SHANNON LARKIN Doesn't Know If GODSMACK Can Afford To Tour Outside America: 'We've Never Made Money In Europe'

In a new interview with Metal-Roos, GODSMACK drummer Shannon Larkin was asked if there are any plans for him and his bandmates to tour Australia in support of their recently released eighth album, "Lighting Up The Sky". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Not yet. And the honest truth is, can we afford to come? It sucks for us because we're here. We're big in America. We're an American band. The radio loves us here. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be a big band. And we didn't really have the success worldwide that we have here.

"We don't run a bunch of tapes; we don't do that shit," he continued. "We're a live band. But what we do like to do is people pay these exorbitant ticket prices and when they come to see us, we have a big show. And we blow shit up with pyro and we have video screens. And there might be lasers that night. We have moving drum risers — all this shit that's part of us and it's been us. Then we go to England and play, or Australia and play, and we've got a rag behind us and a drum set. And it's not a crutch — we still went and we do it — but we never had the growth to where we were big enough, say in Australia, to come there and present what we do, like us live, this badass show that we've always done and that's as much a part of us as our instruments. We perform and we love to do it. And so we're proud of it and we have a lot of pride there. And so sometimes it feels like they're not getting what we are because we can't afford to bring all that shit.

"It's just crazy, man, this business," Shannon added. "We've got 20-some people on the road crew. It's rooms and flights — it's crazy how much it costs to tour the world, especially now after all this bullshit pandemic bullshit. Touring Europe, man, was just… You're literally losing money. And we did it. We'd do it anyway. We've never — I'll say this right here — we've never made money in Europe ever. Period. And we've been there 15 times or whatever. We keep going back because we have a cult following where we can draw a couple of thousand people in these rooms, and we love to play for 'em, but there's never been a moment where we can say, 'Here's what we are.'"

Earlier this month, GODSMACK canceled its previously announced spring tour of South America due to a "lack of ticket sales".

The band announced that it has scrapped the trek, which was scheduled to hit Santiago, Chile on April 21, Buenos Aires, Argentina on April 25 and São Paulo, Brazil on April 27, in a social media post.

GODSMACK wrote: "We are heartbroken to have to announce that GODSMACK cannot get to South America in April as promised. We are so saddened by this as we've been trying for so long to make this work, but due to the lack of ticket sales, we simply can't find a way to fund this tour at this time. Please know we've tried everything we could to make it work, but it has now gone beyond our control.

"We love and appreciate our fans and will remain optimistic that we will play for your country one day. Until then, our deepest apologies."

GODSMACK's South American tour was originally scheduled to take place last November but was postponed to April due to what the band described at the time as "logistical issues."

"Lighting Up The Sky" was released last month via BMG. The LP was co-produced by GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna and Andrew "Mudrock" Murdock (AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ALICE COOPER).

The first single from "Lighting Up The Sky", "Surrender", which arrived in September, marked the first release from GODSMACK in four years, following their globally acclaimed and gold-certified 2018 album "When Legends Rise", which earned the Erna-fronted outfit a No. 1 spot across U.S. Hard Rock, Rock, and Alternative album charts.

GODSMACK will embark on a spring 2023 U.S. tour with special guests I PREVAIL.

Photo by Chris Bradshaw