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News Thu Jan 07 2010
Slayer Cancels Tour Plans
Slayer vocalist/bassist Tom Araya's recently scheduled back surgery has forced the California metal legends to cancel their tour plans through April. This includes the cancellation of the American and Canadian Carnage Tour dates with Megadeth and Testament, which of course also includes the cancellation of the tour's February 5 stop at Chicago's UIC Pavillion.
According to a press release issued today:
"Tom gave various medical treatments more than a fair shot," said Slayer's manager Rick Sales, "but they just haven't handled the problem, so he's biting the bullet and is scheduled for back surgery at the end of this month."
The headbanging Araya, known for aggressively swinging his long mane of hair while performing, began experiencing back problems while on the band's Australian/New Zealand/Japanese tour last October. In spite of his rapidly increasing pain and discomfort, he carried on with the tour, but immediately upon returning home saw an orthopedic specialist who diagnosed a Cervical Radiculopathy. The rocker initially did not want to take the major surgery route, so the specialist recommended a series of minimally-invasive procedures. While those procedures have resulted in some improvement, Araya continues to deal with intermittent bouts of severe pain, numbness and muscle spasms. The surgical procedure that Araya will undergo, called an Anterior Cervical Discectomy with Fusion, is a relatively routine practice and the recovery rate is excellent.
Booking agents for both Slayer and Megadeth are already hard at work rescheduling the tour dates; tickets already purchased for these shows will be honored at the rescheduled dates.
E / January 8, 2010 12:06 PM
Maybe there's still hope for a Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax, and Megadeath show in Chicago, then?