Tallah, the nu-metal band featuring drummer Max Portnoy, son of Mike (ex-Dream Theater), dropped off their tour with Avatar and Magic Sword last week after a Covid-19 outbreak struck their camp.
While the band had initially hoped to re-join the tour after quarantining until they tested negative, they issued a new statement yesterday (September 27) blaming Avatar’s management for the decision to remove them from the rest of the run, which goes through October 18, entirely.
Tallah also launched a GoFundMe to help cover the financial hit from unsold merch, extra gas to get home, loss of income, etc., seeking a total of $10,000 (they’ve raised approximately $2,700 so far).
Tallah’s initial statement, included in the launch of last week’s crowdfunding campaign, reads:
“Last night several members of Tallah tested positive for COVID. Unfortunately this means that we will be unable to carry on the tour with Avatar and will miss Louder Than Life Festival this weekend. It also means we are stranded in Nebraska and having to isolate for 10 days in an RV.
“We need help from our fans to pay for hotel rooms so band members can rest up, isolate properly and then get home safe. For a new band like Tallah, every single date of the tour is very important to us. Not only to play to our fans in each city but also to make the tour work financially.
“Because this tour is likely to come to an end now we are going to be down a huge amount of money as stuff has already been paid for. Anything you can afford to give would really help us out. We hope we can get back on the road soon and sorry to anyone who was looking forward to seeing us in the next few weeks.”
A second statement issued yesterday via social media reads:
“As you already know, some of our members caught COVID-19.
“Due to some miscommunication about Avatar’s COVID guidelines, their management has decided to remove us from the rest of the Going Hunting Tour.
“We would have loved to continue the tour once we got better and tested negative, but that decision was not ours to make.
“We appreciate everyone who came out to see us and wanted to see us on the rest of this tour, there is always next time.
“If you’d like to continue your support, we have setup a GoFundMe to recoup some of our losses. See you soon.”
We wish everyone in Tallah a speedy recovery from Covid-19 and we hope to see them get back on their feet financially as soon as possible.
Remaining Avatar tour dates with Magic Sword:
9/28 — Houston, TX — House of Blues [tickets]
9/29 — San Antonio, TX — The Aztec Theater [tickets]
10/1 — Albuquerque, NM — Sunshine Theater [tickets]
10/2 — Denver, CO — Summit [tickets]
10/3 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Depot [tickets]
10/5 — Phoenix, AZ — The Van Buren [tickets]
10/6 — Los Angeles, CA — The Wiltern [tickets]
10/7 — Las Vegas, NV — House of Blues [tickets]
10/8 — Sacramento, CA — Aftershock [tickets]
10/10 — Grand Junction, CO — Mesa Theater [tickets]
10/12 — Billings, MT — Pub Station [tickets]
10/14 — Spokane, WA — Knitting Factory [tickets]
10/15 — Portland, OR — Roseland Theater [tickets]
10/16 — Garden City, ID — Revolution Concert House and Event Center [tickets]
10/18 — Seattle, WA — Neptune [tickets]