Ukrainian metal unit Jinjer appear to have canceled their upcoming North American tour and put their entire band on hold to focus on helping their home country in its time of crisis. On Sunday March 13th, the rising stars were set to begin a lengthy trek across the U.S. and Canada by playing a headlining show at the Factory in St. Louis, and then join up with Slipknot and In This Moment on March 16th to begin the highly-anticipated Knotfest Roadshow tour. However, as Loudwire reports, the Factory issued a statement yesterday announcing that Jinjer's show won't be happening because the band "have been forced to cancel their upcoming U.S. tour dates."
"It is with great sadness that Jinjer have been forced to cancel their upcoming U.S. tour dates," the statement reads. "As the band and their families reside in Kyiv, their focus is on the safety of their families and their country. We all hope for a quick and peaceful resolution."
The band or any of its members have yet to issue a formal statement of their own, but bassist Eugene Abdukhanov was quoted in a new BBC article about Ukrainian musicians who've put their creative livelihoods on hold to provide aid to their country, which has been under attack by Russia since February 24th. In the piece, a photo of Jinjer is captioned with the message, "Rock band Jinjer were due to tour the U.S. in March, but have now put all music on hold."
Elsewhere, it says that Abdukhanov "abandoned his day job" — presumably his music career — to form a charity "to help the military, to help the civilians" and establish a shelter with some friends that aims to provide "food supplies, water [and] protection" for fellow citizens in need.
"I'm not thinking about my job, my business, my band, popularity, anything like that," Abdukhanov told BBC. "I am only thinking about my family because they are outside of Ukraine. They really need me, and I cannot be with them."
Between the Factory's notice and the content of that article, it appears that Jinjer are no longer planning to arrive in the U.S. in 10 days to carry out a month-and-a-half-long tour. Until we hear more from them directly, we're sending our best wishes to them and their fellow Ukrainian citizens during this violent period of conflict.
