Black Keys say canceled North American tour is to ‘rework’ venues, enhance experience

Patrick Carney of The Black Keys performing at InMusic Festival. ZAGREB^ CROATIA - 24 JUNE^ 2014

The Black Keys are providing more details after canceling their North American leg of the band’s ‘International Players’ arena tour, saying they are reworking which venues will host the shows and promising a more “exciting, intimate experience.” The Black Keys’ were set to perform on 31 dates across the U.S. and Canada this autumn in support of their recent album, Ohio Players.

The Black Keys announced on X: “following the recent run of shows in the U.K. & Europe, including stops at iconic venues like Brixton Academy and the Zenith in Paris, we have decided to make some changes to the North American leg of the International Players tour that will enable us to offer a similarly exciting, intimate experience for both fans and the band.” Last weekend, the duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney canceled the entire tour without giving any reason, leaving to speculation that it may be due to low ticket sales. In a statement on social media on Sunday, saying, “The band wants to assure everyone that Dan & Patrick are alive and well. Following the recent run of shows in the UK & Europe, including stops at iconic venues like Brixton Academy and the Zenith in Paris, we have decided to make some changes to the North American leg of the International Players Tour that will enable us to offer a similarly exciting, intimate experience for both fans and the band, and will be announcing a revised set of dates shortly.”

The band promised that those who had purchased tickets for the initial tour dates will be fully refunded and “when the new plans are announced, will be the first to be able to buy tickets …Apologies for the surprise change, we’re pretty sure everyone is going to be excited when you see what we have in mind.” Ticketholders won’t have to act to obtain full refunds, which will be issued automatically according to the method of payment used. The ticket refunds will be issued within three weeks.

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