Velvet Revolver were looking forward to their upcoming tour of Japan: a series of four concerts — to promote their current album Libertad — between November 26 and November 30, encompassing the cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Yokohama. For the band, the upcoming trek was the opportunity to reconnect with their fans in Japan, where the band tour has toured before — without incident — back in 2005. But now it’s a different story as Velvet Revolver’s request for visas has just been denied.

The increasingly tough Japanese immigration officials are taking exception with the backgrounds of various band members, which have included arrests. The band is appealing the decision of the officials–which is ironic given that Libertad is Spanish for “liberty” and “freedom”–but this process will unfortunately take months to sort out.

Velvet Revolver will proceed with their Australian tour that begins on December 4 in Brisbane.

Tour Dates:

12/4 – Brisbane, Australia – Convention Centre
12/5 – Sydney, Australia – Enmore Theatre
12/6 – Sydney, Australia – Enmore Theatre
12/8 – Melbourne, Australia – Festival Hall
12/9 – Adelaide, Australia – The Barton Theatre
12/12 – Los Angeles, CA – Gibson Amphitheatre