Death metal band Opeth rocks Male’ during “coup d’etat”
12 Feb 2012, 12:31 PM
Donna Richardson
As tear gas rained down on citizens marching in favor of ousted president Mohamed Nasheed’s government a day after what has been called a coup d’etat, hundreds of Maldivian metal fans attended a live concert by Swedish heavy metal Opeth at the Dhaarubaruge concert hall in Male’.
Nasheed, the Maldives first democratically elected president, resigned on Tuesday, February 7 following street clashes between national police and military forces. He has since stated that he resigned to protect the Maldivian people from further bloodshed.
Opeth, supported by home-grown Maldivian band Nothnegal, played a sell-out gig to eager crowds on Wednesday, February 8 – in spite of the chaos developing across the urban island.
Organisers said the political and civil unrest which has rocked the paradisaical archipelago for the past two days had forced them to postpone the concert, originally scheduled for February 7, by one day. It also made it impossible to hold the gig outdoors, they said.
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