Black Keys Split With Management After Canceled...

The Black Keys and managers Irving Azoff and Steve Moir have parted ways after the sudden and thoroughly publicized cancellation of the band’s North American arena tour previously scheduled for the fall

Published Time: 07.06.2024 - 18:31:35 Modified Time: 07.06.2024 - 18:31:35

The Black Keys and managers Irving Azoff and Steve Moir have parted ways after the sudden and thoroughly publicized cancellation of the band’s North American arena tour previously scheduled for the fall.

A rep for Azoff confirmed the split to Variety late Thursday, calling it an “amicable parting”; a rep for the group did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The news was first reported by the New York Times.

The band’s 31-date “International Players” tour, scheduled to begin on Sept. 17 in Oklahoma, was quietly cancelled over Memorial Day weekend, with the dates disappearing from the Ticketmaster website. Two days later the band posted on social media that they had decided to reimagine the tour as a “similarly exciting, intimate experience for both fans and the band,” which means it will be scaled down to smaller venues.

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wever, they are hardly the only act dealing with the harsh realities of touring in 2024. While live-entertainment companies have reported record revenues in the two years since pandemic restrictions fully lifted and top tours continue to do extremely well, that rush has clearly cooled off for artists below the very top tiers. 2023 may come to be regarded as a watershed year, with Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Drake, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and others thundering across North America. But ticket prices have also reached a new peak, and combined with the bad press the industry has received amid the Justice Department’s recently filed but long-expected antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster owner Live Nation, many fans have apparently decided to be more selective with their spending.