The Black Keys’ upcoming tour to Australia, New Zealand and Japan has been cancelled due to complications with drummer Patrick Carney’s shoulder injury.
Carney had injured his shoulder at the beginning of January while body surfing in Saint Barthélemy, an island in the Caribbean, but despite ongoing treatment, has sustained an infection called frozen shoulder.
Moving into The Black Keys’ Good Friday slot at Bluesfest 2015 will be Alabama Shakes, with Paolo Nutini appearing immediately before them.
In an official statement the band said: “We are very sorry to have to cancel our upcoming performances through April 23. Patrick sustained a dislocated and broken shoulder in January that required surgery … We had expectedPatrick to be ready to return to touring in April. The recovery process and physical therapy has taken longer than anticipated and unfortunately Patrick is still unable to perform and needs additional time to heal. We thank all of our fans for their ongoing support and we look forward to getting back on the road as soon as possible.”
Bluesfest festival director Peter Noble says they are still looking for one more artist to play on Good Friday, but the show must go on. “In the end Bluesfest is bigger than any one artist – and sad as we are, to be going ahead without the Keys – we are moving on!”
The Black Keys were scheduled to play Qantas Credit Union Arena on Friday April 10 and the Rolling Green event at the Hunter Valley’s Bimbadgen Winery on Saturday April 11. Refunds for those events will be processed at the point of purchase. Refunds or alternate dates for single day Bluesfest ticket holders for Friday April 3 can be arranged from March 24 until March 27, just contact[email protected].
