Alex Turner, frontman of the British band Arctic Monkeys cancelled an open-air concert tonight at Dublin's Marlay Park. The singer is suffering from "acute laryngitis", forcing the entire band to abandon hopes of performing this Tuesday for the Dublin crowd.
The band released a statement saying: "Alex is suffering from acute laryngitis and, following medical advice, has been ordered to rest." Tickets will be refunded within the week to those who were supposed to attend the gig.
While that's a disappointment for Irish fans of the Sheffield band, the severity of Turner's laryngitis has put Arctic Monkeys' headline set for Glastonbury, the UK's premier music festival, into doubt.
Arctic Monkeys are finishing up a UK and Ireland tour that started in Bristol at the end of May and featured three nights in London's Emirates Stadium before the cancelled Dublin gig. Tonight's show was the final performance by the band before their Glastonbury slot on the 23rd of June, after which they will finish the UK and Ireland tour in Glasgow on the 25th.
It won't be the first time that a headliner has had to pull out of the festival with short notice. In 2015, Foo Fighters pulled out of their headline slot alongside a handful of tour dates after front man Dave Grohl broke his leg during a concert.
For 2015, Florence & the Machine took over headlining duties to perform a barnstorming set, and Foo Fighters returned in 2017 to headline.
Even this year, the line-up has potentially been affected by surprise last minute changes. I wrote about a lack of female artists getting top billing for Glastonbury earlier this year. Some rumours have emerged that Guns N' Roses were booked last minute to replace someone, potentially Rihanna who had to drop out due to pregnancy.
If Arctic Monkeys do make it to the Pyramid Stage this Friday, they will bring a performance laden with their seventh album, 2022's 'The Car', a continuation of their lounge-rock genre turn, first experimented with in their previous album 'Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino'.