Of Mice & Men singer Austin Carlile hasn’t had an easy road. Suffering from Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder that has given him an enlarged aorta valve, he’s had several hospitalizations and operations, many of them last year. With the band’s fourth album Cold World just having come out a few weeks ago, yo’d expect them to hit the road and tour behind it, but the vocalist’s health issues are surfacing once again, and the band have called off their current European headlining tour. A post on their Facebook page states the following:
“Dear European fans, it is with our sincerest apologies that we are forced to cancel the remaining dates on this current headline tour. We had to cut short our set in Portsmouth on Saturday night due to Austin being in pain throughout the show. We attempted to play the show in Cardiff the following night, but it became increasingly obvious that we were not able to continue and that we need to focus on Austin’s health. As much as we wish we could complete the remaining dates of this tour we know that we would be doing a disservice to all of our loyal fans, as well as ourselves, performing under the current circumstances.
“The reality is that we feel the best thing to do right now is go home, get Austin the appropriate medical attention & regroup before we head back out on the road again. We appreciate that our fans understand how important it is that we put health first & foremost & know that we would never cancel shows unless we felt it absolutely necessary.
“Refunds will be available at point of purchase for all cancelled shows.”
As the vocalist, Carlile is an integral part of the band, and Of Mice & Men have stuck with him both out of necessity and because it’s the right thing to do. Hopefully he can get help, although there’s no cure for his disease. The band’s European tour was scheduled to run until October 25th. An Australian tour is scheduled to kick off in December. It’s unclear if they’ll still be undertaking those dates.
