Echo and the Bunnymen are in the middle of their More Songs To Learn & Sing Tour. However, they cancelled tonight’s show due to singer Ian McCulloch being taken to the hospital.
The band wrote in a statement explaining the postponement:
While travelling from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia, Ian McCulloch’s vehicle was involved in a road traffic incident.
As a result, Ian required medical treatment. Thankfully, the injuries sustained are not believed to be serious; however, as you can appreciate, he has been left understandably shaken by the incident. As a precautionary measure, Ian is undergoing further medical assessment, including scans and X-rays.
After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to postpone tonight’s performance in Philadelphia.
Postponing a show is always a last resort. We never want to disappoint our fans, and we know many of you will have made plans to attend this evening’s concert.
We kindly ask ticket holders to retain their tickets while we work through the next steps. A further update regarding the show will be provided as soon as possible.
We sincerely apologise for the disappointment and inconvenience caused, and thank you for your understanding and support.
The band played Washington, D.C. on Friday, and is slated to play Brooklyn tomorrow night. The band did not say if the show will go on.
Hopefully, the 67-year-old musician was not injured too seriously and will be up for that show and their upcoming shows later this week in Boston, Toronto, and Cleveland.
Neil Young was going to tour Europe in June and July, but that is no longer happening.
The singer wrote, “I have decided to take a break and will not be touring Europe this time. Thanks to everyone who bought tickets. I’m sorry to let you down, but this is not the time. I do love playing LIVE and being with you and the Chrome Hearts.”
Young did not say why it is not the time, so we are left to guess. Hopefully, he is OK.
In 2018, Paul Simon revealed that he was retiring from the road due to severe hearing loss in his left ear. However, yesterday, he announced that he will play a few small dates starting on April 4th in New Orleans.
“It was during the recording of Seven Psalms, as revealed in the acclaimed In Restless Dreams documentary, that Simon began to steadily lose the hearing in his left ear which initially made extended live performances impossible,” the press release states. “Together with the Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss, and his own production team, Simon redesigned his entire stage set up to make performing viable. This included moving monitors to surround him.”
That is why the 83-year-old legendary singer is playing the smaller venues where the acoustics will work for him, and he will be able to set up the stage to accommodate his needs.
He was inspired to perform the songs from Grammy-nominated Seven Psalms live for the first time and has been rehearsing to give the audience the best show with those seven singles and other ones from his past.
I am hoping that he will be able to reunite with Art Garfunkel for a few gigs now that they are getting along again. That would be the greatest gift they could give their fans. Could you imagine?
The timing of Simon’s announcement was brilliant because we are still talking about his duet with Sabrina Carpenter of Homeward Bound to open Saturday Night Live’s 50th celebration on Sunday.
Tickets for A Quiet Celebration Tour go on sale on February 21st.
Valentine’s Day was only four days ago, but Peter Noone’s Herman’s Hermits and The Ludlow Garage want us to be thinking about our Christmas plans 310 days before the holiday.
And that is way too early. At least wait until Easter, Jesus’ death day, before we start thinking about his birthday.
Even Mariah Carey, the Queen of Christmas, waits until Halloween. So, until she is defrosted, we don’t talk about Bruno, I mean Christmas. Deal?
REO Speedwagon has been touring for over 55 years, but at the end of this year, they are no longer going to take it on the run.
Late last year, guitarist Bruce Hall had to take medical leave to undergo back surgery and recuperate.
I guess he was ready to rejoin the band on that road, but instead, they made a shocking announcement:
To our fans: Bruce has intended to be Back On the Road Again by now. If it were up to just him, he’d be back on tour… but it’s not up to just him. The consensus opinion was that he had not recovered sufficiently to be able to perform at the level the fans have come to expect. Bruce respected that opinion and is grateful that Matt has been around to keep the Wagon rolling through the summer tour. Bruce never had any intention of retiring or walking away from the band, fans, and crew he has loved for almost 50 years.
For Kevin’s [Cronin] part, he too has never had any intention of leaving the band, and the fans and crew mean the world to him, as well.
Due to this complex situation, irreconcilable differences arose between Bruce and Kevin. So, it is with great sadness that we announce REO Speedwagon will cease touring effective January 1, 2025. Neal, Kevin, and Bruce thank their fans for all their years of loyal support and for giving back to the band such wonderful memories that will remain with each of them forever.
When Hall saw that statement online, he made his own:
Hey Everyone,
Never ever thought it would end like this and I’m heartbroken. Please know Neal [Doughty] and I did everything in our power to try and keep the Wagon rolling. I am so appreciative of ALL the amazing love & support. You guys have been very vocal and clear in your wishes for me to return to the stage. Trust me…that’s all I wanted too. We all deserved a farewell tour.
For the record, I wanted REO Speedwagon to continue to tour with the lineup of Kevin, myself, Dave [Amato], Bryan [Hitt] and Derek [Hilland]. Just as it was prior to my necessary, planned and successful back surgery.
I love and will miss you all,
Bruce
I am assuming that they couldn’t keep the fire burnin’ and roll with changes, so the bandmates can’t keep on loving each other in a tour bus.
It is a sad day in Rock’n’Roll as they let the singer live out the lyrics to Time For Me To Fly. BTW I don’t know the songs, so I don’t know if he is really living out the lyrics. But he is living the title. So there is that.
