Audio By Carbonatix
In about 50 hours, Kings of Leon were supposed to set your “Sex on Fire” at West Palm Beach’s Cruzan Amphitheatre. But unfortunately, that ain’t gonna happen.
Just a few minutes ago, Crossfade got word from Live Nation that KOL “are canceling their entire US tour due to Caleb Followill suffering from vocal issues and exhaustion.”
And while those sound like legitimate excuses, we have reason to believe that Caleb’s inability to handle his booze is the real reason for the cancellation of 25 tour gigs.
Last Friday night, the Kings of Leon frontman had a public, midshow meltdown in Dallas. As reported by the Dallas Observer, Rolling Stone, and others, the lead singer and guitarist escaped backstage after blurting out, “I’m gonna go backstage and I’m gonna vomit, I’m gonna drink a beer, and I’m gonna come back out and play three more songs.”
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But Caleb never came back. And his brothers, Jared and Nathan, were forced to apologize to the pissed-off mob at the Gexa Energy Pavilion. “We’re sorry,” Jared said. “Caleb can’t sing. Go ahead and burn our records. We are sorry.”
He continued, “Caleb’s just a little unfit to play the rest of the show. We love you guys so much, but I know you guys fucking hate us. I’m so sorry. It’s really not our fault, it’s Caleb. He can’t play the rest of the show. We will be back as soon as possible.”
In the days since the Dallas incident, Caleb has tried to explain away his bad behavior as the result of exhaustion and dehydration. And peddling the same cover story, Live Nation has issued a similar statement, which also appears on kingsofleon.com:
“We are so sorry to say Kings of Leon are canceling their entire US tour due to Caleb Followill suffering from vocal issues and exhaustion. The band is devastated, but in order to give their fans the shows they deserve, they need to take this break. Unfortunately, the US dates cannot be rescheduled due to the band’s international tour schedule.
Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase. Tickets purchased online or via phones will be automatically refunded.
The band will resume touring in Canada at the Rogers Center in Vancouver, BC, on September 28th. That show was originally schedule for September 14th.”
Meanwhile, Jared Followill’s Twitter feed hasn’t exactly been echoing the official “exhaustion” excuse, indicating instead: “There are internal sicknesses & problems that have needed to be addressed”:
Whoa, breakup? Any mention of that word is bad juju. And usually, it’s only a matter of time before “kidding” becomes “splitting.”
CANCELED Kings of Leon. Wednesday, August 3. Cruzan Amphitheatre, 601-7 Sansbury’s Way, West Palm Beach.
Follow Crossfade on Facebook and Twitter @Crossfade_SFL.
