DARK TRANQUILLITY: Back From South America

Sweden's DARK TRANQUILLITY have posted the following message on their official web site:

"Yep, we've returned home after a very exciting and successful trip to South/Central America and would like to thank everyone involved; the promotors & agents, the excellent local support bands, the club owners, our touring crew and of course the extremely devoted audiences in Mexico, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Colombia. Michael Nicklasson extends a special thanks to Black Line Tattoo in San José for the new ink on this arm.

"It has been a crazy ride, featuring our first ever night of playing two full live gigs in a row (Mexico City was subjected to nearly three hours of mayhem in total) as well as the less pleasurable experience of getting our sweaty faces sprayed with mace onstage at the gig in Maracay, Venezuela — but that's what happens when you strike the chords of chaos! All in all, it was a great adventure and we're really flattered by the awesome crowd response on all of the gigs. Thanks a lot to every single one of you!! Video footage from some of the shows will be posted here as soon as time permits.

"While on the subject, we're sorry that some of the places that initially were planned for inclusion on the tour didn't make it to the end. We can assure you that we - the band members — didn't have anything to do with this, and that we're equally disappointed by not getting to visit Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Guatemala this time around. Like most other artists, we want to play everywhere, but it should be understood that the music business is very unpredictable and there are hundreds of possible reasons why changes sometimes occur to a touring schedule. The logistics are complex, and lots of different variables need to fall into place before an operation as big as bringing in a band, crew and equipment from the other side of the world can happen.

"This is luckily obvious to most people, but since there are those who genuinely seem to think that a cancelled show means that the members of the band must hate the country, its inhabitans and everything it stands for (and who take it personally enough to whine about it in emails),it's worth pointing out that in 99% of all cases, the bands themselves have NOTHING to do with their tour schedules and eventual changes therein. If you think otherwise, you're seriously deluding yourself.

"Rant aside, we definitely hope to be back as soon as possible and to be able to include more countries next time — let's keep our fingers crossed! In a few hours, we'll depart for this weekend's share of festivals — Graspop and Fury Fest. See you there!"