After the Burial Take the Stage at Minneapolis Summer Slaughter Stop: “We’re Not Done.”
It’s been two weeks since After the Burial guitarist Justin Lowe was found dead following a disappearance and paranoid episode. Aside from a very brief statement to the effect of “Thanks for all the love, but please respect our privacy right now,” the band hasn’t said much about Lowe’s death, their own feelings or the band’s future.
The members of AtB broke that silence at Friday’s night’s Summer Slaughter stop in Minneapolis, MN — appropriate given the timing of the tour they’d just dropped off passing through their home town — to address the crowd and update the world on their status. Each of the band members took turns at the mic, at times fighting back tears. Some excerpts follow:
We wanted to come up here and talk to you for a second. Obviously we couldn’t be on this tour. We want to thank you guys from the bottom of fucking hearts for all the support you’ve shown us. We wanted to thank you guys for showing us all the support that you have. All the kind words. All the bands that’ve reached out through social media. The things that all our friends have done for us. It means a lot. It really does. Thank you guys so fucking much or doing that. We love you.
Minneapolis, MN has been through it all. I remember seeing Justin for the first time with these guys before I was officially in the band, at The Garage. That venue sucked, but it was an awesome time. We did our first few tours in a 1979 G20 with a gas leak, the seats weren’t even bolted down, no fucking trailer. Slept on peoples’ floors, ate like shit, had a lot of good fucking times. It took us all over the place, all over the world. I spent the best days of my life with Justin Lowe. A big part of it was the support system we had and the home base we had and the good friends we had, a lot of these bands on tour. We’re gonna miss him. We’ll always love him. Just wanted you to know that Minneapolis is the heart that pushes the blood through After the Burial and we want to thank you. We want you guys to have a good time tonight. Thank you.
Before we go, we want you guys to know… we’re not done. Justin would have never wanted us to stop, and we’re going to keep moving forward. We’re going to take time to gather ourselves. We’ll be back. We will be back. And his music’s going to live through us and through you guys.
That last bit is huge news for AtB fans; I don’t think many people expected the band would just hang it up and call it a day, but it’s still reassuring to hear the band vow to continue on.
Watch the full video of After the Burial’s appearance below:
