OPETH had to cancel their November 8 concert at the Royal Center in Bogotá, Colombia, after frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt fell ill with a virus just hours before the show.
The Swedish progressive metal band announced the cancellation on social media on the day of the concert, explaining that Åkerfeldt was running a fever and that a doctor had examined him and confirmed a viral illness. "We even attempted a soundcheck, but it proved impossible to get through even a single song," the band wrote. "We are truly sorry that we cannot perform this concert, but we are only human. Our hope now is for Mikael to recover quickly so that we can go on to play the final show of the tour in Mexico."
The Bogotá date was part of OPETH's Latin American tour, which opened on November 1 in Santiago, Chile, and is scheduled to wrap up on November 11 in Mexico City. No make-up date for Colombia has been announced.
The trek is the band's last run of shows for a while: earlier this month bassist Martín Méndez said that OPETH will "take a pretty long break" once the Latin American tour is over. Åkerfeldt himself has been candid about his complicated relationship with the road, telling Blabbermouth earlier this year that he has battled touring-related insomnia and nerves, compared touring to "working in a factory," and said he would rather the band spent more time writing new music than "repeating old music."
OPETH's current lineup — Åkerfeldt, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson, Méndez, keyboardist Joakim Svalberg and drummer Waltteri Väyrynen — is still touring in support of The Last Will And Testament, the band's fourteenth studio album, released in November 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music/Moderbolaget. The concept record featured guest appearances from JETHRO TULL's Ian Anderson and EUROPE's Joey Tempest, and won the band a Swedish Grammis earlier this year.