Animal Collective have cancelled their upcoming tour of the UK and Europe due to economic difficulties.
Explaining that they were "gutted" to call off the dates, the band said in a statement: "It has been a wild year for us trying to push through a mountain of touring obstacles related to COVID and the economy. Three of us got bad cases of COVID. We were forced to cancel shows and lost large amounts of the income that sustains us and our families.
"Preparing for this tour, we were looking at an economic reality that simply does not work and is not sustainable. From inflation, to currency devaluation, to bloated shipping and transportation costs, and much, much more, we simply could not make a budget for this tour that did not lose money even if everything went as well as it could. We have always been the kind of people to persevere through the difficult times and get on stage unless our health prevented it. We are choosing not to take the risk to our mental and physical health with the economic reality of what that tour would have been."
The band’s decision to cancel the dates has triggered a number of discussions around the current economic difficulties surrounding touring around the world as financial markets continue to take a hit and rising inflation forces acts as established as Animal Collective to take such drastic measures.
The band had been due to head to the UK and Europe next month to play at events such as Le Guess Who? in Utrecht and the London edition of Pitchfork Music Festival, as well as their own headline dates in cities around the continent.
