High On Fire Cancels Another Tour Leg To Health Emergency

High On Fire
– High On Fire
promo image

Oakland-based stoner metal band High On Fire has canceled a second leg of its Electric Messiah tour after frontman Matt Pike announced a medical emergency related to diabetes.
“Dear Friends, Fans
To my brothers, my Crew, and anyone else this affects.
I do apologize for the inconvenience of this cancelation.
I feel as though I’m explaining lightning striking twice. For I wanted nothing more in the world to play these songs live, nor ever cancel something I say I’m gonna do. I am a warrior for our art and have endured some painful things to what we do. The timing of this and repeating nature are my nightmares and almost impossible. 
“Nevertheless, to save yet another toe, my big one. I have been grounded by circumstances out of my control. I will have more of a medical report to come. Right now I’m at Great risk of losing it, and or a bigger portion of my foot due to Diabetes. Which I have been managing very well. It just shows how this disease can affect our lives. Please forgive me, and if you know anything about me, you know this is not like me. We will be back!!!! 
~ Matt Pike”
The tour leg was sponsored by Revolver magazine, included Toke and Year of the Cobra and was to hit venues such as the Masquerade in Atlanta, Baltimore Soundstage, Cat’s Cradle in North Carolina and was to wrap Feb. 1 at the House of Blues in New Orleans.
In the fall, High On Fire was forced to cancel a November leg, a co-bill with Municipal Waste called the Speed of the Wizard tour when Pike required partial amputation of one of his toes. The tour went on with Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust and Haunt, with venues on both coasts including Ace of Spades in Sacramento, the Black Cat in Washington D.C, and Canton Hall in Dallas. 
Lest anyone think the reason was bogus, High On Fire, in true heavy metal fashion, shared a photo following the procedure. 
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transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)”></div></div><div style=”margin-left: auto;”> <div style=” width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);”></div> <div style=” background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);”></div> <div style=” width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);”></div></div></div></a> <p style=” margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;”> <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/BpzWWKQl3NP/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading” style=” color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;” target=”_blank”>⚡️⚡️⚡️ ELECTRIC MESSIAH OUT NOW!!! LINK IN BIO ⚡️⚡️⚡️ #mattpike #deskensel #jeffmatz #highonfire</a></p> <p style=” color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;”>A post shared by <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/highonfireband/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading” style=” color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;” target=”_blank”> </a> (@highonfireband) on <time style=” font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;” datetime=”2018-11-05T14:39:56+00:00″>Nov 5, 2018 at 6:39am PST</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async src=”//www.instagram.com/embed.js”></script>
The band’s 2018 LP, Electric Messiah, somewhat of a tribute to Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister, had been a hit as usual for the veteran metal band, and Pike’s old drone metal band Sleep unexpectedly released a new LP on April 20 that subsequently built buzz for the sludge gods.
It’s unclear whether the band will still make planned festival appearances, such as Psycho Las Vegas, which takes place Aug. 16-18 at the Mandalay Bay.