The metal band High on Fire had to cancel their upcoming North American winter tour, pulling out of a tour for the second time due to frontman Matt Pike’s Diabetes complications.
This past fall, the band had to back-out of a co-headlining tour with Municipal Waste after Pike needed a partial amputation of his toe. Now, Pike is at risk of losing another toe or a portion of his foot. In a statement, he described the cancellation as “explaining lightning striking twice.”
“To my brothers, my crew, and anyone else this affects,” he said in a statement. “I do apologize for the inconvenience of this cancelation. I feel as though I’m explaining lightning striking twice. I wanted nothing more in the world to play these songs live, nor ever cancel something I say I’m gonna do.
I am a warrior for our art, and have endured some painful things to what we do. The timing and repeating nature of this is my nightmare and almost impossible. Nevertheless, to save yet another toe, my big one, I have been grounded by circumstances out of my control. I will have more of a medical report to come but right now I’m at great risk of losing it, and/or a bigger portion of my foot due to Diabetes. Which I have been managing very well.
It just shows how this disease can affect our lives. Please forgive me, and if you know anything about me, you know this is not like me. We will be back!”
The tour, in support of High on Fire’s 2018 LP Electric Messiah and presented by Revolver Magazine, was set to kick-off on January 10 in Atlanta, Georgia. Other stops on the run included Baltimore, Toronto, Denver, St. Louis, and Dallas before wrapping-up in New Orleans, Louisiana in February.
Electric Messiah, which dropped in October, features the title track as well as the single “Spewn From The Earth,” and received a Grammy nomination for “Best Metal Performance.”
Cancelled dates:
High on Fire Canceled 2019 North American Tour
01/10 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
01/11 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
01/12 – Richmond, VA @ Broadberry
01/13 – Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
01/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ TLA
01/16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
01/18 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
01/19 – Montreal, QC @ Fairmount
01/20 – Toronto, ON @ Opera House
01/22 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
01/23 – Minneapolis, MN @ Skyway
01/25 – Denver, CO @ Oriental
01/26 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
01/27 – St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall
01/29 – Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Bar and Grill
01/30 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda
01/31 – Houston, TX @ White Oak
02/01 – New Orleans, LA @ House Of Blues
