The affliction of friendship has postponed its European and UK tour plans until 2023. New plans include fit for a king instead of counterpartsand still includes I see you space cowboy Y Gideon as openers. You can get those dates at the bottom of this post.
In a sentence, The affliction of friendship vocalist joel birch calls out the music industry for its relentless touring demands and its creation of “a culture and atmosphere that almost rewards abuse” that he says fosters poor mental health.
“For anyone who has been following our band for the past 18 years, it will come as no surprise that we as a band have had ongoing issues with our mental health. We’ve never canceled a tour. Never. We’ve played nearly dead, we’ve played crippled. , we have played when I (Joelwhoever is writing this) I’ve come close to killing myself, and not once have we slammed on the brakes when we definitely should have.
“We have had a system of time off between tours that has worked for us for the most part, but in the depths of Covid we agreed to break this structure as all we wanted to do at the time was tour. US and European tours and now we’re in a situation where we can’t consciously safely embark on both tours and need to hit the brakes briefly.
“Some members of the band need to seek help for their mental health, issues that were exacerbated during the worst of Covid. We are at a point where if we were to force them to continue our European tour as it is, directly after the US tour, we would risk facing a situation much worse than a canceled tour, and that is not a risk that we are willing, nor should anyone be willing, to take.
“This is not a decision we have made lightly, in fact this is the fastest selling headlining tour we have ever announced, but what matters most to us is making sure our brothers have the space and time to address the parts of their lives that they need. Sadly, within the music industry, and indeed in the larger entertainment and hospitality industries that we coexist in, the schedules that artists are expected to keep in order to stay relevant are brutal.
“This has created a culture and atmosphere that almost rewards abuse, leading to extremely bad mental health issues that mostly go unnoticed. The music industry is a behemoth moving forward without the artists it spits out, and if we were to If we ignore this situation and abandon the love we have for our friends, WE EXPECT them to embark on a touring timeline that would most likely destroy them and us, life would go on, but not for us, not for our band, not for all the people who love them, and not for our, our extremely loyal and beloved fans.
“Thankfully, this is FAR from a breaking statement. It’s just us, asking for your understanding as we move forward on our European tour and give our friends and brothers the time to heal some wounds that have been left untended. Without a debut we’ll be back in Europe and the UK will be a bit later than planned, the US tour will continue as scheduled, and all future plans are still in the works.
“We deeply and sincerely apologize for this move, but as I said before, sometimes you need to hit the brakes, and that time for us is now.”
1/11 Paris, FRA – Le Cabaret Sauvage
1/13 Cologne, Germany – Essigfabrik
1/15 London, UK – Electric Brixton
1/16 Manchester, UK – O2 Ritz
1/17 Birmingham, UK – O2 Institute
1/18 Bristol, UK – SWX
1/19 Eindhoven, NET–Effenaar
1/20 Antwerp, BEL–Zappa
1/22 Wiesbaden, Germany – Schlachthof
1/23 Solothurn, SWI–Kofmehl
1/24 Milan, ITA – Circolo Magnolia
1/25 Nuremberg, Germany – Z-Bau
1/27 Vienna, AUT – Simm City
1/28 Prague, CZE – Acropolis
1/29 Wroclaw, POL – Zaklete Rewiry
1/30 Berlin, GER–Huxleys
2/1 Hamburg, GER – Gruenspan
2/2 Hannover, Germany – Faust
2/3 Leipzig, Germany – Felsenkeller
2/4 München, GER – Backstage Werk
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