Black Keys cancel September show in Palm Desert — and apparently their entire tour
It appears The Black Keys will be keeping their Coachella Valley fans waiting this year as the band has canceled its Sept. 28 show at Acrisure Arena.
The event listing on the arena’s website had been updated Saturday with text explaining that ticket buyers would be refunded through Ticketmaster within 30 days. No reason was given for the cancellation.
However, it appears it's not just the desert date that has been canceled, but all of the 31-show “International Players Tour” the band announced at the start of April.
The tour is no longer mentioned on the band’s website and Ticketmaster also lists the other dates as canceled. The only upcoming show listed on the band's website is a July 6 performance during NASCAR’s Chicago street race that was not announced as part of the tour.
The band does not appear to have made any statements about why the tour has been canceled on its website or social media accounts. The duo performed “Beautiful People (Stay High),” a song from their newly released album, earlier this week on the finale of the TV singing competition “The Voice.”
The lack of an explanation led to much speculation among fans and observers on social media. Many posited that the show had been doomed by low ticket sales, which one music writer attributed to a lack of willingness from fans to pay modern arena prices to see a band a decade removed from its heyday. The fan posted a map of available tickets for the band’s November show in Baltimore showing that most of the arena had so far gone unsold.
The now-canceled show had joined still-on gigs by Kings of Leon, Eric Clapton and Chicago as among the relatively few upcoming rock shows scheduled for Acrisure Arena, whose upcoming lineup is heavy on shows by Latin American performers such as Peso Pluma and throwback pop acts like Janet Jackson and Jennifer Lopez.
Paul Albani-Burgio covers growth, development and business in the Coachella Valley. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and email him at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Black Keys cancel show in Palm Desert — and apparently entire tour
