Avenged Sevenfold cancels tour dates

How times have changed. Huntington Beach pop-punk-metal band Avenged Sevenfold is calling off its tour for the next few weeks because singer M. Shadows’ voice is thrashed.

Once upon a time, that’s when any self-respecting punk singer would start his tour.

In any case, the band issued a statement today saying that after having to cancel a show Sunday in Baltimore, Shadows, a.k.a. Matt Sanders, went to his doctor and was told that he should rest his vocal cords for a couple of weeks. No surgery will be required.

"I feel as if I'm letting so many people down, especially the fans we were supposed to see this month,” Sanders said in the statement, “but after a little rest it'll be back to the usual craziness everyone expects of A7X.”

About a dozen shows in the Midwest and South will be scotched. The group plans to resume touring Oct. 15 in Japan, then return to the States for shows in November with Buckcherry, Shinedown and Saving Abel. No Southland date has been set on this tour.

-- Randy Lewis

Photo of Avenged Sevenfold, after they won best album at Kerrang! magazine's annual awards ceremony last month in London, by Joel Ryan/Associated Press