ACCEPT Cancels New Jersey Concert, Says Singer MARK TORNILLO Is Suffering From 'Virus Infection'

German/American heavy metal legends ACCEPT have canceled their concert in Vineland, New Jersey due to a "virus infection" suffered by lead singer Mark Tornillo.

The decision to call off the show comes two days after ACCEPT performed without Tornillo in Toronto, Ontario, Canada while Mark was recovering from his illness.

Earlier today (Tuesday, October 18),ACCEPT released the following statement via social media: "Dear fans, as you might have heard, we had to modify our show in Toronto, Canada on Oct. 16th. Our singer Mark had developed severe vocal strain over the last week due to a virus infection (not Covid!). Being the trooper that he is, he pushed through three shows in a row, but the doctors now insist he take a break , otherwise the entire rest of the tour would be in jeopardy, as would his voice and health.

"This morning, with the heaviest of hearts we had to make the difficult decision to call off the concert on Oct. 18th in Vineland, NJ. This is so Mark has time to rest and recover, and we can make sure we can finish the rest of the tour in full force.

"We understand the disappointment for our fans in Vineland , and we share this too. We apologise from the bottom of our hearts.

"We strive to put on the best show possible , for every show and want to give you all we can.

"Thank you for understanding, and we’ll see you soon at a later date!

"Stay metal, ACCEPT".

It was announced prior to the Toronto concert that the 68-year-old Tornillo, who joined ACCEPT in 2009, would be unable to play the gig because he was having vocal issues and could have risked losing his voice had he gone ahead with the performance.

ACCEPT played an hour-long set in Toronto, with drummer Christopher Williams, bassist Martin Motnik and some of the other members handling the vocal parts.

On Monday, Williams shared a statement below The Metal Voice's Facebook post regarding the Toronto gig, writing: "Look: we could have cancelled the show, then there would have been nothing. That's it, good night, go home. Rather than that, we wanted to at least do SOMETHING for the fans, especially since it's been so long since the band has performed in Canada.

"I don't sing the ACCEPT songs, I play drums and sing backing vocals. During a show I'm not thinking about the lyrics for the full song, I'm performing. Same with Motnik.

"We tried to do something for the people that were there. We could have bailed out and done nothing. The situation was a major bummer but we did what we could.

"I can say this 1000% on record: Replacing Mark isn't an easy task. We still play in the original album key, tuned to standard. We don't drop tune like a lot of vocalists prefer which makes it 'easier' to hit the notes. We don't use backing tracks, it's all live. It's not like Mark can change a set of strings or sticks… We took a shitty situation and did what we could.

"Mark will be back up there in no time kicking ass like he always does."

Tornillo joined ACCEPT as the replacement for the band's original lead singer, Udo Dirkscheider. He can be heard on ACCEPT's last five studio albums, "Blood Of The Nations" (2010),"Stalingrad" (2012),"Blind Rage" (2014),"The Rise Of Chaos" (2017) and "Too Mean To Die" (2021).

ACCEPT's North American tour, featuring support from NARCOTIC WASTELAND, kicked off on September 29 in Nashville, Tennessee and is scheduled to conclude on October 29 in Columbus, Ohio.

In a 2018 interview with Metal Shock Finland, Tornillo stated about what it was like to first join ACCEPT: "It was frightening. When we first announced what was going to happen, there was really not many people on board with it. Online, there was a lot of naysayers, a lot of badmouthing. It was very disheartening. We all sat down and said, 'Look, we have to make an amazing record, or else we're gonna die here. This is going to be a swansong. We have to make an amazing record.' And that's what we did. We spent a lot of time writing 'Blood Of The Nations' and a lot of time recording it, and I think in retrospect, it paid off. If that album wasn't what it was, we wouldn't be here."

Asked about fans who have yet to "accept" him, Mark said: "Everybody is entitled to their opinion. I'm a purist too with certain things. I get it. But I think we've moved on. We're almost a different band at this point. We really are a different band at this point. We still pay tribute to the old ACCEPT by playing the old songs — I mean, we have the two people that wrote most of the songs, [so] we have to. That's always going to be part of ACCEPT's history. You can't change it. All we can change is the future. But everyone's entitled to their opinion, and I get it. I wish them all well, and I wish Udo well, and his band, you know. No hard feelings on my part, that's for sure."

Asked about ACCEPT's overall approach since he came into the group, Tornillo told "That Jamieson Show": "Basically, [we went] back to what we did in the '80s — what everybody did back in the day. The whole thing was, when I joined the band, Wolf [Hoffmann, guitar] did not want the band to rest on its laurels and only go out and play the classics. He wanted a real band. So we've been album-tour, album-tour — like it always was."

Mark also talked about his musical personal chemistry with Hoffmann, who is the sole remaining member from ACCEPT's classic lineup.

"It's grown quite a bit, actually," he said. "We've got a great mutual respect for each other and for our talents. This album ['Too Mean To Die'] was a total collaboration. This is the first ACCEPT album without Peter, so that was a big gap to fill. But everybody stepped up. Our [new] bass player Martin Motnik contributed quite a bit to this album."