John 5 Cancels Australian Tour

Guitar virtuoso John 5 has cancelled his upcoming Australian shows just weeks before the tour starts. 

John 5 & The Creatures and support act Doyle (Misfits guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein and his eponymous band, Doyle) were due to perform in Melbourne on Thursday, 15 December, at The Prince, with gigs at Sydney's Manning Bar and Brisbane's The Triffid immediately following.

Sharing the news on Facebook, the David Lee Roth and Marilyn Manson guitarist wrote, "Due to changing circumstances with my schedule, we will be unfortunately unable to keep the Australian tour in place." He added, "I hope to be able to reschedule the tour at some point in the future. Tickets will be refunded from your place of purchase, and if you purchased a meet & greet from my store, please email the store, and they'll refund you. Thanks all!!"

Tour promoters Silverback Touring's statement reads: "We did all we could, collectively with John and his team, to try and make this happen, but it was not meant to be with the heavy schedule he now has. We wish John the best and are working with his team to reschedule his tour sometime in the near future. A separate Doyle tour will also be rescheduled."

The cancelled dates would've marked John 5's first-ever headline tour of Australia.

John 5's live shows feature solo music as well as covers. He is known for playing epic medleys that include songs by Queen, Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, AC/DC, Metallica, Megadeth, KISS, Rage Against The Machine, and Pantera.

Fans didn't mince their words in sharing their disappointment about the cancelled tour following many rescheduled gig announcements. As one fan succinctly put it, "Australia is always first to get cancelled & last to be added." 

Another fan cited the newly announced Mötley Crüe tour - John 5 recently joined the band - as the reason for the cancellation. "I knew the shows would get canned once the Mötley Crüe gig got announced. So disappointed," they wrote. "This show got rescheduled so many times during the pandemic, and I really wanted to see John play up close again."

Maybe John 5 will return to Australia with a future Mötley Crüe stadium tour?