In a boldly honest move, Australian metalcore act Parkway Drive have canceled their upcoming North American tour with Hatebreed, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Stick To Your Guns in order to focus on internal conflicts within the band. We know this, because they straight-up told everyone.
Here’s the statement the band have issued:
“Dear friends, family and fans,
“This is something we never thought we would be writing, but we not only all believe you deserve an explanation, but we feel the need to communicate and connect with true honesty. Firstly, this is hard, please know we are fully aware that another canceled tour is not what you want to see from us, and for any expectations or plans we have messed with, we are truly sorry.
“We have been doing this thing called Parkway Drive for nearly 20 years. We started as kids and never looked back. It has been a wild ride, but over those years, the relentless nature of being in this band has given us very little time to reflect on who we are as individuals, who we want to be and the toll it is taking on ourselves and our friendships. It has always been 100% commitment or nothing.
“We feel the limit has been reached and we don’t want to fuck this up. The same devotion that we have put into everything before, we are now putting into processing what these 20 years have done to us. With this, we aim to grow and return stronger for what is yet to come. We know what we need to do and we humbly ask for your respect while we take this time for the growth that is needed. It has been said that it is better to burn out than to fade away. We do not want either, so know that our return will burn brighter than the past.
“Jeff, Luke, Ben, Jia and Winston.
“p.s. We are still focused and committed to our European tour, so that will go ahead as planned in Sep/Oct 2022.”
I mean, look, there’s a lot to unpack here. And if you’re a diehard Parkway Drive fan, this is a bummer, and we’re sorry if you have nonrefundable plane tickets or hotel bookings or whatever.
But I think it’s real simple: you want Parkway Drive to be around in 15 years? Because if so, then this kind of thing has to happen. Bands NEED time off, especially if they feel their internal relationships have become problematic and need to be addressed. We applaud the band for making this difficult choice.
Check out the statement below. Here are the affected dates:
5/8 Baltimore, MD @ UMBC Event Center
5/9 New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall
5/10 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
5/11 Columbus, OH @ KEMBA Live!
5/13 New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom
5/14 Worcester, MA @ Palladium Outdoors
5/15 Montreal, QC – [to be announced]
5/17 Toronto, ON @ RBC Echo Beach
5/19 Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
5/20 Daytona, FL @ Welcome To Rockville
5/22 Charlotte, NC @ Metro Credit Union
5/23 Cincinnati, OH @ Ovation
5/24 Ft Wayne, IN @ Piere’s Outdoors
5/25 Chicago, IL @ Wintrust Arena
5/26 St Louis, MO @ The Factory
5/28 Dallas, TX @ So What Festival
5/29 San Antonio, TX @ Vibes Outside
5/31 Wichita, KS @ Wave
6/1 Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
6/3 Las Vegas, NV @ Theater at Virgin Hotels (no STYG)
6/4 So-Cal, CA @ TBA (no STYG)
6/5 San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield (no STYG)