Tool cancel North American tour to help out fans with ticket money amid coronavirus
Tool have canceled their North American arena tour due to the coronavirus pandemic. After their mega-return with their long-awaited album 'Fear Inoculum', the band were planning on the spring trek and had already performed two gigs into the tour when the Covid-19 outbreak happened.
Although many of the band's peers have either postponed their tours to fall or to 2021, Tool has announced that they have reached the difficult decision to cancel the tour instead so that they don't hold back ticket buyers' money for a long period of time. In a statement on Facebook, the band said, "As so many music lovers have come to realize over the last several weeks, there is no playbook that artists, promoters and venues can pull from in these unprecedented times. When we played what would be our final show of 2020, March 11 at Portland’s Moda Center, we believed we would be back on the road sometime this Fall. As we worked towards that goal we've come to realize that there is absolutely no certainty in re-scheduling dates for this Fall or 2021. State and local ordinances vary widely and no one can predict when high capacity events will safely return," Tool said.
"At the same time that we were working to reschedule this tour, we read your messages. Messages of job losses, illness, emotional and financial pain. We could continue to postpone or reschedule dates for some time into 2021 but ethically, we do not think this is the right course of action. In our opinion, tying up our fans’ money for months, if not a full year, is unfair," they continued, adding, "With that in mind, we have made the very difficult decision to cancel the tour so we can help support the people who have supported us for years."
The band concluded on a more personal note: "Please know, we want nothing more than to return to the road, to play these songs for you and to celebrate our shared recovery. When the time is right, we will do just that," and added, "In the coming days you will receive an email from the ticketing service you purchased tickets through notifying you of the event cancellation and when to expect your refund."
Fans are aware that Tool tickets aren’t cheap, so the band's decision to give refunds is a respectable one.