The Amity Affliction Bassist Ahren Stringer Disputes His Bandmates’ Explanation of His Departure from Tour
This past Saturday we reported that Ahren Stringer, co-lead vocalist and bassist for Australian post-hardcore group The Amity Affliction, was sitting out of the rest of the band’s North American tour to focus on his mental health and recovering from addiction. The band released a statement on Instagram that made it seem like the decision was mutual, and even encouraged fans to bring signs of encouragement for Stringer to their upcoming shows, promising to send them to Stringer. The statement read as follows:
“In what is the most heartbreaking news, we have to tell you that Ahren won’t be joining us on the remainder of our North American tour dates. Tim Beken, who many of you will know from True North, will join us for all upcoming shows until Ahren returns.
“This decision is in the best interest of Ahren’s mental health and well-being. He is returning to Australia to address his struggle with addiction and get the support he needs.
“This tour has been our best US tour ever, and we look forward to seeing you on the road. Please feel free to bring signs of support for Ahren that we can send to him at home, now more than ever he needs as much support as we can possibly give him.
“Thank you for understanding and please respect Ahren’s privacy as well as ours, this is a heartbreaking matter that we will be working through internally as we look forward to his recovery and return.”
And that’s the end of the story, and everyone lived happily ever after. I’m just kidding; shit hit the fan.
Stringer made a comment on the band’s post that made it pretty clear that he disputes his bandmates’ version of events, stating:
“I was booted from the tour with no warning whatsoever I did absolutely nothing wrong but I wish you guys all the best in the future.”
Sounds like, whatever happened, it wasn’t as mutual as it initially seemed. But then, if there was a more bitter parting of the ways, it seems strange that the rest of the band would pretend that everything was fine knowing that Stringer was likely to show up to contradict them. Meanwhile, Stringer made another post on his own Instagram with pictures of an American Nightmare t-shirt and a Baltimore Orioles t-shirt and wrote:
“I’m sorry I couldn’t finish the tour y’all I really wanted to.”
Whatever the conflict is that’s happening here, we hope that Stringer gets any and all help he needs if that’s what’s going on. And we hope that this band can heal their relationship in the wake of these difficulties.
If you’re interested in catching The Amity Affliction with replacement vocalist Tim Beken, you can find the full list of dates below.
05/31 St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
06/01 Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
06/02 Fort Worth, TX @ Panther Island Pavilion
06/03 San Antonio, TX @ Vibes Underground
