Animal Collective Cites ‘Economic Reality’ For European Tour Cancellation

Animal Collective is the latest band or artist to announce it is cancelling tour plans in 2022, citing “an economic reality that simply does not work,” calling off a run of November dates in the UK and Europe that was to have begun Nov. 2 in Ireland.

In addition to the prohibitive cost of touring, the band endured three cases of COVID that forced cancellations earlier in the year.

“It has been a wild year for us trying to push though a mountain of touring obstacles related to COVID and the economy. Three of us got bad cases of COVID. We were forced to cancel shows and lost large amounts of the income that sustains us and our families,” the band posted to Instagram.

In addition to apologizing to fans, Animal Collective wrote: “But preparing for this tour we were looking at an economic reality that simply does not work and is not sustainable. From inflation, to currency devaluation, to bloated shipping and transportation costs, and much much more, we simply could not make a budget for this tour that did not lose money even if everything went as well as it could…”

Animal Collective averages 1,459 tickets sold and 39,249 gross per show.

Among the 15 canceled shows were planned stops at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland; Albert Hall in Manchester, England; Kesselhaus in Berlin; Atelier in Luxembourg; Trabendo in Paris; and wrapping up Nov. 27 at Luxor in Cologne, Germany.

The band was also scheduled to appear in London on Nov. 11 as part of the Pitchfork Festival, which takes place at numerous venues around the city.

Organizers announced they are modifying the Hackney Church lineup on that date in order to provide a full slate of artists despite the departure of Animal Collective.