News : Helmet cancel US tour following “financial concerns and lower-than-expected ticket sales”

Helmet have cancelled their upcoming US tour following financial concerns and low ticket sales.

The ‘90s alt-rock heavyweights were set to head on tour with Local H this autumn, however, following various issues in the run-up to the dates, vocalist and guitarist Page Hamilton has confirmed they have pulled the plug on all US shows.

“Helmet regrets to announce we are having to cancel the upcoming US tour with Local H. The cancellation is caused by a mix of significant financial concerns and lower than expected ticket sales which is a common problem for many artists this year,” the statement began.

“As much as we’d love to be getting back out on the road and playing, this one was not lining up well for us,” Hamilton added, before going on to confirm that the international dates are unaffected by the decision.

“We look forward to getting back out on the road in 2025. In the meantime, our European Tour this November goes ahead as planned.”

The US shows were set to start off with an opening night in New Hampshire on September 19, and see them embark on numerous other shows across the country with Local H up until the first week of October.

Local H shared a statement of their own following the news, writing to fans: “Yes, this is bad news. But fear not! Good news is on the horizon. Especially if you’re a ‘Whatever Happened to PJ Soles?’ fan. Details coming soon.

“And if you’re attending the show at the Metro Chicago — you might wanna plan to come in a day early.”

The aforementioned international Helmet dates – which are still set to go ahead as scheduled – refer to the upcoming UK and European dates that the band have planned to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their 1994 album ‘Betty’.

They will begin on November 15 with an opening show in Prague, and continue through Warsaw, Copenhagen, Hamburg and more. The shows will run through to the next month, and close with a night at London’s Electric Ballroom on December 10. Visit here for remaining tickets.

Helmet’s European and UK tour dates for 2024 are:

NOVEMBER:
15 – Futurum Prague, CZ
17 – Hybrydy Warsaw, PL
18 – Blue Note Poznan, PL
20 – Astra Berlin, DE
21 – Loppen Copenhagen, DK
22 – Markthalle Hamburg, DE
23 – AJZ Chemnitz, DE
25 – Reflektor Liège, BE
26 – Handelsbeurs Gent, BE
27 – Het Depot Leuven, BE
28 – Matrix Bochum, DE
29 – Das Bett Frankfurt, DE
30 – PTR/Undertown Geneva, CH

DECEMBER
1 – Dynamo Zurich, CH
2 – Szene Vienna, AT
3 – Analog Music Hall Budapest, HU
5 – Locomotivclub Bologna, IT
7 – La Poudriere Belfort, FR
8 – Patronaat Haarlem, NL
10 – Electric Ballroom London, GB

Helmet’s latest album, ‘Left’, was released last November via earMUSIC.

They are far from the first ones who were left having to scrap US dates due to high costs in recent times. Just yesterday (August 21), Rachel Chinouriri has announced that she had dropped the Remi Wolf tour due to the financial strain becoming “too much”.

Last year, the band formerly known as Easy Life cancelled their North American tour due to “some insane costs”, and The Chemical Brothers shared their concerns about the rising costs of touring too, revealing that they hadn’t planned any US shows in support of their new album because it was “not really viable” due to high costs.

Similarly, at the beginning of the year, various artists opened up to NME about the biggest challenges they faced in 2023 and the things they would like to see changed within the new year.