The Black Keys have explained why their North American tour was "quietly" cancelled on Friday (May 24).
Fans discovered that the status for the Akron, OH duo's entire list of dates for their Ohio Players Tour had been switched to "cancelled" on their Ticketmaster page without any warning.
Music writer Scott Heisel did some sleuthing and discovered that ticket sales for some of the tour dates were incredibly low, possibly due to the band selling nosebleed seats for $100 in 15,000 capacity venues.
But it appears that some form of the tour will eventually happen, as the band's Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney posted a reassuring message to fans over the weekend, though without explaining why the tour was cancelled.
"The band wants to assure everyone that Dan & Patrick are alive and well," they began in a series of posts on social. "Following the recent run of shows in the UK & Europe, including stops at iconic venues like Brixton Academy and the Zenith in Paris, we have decided to make some changes to the North American leg of the International Players Tour that will enable us to offer a similarly exciting, intimate experience for both fans and the band, and will be announcing a revised set of dates shortly.
"Everyone who had purchased tickets and/or VIP to the initial tour dates will be fully refunded - and when the new plans are announced, will be the first to be able to buy tickets," they continued. "Thank you for your understanding and apologies for the surprise change… We’re pretty sure everyone is going to be excited when you see what we have in mind though, and look forward to seeing everyone soon."
See the post below.