Arcade Fire Cancel European Tour

Arcade Fire have cancelled the remaining shows on their current UK tour and forthcoming European dates, due to illness within the band.

Frontman Win Butler is suffering from an ongoing sinus and bronchial infection and the strains of touring their new album Neon Bible has taken its toll. Butler apparently made the decision over the weekend, while Arcade Fire were in Oslo.

All of the band's scheduled performances in Denmark, Germany, France, Netherlands and Belgium have now been cancelled. However, there's no word on whether April's US dates have been scrapped.

Win Butler has issued the following message, explaining the situation:

"Hello Friends,

I am backstage at the venue in Oslo and I just had to make the very sad decision to cancel the rest of the European tour. I have been suffering from a sinus and bronchial infection for the last 3 months, and last night in Stockholm I finally pushed my voice and body farther than they are able to go. Last night I kept yelling at the monitor guy because I didn't recognize the sound that was coming out of the monitor as my own voice, and it took me until the second song to realize that the sound was coming from me. Today I can barely speak, or make any sound, so finishing the shows is no longer possible.

I have had several doctors advise me to cancel shows weeks ago, and I have been trying to push through, but for my own health and safety I need to have sinus surgery so I can get better and start the recovery process. We are all very sad, because we were very much looking forward to playing these shows, and we could not imagine canceling a show unless it was physically impossible to do. We apologize to the fans that have been waiting to see us, and we promise to try and come back as soon as it is humanly possible...

We would like to thank everyone who has been coming to the shows, and the outpouring of love and support for our music that we have felt. Wish me luck with the doctors,

And see you soon
luv,
Win"