Alison Alber August 17th, 2021 - 8:37 PM
Indie rock trio Shellac announced they would cancel their upcoming west coast tour dates due to the rising numbers of COVID-19 infections. The band shared the news via their Instagram today, August 17th. The tour was already postponed from the original dates in 2020. Now, in their statement, the band expresses their frustration over the ultimate cancellation of their tour.
“These dates were booked a year ago, replacing a similar set of dates we also had to cancel due to the pandemic,” the statement reads. “It breaks our hearts to have to cancel again and is frustrating in the extreme, but the Delta variant of the Covid-19 pandemic has proven especially virulent, and the potential risks of doing the tour outweigh and compromise the joy we would normally experience playing shows.”
While all three members of the band are fully vaccinated and not in a serious threat of the virus, “a breakthrough infection, and isolating in some remote location would be a horrible outcome.”
But all hope is not lost for Shellac fans, as the trio ends their statement with a hopeful outlook for next year. “We love playing more than anything else on earth. We will reschedule these dates, let’s say in a year from now, and we will be back among you. We miss it terribly and will see you then.”
Check out the complete Instagram statement below.
View this post on Instagram
Steve Albini also took to his private Twitter account yesterday to address the cancellation of the band’s tour, saying, “The risks of touring right now remain extreme, both in material terms and psychic ones, so this seems like the responsible thing to do during a pandemic that has proven pernicious beyond all expectations.” You can read his entire thread here.
