By Pierra Willix
Copyright metro
An Irish folk band have cancelled their upcoming tour (Picture: Kieran Frost/ Redferns)
An Irish folk band previously nominated for the Mercury Prize have announced the cancellation of their US and Canada tour.
Originally formed as a duo by brothers Ian and Daragh Lynch in 2003, the line-up of Lankum now also includes Cormac MacDiarmada and Radie Peat.
After touring the world, they returned to their home country and developed a deeper interest in Dublin’s trad music sessions – where they met their future bandmates.
In 2014 Lankum – whose music has been described as a ‘younger, darker Pogues with more astonishing power’ – released their debut album Cold Old Fire, going on to be named the best folk group at the RTA Folk Music Awards in 2018 and have seen several of their albums win the RTA Choice Music Prize Irish album of the year.
But it was their fourth album False Lankum, which was released in 2023, that saw them take off internationally and also be nominated for the Mercury Prize.
Although they’d been due to play shows in the US and Canada soon, they’ve now revealed they’ve had to pull the plug.
Lankum said they’d ‘like to keep the reason private’ (Picture: Matt Jelonek/ Getty Images)
They had shows planned in the US and Canada (Picture: Lankum/ Instagram)
Posting a statement on Instagram they wrote: ‘Due to unforeseen circumstances we will no longer be able to travel to Canada and the US for our upcoming concerts in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Seattle.
‘The exact reason for this cancellation we would like to keep private, but please be assured we did our absolute best to save these dates.
We understand that many people will have already made travel plans, and we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this causes. The health and wellbeing of our band members is our priority at this point and your support is deeply appreciated. Hopefully we get to see each other again soon.’
The band added that full refunds were also available from the point of purchase.
Responding to the news, many of their fans offered words of support.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DHlctj7CSJu/
‘Health and well-being always comes first. Take care of yourselves and we’ll be looking forward to next time,’ Gregory.
‘Take care of yourselves! I was so stoked to see you in Toronto, but health is most important,’ Isaac shared.
‘Relieved I hadn’t bought the plane tickets yet, because it’s an expensive flight, but know that I was going to fly down to Vancouver from the Yukon to see your show and gladly will again, when your health allows. Take care of yourselves,’ Nicholas added.
In 2023 Lankum had a planned performance at the TransCentury Festival in Leipzig cancelled due to their pro-Palestinian stance, which occurred just before they headlined a ‘Gig for Gaza’ event at Dublin’s 3Arena.
The band was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2023 (Picture: David Fisher/ Shutterstock)
In a statement cancelling the gig at short notice, the festival organisers said: ‘Lankum represents a political stance that we as a venue and festival do not represent.’
When promoting the Gig for Gaza, Lankum shared: ‘Like most people of sound mind and reason around the globe, we are heartbroken and shocked to see the indiscriminate murder of children and civilians happening for the past few weeks. This, on top of decades of oppression, persecution and dehumanisation is something we can only struggle to comprehend.
‘That is why we are very proud to raise our voices in solidarity with the people of Palestine”.
‘It’s the very very least we can do.’
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
