If you were planning on catching on Athens, Ohio’s blackened thrash powerhouse Skeletonwitch on one of their upcoming tour dates, don’t be surprised or upset if you happen to notice something missing from their live set: vocals. It appears that vocalist Chance Garnette will have to sit out for the remainder of their tour supporting Amon Amarth and Sabaton, leaving his band mates to continue to tour and perform as an instrumental four-piece. Wednesday, the band issued the following statement via post on their Facebook page:
“Lately there have been a lot of rumors, speculation, and assumptions, regarding Skeletonwitch. We want to set the record straight.
Unfortunately, Chance is unable to finish out the tour as he has some serious personal matters to attend to. We ask you to respect his and our privacy regarding these matters.
This obviously left us with a very difficult decision to make and we’ve decided to finish out the tour as a 4-piece.
We made the assumption that Skeletonwitch fans attending the shows would rather see 4 of us ripping through our songs, than a piece of paper on the door announcing our cancellation. If the first 2 shows were any indication, we assumed correctly.
You have our sincerest apologies for not being able to bring you the full show, and for canceling the stop in Albany.
We thank everyone for their understanding and their support now and in the future.
Please come out to the remaining shows for riffs, beers, and hi-fives with us. At the risk of sounding too sentimental, music is equally important, if not more so, during rough times as well as the good.”
Skeletonwitch is not going anywhere. See you soon.”
Well, this is certainly a bummer and a half. Granted, this is nothing new as bands experience difficulty on tour all the time, leading them to make spur-of-the-moment changes in order to cope. It’s good to see any band want to press on and continue to perform for their fans, especially one so well-appreciated and respected as Skeletonwitch. And honestly, even though Chance’s vocals are a big part of the band’s identity, the opportunity to see some live instrumental Skeletonwitch may actually sound pretty interesting to some – maybe even exciting!
Besides, Skeletonwitch are touring machines, so it seems pretty likely that all five members will be back on the road together in some capacity before you know it, maybe even to make up some of the dates that Chance missed. Hopefully whatever issues he is facing are resolved swiftly and efficiently with the best possible outcome. In the meantime, you can still catch four fifths of Skeletonwitch on the following dates with Amon Amarth and Sabaton.
10/22 Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theater
10/24 Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore
10/25 Jacksonville, FL – Freebird
10/26 Birmingham, AL – Iron City
10/27 New Orleans, LA – The Civic
10/29 St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
10/30 Joliet, IL – Mojoes
10/31 Detroit, MI – Royal Oak
11/1 Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
11/2 Des Moines, IA – Wooly’s
11/4 Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre
11/5 Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom
11/8 El Paso, TX – Tricky Falls
11/9 Tucson, AZ – Club XS
