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Black Pumas Cancel Remaining 2022 Concert Dates In Message To Fans
Black Pumas, the bluesy, neo-soul duo that won wide acclaim and six Grammy Award nominations since their 2020 debut, have decided to “press pause” on touring and canceled the rest of their itinerary for the remainder of the year.
The cancellations includes Sound On Sound, the Bridgeport, Connecticut, festival where they were to appear Sept. 25. The fest quickly announced that Black Pumas would be replaced by The Roots.
“After four incredible years of career milestones and unforgettable live experiences around the world, we have made the difficult decision to press pause and step away from touring for the rest of the year,” Black Pumas posted to its official social media accounts. “We have the best fans in the world and appreciate each and every one of you for your support and understanding. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to know you better.”
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And fans did get to know Black Pumas in a relatively short amount of time, half of which was hindered by the COVID pandemic. Within two years, the band had appeared on the cover of Pollstar, scooped up six Grammy nominations (including for Best New Artist and Record and Album of the year, and booked numerous high-profile television appearances.
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Despite the near total shutdown of the touring business in 2020 through much of 2021, Black Pumas were immensely visible – in one 12-month period they played the Grammys, the 46th Presidential inauguration, seven late night show appearances, “The Ellen Show,” CBS’ “This Morning,” and NPR’s “Tiny Desk” concert series.
“We were fully expecting to be on pause for a while but things didn’t really seem to slow down for us,” Black Pumas guitarist and co-founder Adrian Quesada told Pollstar in April 2021. “They did in terms of touring and traveling, but we’ve still had a lot of really amazing opportunities.”
The band’s tour history reveals they haven’t really had much of a break since then. Black Pumas performed many livestreamed concerts and returned to live touring in 2021, nearly without a break.
Though their tour history is heavy with soft-ticket festival dates, Black Pumas reported 40 headlining shows in the past three years, averaging 989 tickets sold and a gross of 28,850.
Their most recent appearance was July 30 at Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival at Naeba Ski Resort in Niigata. Over the course of the 2022 festival season, going back to Feb. 27 at the Innings Festival in Tempe, Arizona, Black Pumas have performed at 12 festivals, most outside the U.S.
Appearances include at Lollapalooza Brazil, Rock Werchter, Roskilde, Calgary Folk Festival, Mad Cool Festival and Squamish Constellation Festival. Appearances in the U.S. include Governor’s Ball, Forecastle, Boston Calling and Beachlife fests.
Those that remained on the calendar, and now are apparently canceled, include Sacred Rose at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeville, Illinois; Rifflandia Music Festival in Royal Athletic Park in Victoria, British Columbia; and three nights on Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival. Also off the books, apparently, is a Black Pumas appearance opening for Dave Matthews Band at Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington.
The only date appearing on Black Pumas itinerary in 2023 is Moon Crush festival at Seascape Golf & Beach Resort in Destin, Florida, April 23.