2020 is a huge year for “blackgaze” leaders Deafheaven as it marks their 10th anniversary as a band. The group was set to celebrate that milestone with a big 36-date tour, which was to kick off on March 20th in Salt Lake City, Utah, and wrap on May 2nd in Vancouver, British Columbia. They even lined up Inter Arma, Greet Death and All Your Sisters to play in support on select dates. Unfortunately, amid Coronavirus concerns, Deafheaven have had to postpone the trek and also switch up their plans for a 10th anniversary live album, which they intended to record in Chicago on March 24th and 25th dates. The live album is still on, but now group will record a performance elsewhere. Pre-orders for the vinyl edition are available via Hello Merch and Evil Greed, with a planned shipment date in August/September. See below for the cover art and statements from the band and their management on the situation.
Deafheaven’s manager Cathy Pellow (of Sargent House and Sargent House Europe) shared the following statement: “We are trying to make the best of a hugely difficult situation. It is extremely hard for bands to have to ask for help so we wanted to offer something special in return. We have just launched a Worldwide pre-order at hellomerch.com and in Europe at Evilgreed.net to a special double LP vinyl of what was to be the 10 Year tour sets.
“Ordering it will really help them to recover some of the lost income. We are also making all the new tour merch available along with a Sunbather Tablature book we had planned to surprise people with later. We have also added a donation option at checkout at Hello Merch should you want to help further. Thank you, and please take care of each other out there.”
The band’s frontman, George Clarke, also released a statement behalf of the group: “As part of our 10 year tour, we planned to record sets in Chicago toward a live album for fans while we work on new music. However, the last 24 hours since the tour cancelation have been a whirlwind while we rearrange our year and take these losses.
“Touring is our sole livelihood, but we have to move forward through the unexpected. We’ve made some phone calls, gotten some exciting people on board and are going to give fans a glimpse of what we originally had in mind for the year while we work to reschedule tour dates.
“We will be live recording a set of material from all our albums and releasing it digitally. In addition, we have started a pre-order for a special Double LP release on vinyl of this material slated for later this year, along with merchandise that was to be sold on the tour. We don’t even have an album cover yet. There’s no press release.
“All I know is we’re moving this into immediate action and turning this massive set-back around. We don’t ask for handouts, but are hoping this special session can help generate some good energy while we all wait for the rescheduling”
