These Big Summer Metal Tours Have Not Been Canceled (Yet)
Pandemic? What pandemic? We don’t need no stinkin’ pandemic!
Despite hundreds of tour cancelations/postponements in the past few weeks — and even though health experts say concerts are unlikely to return before fall 2021 — several big late spring and summer tour organizers are continuing to bury their heads in the sand in hopes that COVID-19 will somehow magically go away and folks will be able to pack themselves shoulder to sweaty shoulder in the nation’s clubs, theaters and stadiums. You know, because that’s totally a safe environment in which to control a devastating pandemic resurgence, even if things have started getting “back to normal” by then.
A lot of money is at stake, that much is certain. But sooner rather than later — most likely sooner — these tours are going to need to pull the plug, most likely when it comes time to make decisions about printing merch, renting gear, hiring tour personnel, and so on and so forth.
That said, here are several big tours in the metal world which have yet to officially cancel or postpone their runs, along with our analysis on the likely fate for each of them (hint: outlook not so good!).
Rage Against the Machine
Update, May 1, 5:00pm: Rage Against the Machine have postponed this tour until 2021 and are assuring fans they can get refunds. More information and rescheduled dates here.
Rage Against the Machine did the right thing by canceling the first leg of their reunion tour quickly. They didn’t have much of a choice as the run was scheduled to start in late March just as shit started to get overwhelmingly real in the U.S., but they deserve points for proactively pulling down the entire two-month run rather than waffling about it or trying to salvage a portion. Will they do the same with the tour’s second leg, which is scheduled to start July 10? They’re going to have to pull it down… the question is when. Do the right thing, Rage, and kill it now. Allows fans their money back, too, without being forced to navigate Ticketmaster’s insulting and illegal refund policy.
Slipknot, A Day to Remember, Underoath, Code Orange
This one is SOON. It’s scheduled to start May 30, which will be one month away tomorrow. Corey Taylor and Jim Root are still conducting interviews from friggin’ quarantine — quarantine! two months ago such a concept as part of daily life would have been unfathomable! — meanwhile the band / their management are still acting like this thing is gonna happen. I understand there are countless logistics that go into rescheduling a tour of this magnitude, but c’mon guys, just pull the plug already and give fans an opportunity to get their money back if they badly need it to do pesky, unimportant things like pay rent or buy food.
Mötley Crue, Def Leppard, Poison, Joan Jett and that Tik Tok guy whose name no one can ever remember
Tommy Lee, ever the optimist, made headlines when he insisted in early April that the band was earnestly prepping for the tour in spite of the world collapsing around him. That tune changed somewhat a couple of weeks later when an unnamed poster handling the band’s Instagram account responded to fan questions about the tour’s status by saying “bands don’t decide this” and “no one has said anything.” The notion that bands don’t decide — that they have no say in the matter — is wholly ridiculous, but the bigger tell here is that clearly they’ve inched towards accepting reality. With a scheduled start date of June 21, there is NO WAY this tour is happening. Just get it over with and announce new dates for summer 2021! I predict that’ll happen within the next two weeks.
Rammstein
Rammstein win the award for at least some transparency in this lot: the band acknowledged they were going to have to act, but only after the German government (as well as many neighboring countries) literally outlawed concerts, and they haven’t made any firm announcements about the future yet. Not mentioned at all: their August/September North American stadium run. It’s safe to say we’ll be hearing from Rammstein soon about new European dates, but hopefully the band takes the bull by the horns and reschedules the North American run, too, rather than stringing fans along. The NFL, a multi-billion dollar enterprise, is already discussing conducting games in empty stadiums starting in September, meanwhile people expect a band best known for fire and dildos to crowd fans into those same stadiums? C’mon.
Megadeth, Lamb of God, Trivium, In Flames
This tour is scheduled to start in six weeks, but nary a word on its status from anyone! Meanwhile you’ve got one of the band’s frontmen publicly telling the press that he can’t possibly envision metal concerts taking place with any sort of social distancing measures in effect! And that’s if concerts are allowed to return at all. Do the math here. This thing is coming down, and quickly. As for the fall leg, there’s no way that’s happening either; hopefully all parties decide to do the right thing and pull down both legs at the same time while announcing new dates for 2021 instead of stringing fans along.
Guns N’ Roses
It’s not happening, sorry folks. I can think of no better way to celebrate the July 4th holiday than Guns N’ Roses and fireworks together, but it’s time for the band to announce these shows are postponed to 2021 or not happening at all. It won’t be the greatest loss, if we’re being honest, and if the band are honest with themselves: we all already saw the band’s reunion tour a few years back, and it was incredible, but we don’t need to see it again.
Korn, Faith No More
This one’s not until August, but neither is the Rammstein tour. Sure, that’s three and a half month away, and a lot could change by then with regards to lockdowns and quarantines and such. But here’s the thing you’ve got to remember: even if life begins returning to normal — folks allowed to return to their jobs, schools open, etc. — the authorities, rightly, will not allow thousands of people to gather in such close proximity. Concerts and sporting events were the first things to be axed as the pandemic spread, so it stands to reason they’ll be the last to return. The risk is just too great.
Deftones, Gojira, Poppy
Scheduled to start in late July. Not happening! Get it out of your head that this tour will happen. Hopefully the bands announce this reality sooner rather than later.
My Chemical Romance
In what’ll surely be a huge bummer to folks who spent top dollar with ticket resellers like Stubhub to this hugely anticipated reunion run, this one’s gonna be postponed, too. Whenever this tour is rescheduled, there will be some percentage of folks who aren’t willing to risk their health by attending live concerts. That means tickets will flood the market and will be muuuuuch cheaper than the hundreds of dollars desperate fans shelled out on StubHub after the initial tickets were gobbled up in mere minutes. Sucks for anyone who did that.
Judas Priest
Not til September, but do you think a bunch of old farts will readily put their health — and that of their old fans! — at risk by being on tour, even in the extremely unlikely scenario that concerts are allowed to take place by September? No, of course not! Not happening!
These are just a sampling of the bigger metal and rock tours scheduled for spring and summer that have yet to cancel or postpone. You can keep up to date with our running list of coronavirus-related cancelations and postponements right here.
