It’s hard out there for a touring band and unfortunately, rising costs and the current shitty state of the global economy has forced yet another act to cancel their tour plans. Earlier today, Canadian melodic death metal outfit The Agonist announced their upcoming European tour is not happening.
The band joins the likes of Anthrax, Moonspell, and Ministry in having to cancel a trip across the pond due to financial, logistical, or some other extenuating circumstance. While some bands have chalked it up to “unforeseen” problems, The Agonist were very specific in their statement about what ended up killing their summer plans.
“We must unfortunately announce that we cannot make any EU summer shows this year. The reasons are a combination of multiple factors. You guys probably all know by now how expensive touring is at the moment—it’s been a hot topic.
“Rising costs are affecting everyone now, from legacy bands to local bands, and we are no exception to that. Unfortunately, if we went to Europe on our current arrangement, we would stand to lose a dangerous amount of money, putting ourselves in financial jeopardy. We hope you understand this difficult choice.”
For months now, bands have had a hell of a time trying to get out in front of European fans. From rising fuel costs in Europe thanks to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine to rising inflation, normal touring expenses have spiked. Couple that with the lack of affordable or available transportation and venues taking larger merch cuts, and you’ve got a scenario where bands stand to lose money going to Europe.
The same can be said for European bands trying to tour the U.S., but a lot of that conversation has stemmed around the idea that the government is planning to jack up the price of working visas that bands need in order to tour the States. Basically, everything’s fucked right now and it’s the bands and fans that are getting the bad end of the deal.
So here’s hoping that things get easier for bands like The Agonist get out to Europe soon.