Arcade Fire have pulled out of their European tour after a sinus infection left frontman Win Butler literally speechless.
We're too lazy to report much more, so writing on the band's website, Butler explained:
"I just had to make the very sad decision to cancel the rest of the European tour. I have been suffering from a sinus and bronchial infection for the last three months. Last night in Stockholm I finally pushed my voice and body farther then they are able to go.
I kept yelling at the monitor guy because I didn't recognize the sound that was coming out the monitor as my own voice, and it took me until the second song to realize that the sound was coming from me. Today I can barely speak or make any sound, so finishing the shows is no longer possible."
Butler now faces surgery after pressing ahead with shows which doctors had been advising him to cancel for weeks.
"We are all very sad, because we were very much looking forward to playing these shows, and we could not imagine cancelling a show unless it was physically impossible to do," he explained. "We apologise to the fans that have been waiting to see us, and we promise to try and come back as soon as it is humanly possible... Wish me luck with the doctors."
The cancelled shows are as follows:
March
24th Oslo Sentrum Scene
25th Copenhagen KB Halle
27th Berlin Postbanhof
28th Munich Elser Halle
31st Lyon Transbordeur
April
1st Cologne Palladium
2nd Utrecht Vredenburg
4th Brussels Halles de Schaerbeek
5th Lille L'Aeronef
According to Arcade Fire fansite Arcadefire.net, ticket holders should contact the promoter directly about refunds.
Photo by: Paul Wilcock.
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