Tobias Sammet’s Avantasia in Tokyo
Tobias Sammet’s travelling hard-rock circus always delivers. The tour kick-off in Tokyo was no exception.
Tobias Sammet’s Avantasia at Toyosu Pit, Tokyo, Japan on 19th November 2025
German artist Tobias Sammet has built what started as a studio project in 1999 into a fabulous, and seemingly unstoppable, rock’n’roll circus that always delivers both in the studio and on stage. The man is a wizard, a magician, who, against the odds, has established Avantasia as a major force in the world of hard rock. He has also managed to keep this project going. With musicians and vocalists coming and going, Avantasia is a giant puzzle that needs to be put together over and over again.
Over the years, producer and guitarist Sascha Paeth has become a key ingredient in helping Tobias deliver his Avantasia vision. Sascha and his fellow musicians – Felix Bohnke on drums, Michael “Miro” Rodenberg on keyboards, André Neygenfind on bass and Arne Wiegand on guitar – provide the solid foundation, the canvas, upon which the vocalists get to showcase their voices.
The splendid vocalists this fine evening in Tokyo were Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids), Kenny Leckremo (H.E.A.T.), Tommy Karevik (Kamelot), Adrienne Cowan (Seven Spires), Chiara Tricarico (Moonlight Haze) and Herbie Langhans (The Lightbringer of Sweden, ex-Firewind).
The Avantasia concept works particularly well in Japan: big, melodic hard rock tunes, a killer band and a line-up of singers from well-loved bands. One of the things that sets Avantasia apart from most other all-star projects or performances is that none of the vocalists perform any of their own hits or any covers. They only perform original Avantasia songs.
An Avantasia show is a non-stop burst of energy. Having a whole line-up of lead vocalists, including himself, Tobias can pick and mix to create a show without any dips. In Tokyo, we got a career-spanning selection of songs all the way from 2001’s album “The Metal Opera” to 2025’s “Here Be Dragons”. Highlights? All the songs! It was a world-class two-and-a-half-hour non-stop rock show with fab songs such as “Reach Out for the Light”, “The Witch”, “Phantasmagoria”, “Avalon” and “The Scarecrow”.
A great version of “Twisted Mind” featuring Tommy and Ronnie on vocals was the stand-out moment for me, closely followed by “The Wicked Symphony” with Tommy and Kenny. The show ended with an encore consisting of “No Return”, “Lost in Space” and “Sign of the Cross/The Seven Angels”.
At the end of the show, I realised that I didn’t miss the big-name vocalists who are not on this tour. Tobias is a musical wizard who, in Avantasia, has built something bigger than its parts. He writes amazing songs and his travelling hard-rock circus always delivers, no matter who is part of the line-up at any particular time.
Hail His Majesty King Tobias of Avantasia!
