kong anymore on the 8th? Is their a correlation? Were they asked to not perform in Hong Kong? Did they succumb to pressure similar to the NBA, Vans, Blizzard, Cathay Pacific, etc? The promoter of the show himself also posted in the comments section the following photo inquiring if the transportation from the airport to the hotel/venue was insufficient? Here’s the photo of the BUS:

So what is it? What is the “logistical issue”? Is it even a logistical issue or is it something else? If Opeth cares about their Hong Kong fans – they should come clean.

We’d also like to state, the same night that the Opeth show will now be taking place in Singapore (December 8) there is already another metal show that has been announced for MONTHS organized by stand up Singapore promoter Vent Box Productions. The show consists of Singapore acts including Opposition Party, Cardiac Necropsy, as well as a Korean band Dark Mirror Ov Tragedy. Info about that show can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2400799983373981/

YOU KNOW WHAT SHOW YOU SHOULD BE ATTENDING.

FIGHT FOR FREEDOM | STAND WITH HONG KONG