DE-TOURISM: HYPOCRISY AND ABORTED DROP OFF NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

May 14 was a day I was really looking forward to. That was the day that the “End of Disclosure” North American Tour featuring Hypocrisy, Krisiun, Aborted,  and Arsis was supposed to roll into Seattle and flatten it like a pancake. That line-up was so damned fine it was almost too good to be true. Turns out it was too good to be true. I received this press release from Nuclear Blast about half an hour ago:

Swedish death metal legends HYPOCRISY, have been forced to sit out their upcoming North American tour this May due to reasons beyond their control. The band members had received their visa approvals and everything was going as scheduled, until the embassy let them know that the earliest they could pick up their visas, get them stamped and so on, wasn’t until late June at the earliest. A regular procedure that would normally take just a few days to sort, takes much longer at the moment due to that current workload Homeland Security is experiencing.

“As we were getting ready to go get our visas stamped and ready for the tour we were informed that the earliest we could go initially was sometime in July,” explains guitarist/vocalist Peter Tägtgren. “We then immediately continued to call them, got the label to help with some letters, and put our lawyer to work etc. The best that got us was an appointment in late June. This is a HUGE blow to us, to our fans and everyone who has supported HYPOCRISY in North America. Sometimes there are battles you can’t win, and this is one of them. We will be back, I can promise that!”

What’s even worse than this wretched news was the further report in the press release that Aborted would also not be participating in the tour. No explanation was offered for that, and I’ve seen nothing about it on Aborted’s Facebook page or anywhere else so far. Maybe they decided the expense of the overseas trip wasn’t likely to be covered without the draw of Hypocrisy at the top of the tour, but that’s just speculation.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m still stoked to see Krisiun and Arsis. But this still sucks like an industrial strength wet-vac.

On the bright side I feel so much safer because the Department of Homeland Security was being extra super-careful not to let those Hypocrisy terrorist threats into our pristine Homeland without a very thorough and probing in-person interview before granting them the privilege of stamping their fucking visas.

See, this is how things work. A couple of Chechen malcontents bomb the Boston Marathon and Hypocrisy loses the chance to tour North America. I wonder what the Tsarnaev brothers had against Hypocrisy?

Here’s the schedule for the revised tour, plus some solo Arsis dates:

ARSIS HEADLINING SOLO SHOWS:
4/30/13 Café 611 – Frederick, MD

KRISIUN, ARSIS TOUR
5/01/13 The Gramercy – New York, NY *
5/02/13 Palace – Stafford, CT *
5/03/13 Foufounes Electriques – Montreal, QC *
5/04/13 WreckRoom – Toronto, ON *
5/05/13 The Foundry – Cleveland, OH *
5/06/13 Reggie’s – Chicago, IL *
5/07/13 Station 4 – St. Paul, MN *
5/08/13 The Zoo – Winnipeg, MB *
5/09/13 The Exchange – Regina, SK *
5/10/13 Pawn Shop – Edmonton, AB *
5/11/13 Republik – Calgary, AB *
5/12/13 Branding Iron Pub – Armstrong, BC (ARSIS and STARKILL only)
5/13/13 Rickshaw Theater – Vancouver, BC *
5/14/13 Studio Seven – Seattle, WA **
5/15/13 Branx – Portland, OR
5/16/13 Oakland Metro – Oakland, CA **
5/17/13 The Vex – Los Angeles, CA **
5/18/13 Joe’s Grotto – Tempe, AZ **
5/20/13 Trees – Dallas, TX **
5/21/13 Korova – San Antonio, TX **

*with STARKILL
**with AUTUMN’S END

ARSIS HEADLINING SOLO SHOWS:
5/22/13 Chameleon Room – Oklahoma City, OK
5/23/13 The Riot Room – Kansas City, MO
5/25/13 Headliners Middle Room – Toledo, OH
5/26/13 Smith’s Downtown – Mishawaka, IN
5/27/13 Broadway Joe’s – Buffalo, NY
5/28/13 The Smiling Moose – Pittsburgh, PA
5/29/13 Diamond Pub & Billiards – Louisville, KY
5/30/13 The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
6/01/13 Scion Rock Fest – Memphis, TN