KILLSWITCH ENGAGE To Continue Headlining Tour With Guest Vocalist

February 17, 2010

Last week, it was announced that KILLSWITCH ENGAGE vocalist Howard Jones had to unexpectedly leave the band's current headlining tour, leading to a flurry of rumors and questions about the status of the tour and the band. The band has further issued the following statement addressing the matter, saying, "It became overwhelmingly obvious to all of us around Howard that he is in no condition to be on tour right now and that he needed to get off the road and get himself better. It's a personal matter and while we understand everyone's curiosity and concern for Howard and the band, we appreciate everyone respecting Howard's privacy at this time."

Longtime friend Phil Labonte of ALL THAT REMAINS was able to fill in and help out the band for a few shows and it appears as though he will be filling in for the remainder of the tour, which runs through March.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE endured and survived a similar situation in the past, where guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz was forced to sit out a tour due to a back injury. The band said, "We seriously considered cancelling the tour since we don't want to give fans that paid good money anything less than KILLSWITCH ENGAGE at full strength. But after trying a few shows with Phil, and after feeling the love and support that we were getting from the crowd, it became increasingly apparent to us that the shows came across as fun and unique, and the fans seemed to be enjoying it. We quickly realized that we had to keep going and that we couldn't possibly stop."

Refunds are available for any fans that have already purchased tickets, but as the band said, this tour will offer a chance to experience KILLSWITCH ENGAGE in a unique way that you won't be able to witness again.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE would like to thank all fans who came out to support them during this difficult stretch, exclaiming, "We really do feel that our fans are the best fans in the world." The band also thanked Labonte for pitching in, saying, "We can't thank Phil enough for helping us out when we needed it the most."

For a taste of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE with Labonte on vocals, check out footage from the Baltimore show this past weekend below.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).