The Avalanches Cancel Tour Dates Due To 'Serious Illness'

The Avalanches have cancelled their remaining US and Canadian tour dates due to "serious illness", the duo revealed in a social media statement.

While the decision was "heartbreaking", they thanked everyone "who made this tour so joyous" and apologised to people who had tickets to the remaining shows.

A day before making their announcement, The Avalanches shared Philadelphia artist Santigold's post about her cancelled tour dates. They thanked her for openly discussing the "brutal" nature of touring right now. 

They continued on their Twitter account, citing that Bonobo, who "draws bigger crowds than us, can no longer make it work financially. Artists need to be real about the financial toll of touring. For us, it means massive debt. Oh, but we can earn a living through streaming," they shared.

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— The Avalanches (@TheAvalanches) October 1, 2022

Santigold mentioned the mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and financial toll of being an artist during COVID-19, as well as rising inflation costs leading to the cancellation of her Holified tour. She is proud to cancel the tour dates when it means that "I am proclaiming that I, the person who writes the songs, is as important to me as the songs," she wrote in a detailed Instagram post. "I will not continue to sacrifice myself for an industry that has become unsustainable for and uninterested in the welfare of the artists it is built upon."

In July, Splendour In The Grass organisers added The Avalanches as a last-minute headliner replacement for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Splendour In The Grass after they pulled out of the festival due to health issues. The Avalanches said, "We're so happy to be coming home to play Splendour again and can't wait to see you all there. We're sending love to the Yeah Yeah Yeah's x."

And last year they released the 20th-anniversary edition of their iconic debut album, Since I Left You, which landed its highest-ever Australian chart positions on the ARIA Albums Chart (#5) and #1 on the ARIA Vinyl Chart. Their 2020 opus, We Will Always Love You, also found success at home, with a #4 debut on the ARIA Albums Chart and winning the annual Australian Music Prize.