Modern Baseball to "take a break," cancel all upcoming tour dates
Modern Baseball have canceled all their upcoming tour dates, which included a run in the United States.
In conjunction with the announcement, guitarist/vocalist Jake Ewald shared a brave and honest statement on mental health. “As much as it pains me to say this, we have decided to cancel our upcoming U.S. tour dates and festival appearances to take a break from Modern Baseball for a little while,” he says.
Read more: Modern Baseball unveil help hotline to keep fans safe on upcoming tour
“The project we started as a source of joy and positive expression had become something that was slowly eating away at our mental health and our friendships,” he continues. “We have been championing the importance of mental health for a while now, and we recently realized that it would be wrong for us to ignore our own health any longer.”
He goes on to emphasize: “Please know that we don't take a tour cancellation lightly, and under any other circumstances we would not even consider it an option, but in this instance we have to put our health and friendships first.”
Refunds will be available at point of purchase.
Modern Baseball planned to head out on tour with Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band, Sorority Noise and the Obsessives. It was slated to run from March 17 to April 22. See comments from each of the opening acts, along with the full statement from Modern Baseball below.
Previously, guitarist/vocalist Brendan Lukens shared a brave statement of his own discussing mental health. He also announced then that he would not join Modern Baseball on their tour in Europe and the U.K, which just finished on Saturday, Feb. 18.
Modern Baseball released their third album, Holy Ghost, on May 13, 2016 via Run For Cover Records.
The band ended their statement with a link to the Buddy Project's site, which lists U.S. and international help hotlines. Their photo with the announcement listed more, which you can see below.
Statement from Modern Baseball:
“Hey everybody, Jake here. As much as it pains me to say this, we have decided to cancel our upcoming U.S. tour dates and festival appearances to take a break from Modern Baseball for a little while. If you already bought tickets for the tour, refunds will be available at point of purchase.
Over the past few months the band has become an immense source of anxiety for me, and it wasn't until I opened up to Sean, Ian, and Brendan about it that we realized we were all feeling the same way. The project we started as a source of joy and positive expression had become something that was slowly eating away at our mental health and our friendships. We have been championing the importance of mental health for a while now, and we recently realized that it would be wrong for us to ignore our own health any longer. Please know that we don't take a tour cancellation lightly, and under any other circumstances we would not even consider it an option, but in this instance we have to put our health and friendships first. You've supported us unconditionally throughout this crazy ride and we could never thank you enough. We never really learned how to do this whole “rock band” thing the right way, but you kept coming to the shows and talking to us and assuring us that we'd figure it out sooner or later. We could not have done any of this without you. Be honest with those you love and don't be afraid to lean on them when you need to. Odds are they'll need to lean on you pretty soon too.
With all the love in the world,
MOBO
More US & International Hotlines @
www.buddy-project.org/hotlines/
Or google search 'crisis hotlines'”
Comments from Sorority Noise:
We were recently informed that our upcoming tour with Modern Baseball, Kevin Devine, and The Obsessives would be cancelled.
— Sorority Noise (@sororitynoise) February 21, 2017
Modern Baseball has announced that they will be taking a break to focus on their mental health and we hope for truly the best for them
— Sorority Noise (@sororitynoise) February 21, 2017
Regardless, we will be on the road in the spring, and hope to be able to announce our plans within the coming weeks.
— Sorority Noise (@sororitynoise) February 21, 2017
Please stay tuned as we’ll need your support and your ears. thank you always.
— Sorority Noise (@sororitynoise) February 21, 2017
Comments from Kevin Devine:
Due to @ModernBaseball's decision to cancel our upcoming tour, we will no longer be appearing on any of the previously publicized dates.
— Kevin Devine (@KevinDevineTwit) February 21, 2017
We are really & truly sorry to our fans & will do whatever makes sense to make it up to you. Thank you, as always – KD
— Kevin Devine (@KevinDevineTwit) February 21, 2017
The Obsessives retweeted Sorority Noise's comments and Modern Baseball's tweet with their statement.
Watch more: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Modern Baseball