Tallah No Longer on Tour With Avatar After Some Members Contract COVID
Burgeoning nu-metal outfit Tallah are no longer a supporting act on the Going Hunting Tour now being headlined by Swedish metal group Avatar after some of Tallah's members contracted COVID-19. Subsequently, the Philadelphia-based group, rhythmically driven by drummer Max Portnoy, have launched a crowdfunding campaign to accept donations.
Tallah — who emerged in 2018 and include vocalist Justin Bonitz, ex-Doll Skin guitarist Alex Snowden, guitarist Derrick Schneider, bassist Andrew Cooper and DJ Mewzen in addition to Portnoy — last month released their latest single, the six-minute alt-metal opus "Vanilla Paste" featuring several guests.
In a Sept. 28 statement, Tallah shared, "As you already know, some of our members caught COVID-19. Due to some miscommunication about Avatar's COVID guidelines, their management has decided to remove us from the rest of the Going Hunting Tour."
The band continued, "We would have loved to continue the tour once we got better and tested negative, but that decision was not ours to make. We appreciate everyone who came out to see us and wanted to see us on the rest of this tour — there is always next time. If you'd like to continue your support, we have set up a GoFundMe to recoup some of our losses."
In a post on Sept. 21, Tallah first revealed, "Despite our best efforts to try to follow the rules and be safe, members of our touring party have tested positive for COVID." The band initially expected to miss only a few shows plus their slot at the Louder Than Life Festival.
Over the last few months, rock and metal musicians including Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), Corey Taylor (Slipknot), Chad Gray (Mudvayne) Jonathan Davis and James "Munky" Shaffer (Korn), Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (KISS), Sean Killian (Vio-Lence), Sebastian Bach (ex-Skid Row) and members of Tesla and Lynyrd Skynyrd also tested positive for the virus that sparked a global pandemic beginning in March 2020. Metal singer Eric Wagner died last month after being hospitalized with COVID pneumonia.
Fans can contribute to Tallah's online fundraiser, which, as of this posting, stands at around a quarter of the way to its stated $10,000 goal, over at gofundme.com. See Avatar's remaining fall 2021 tour dates here.