WTF? Bunnymen Boiled by IRS

Tour canceled on the eve of its kickoff... new album in stores today.

By Fred Mills

Okay, so the new album The Fountain is easily the worst record Echo & the Bunnymen have ever done - despite showing occasional glimmers of Bunnymen greatness, it sounds like years of alcohol and chemical abuse have finally taken their toll (and anyone who saw the band's horrific, incoherent state back in March at SXSW will agree that this damn bunny's been boiled). Read our review of the album here.

But hey, just because a group delivers a substandard product is no reason to keep ‘em out of the damn country! They just might redeem themselves, even. However, it would appear that our very own IRS decided to intervene, therefore causing the cancellation of what would have been an 8-date, high profile tour. The following press release was just slipped over the BLURT transom that will explain. Meanwhile, go listen to some earlier E&TB albums and console yourselves (but don't listen to The Fountain; it'll just depress you).

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Echo & the Bunnymen are saddened and extremely disappointed to have to announce the cancellation of their upcoming US tour dates.  The band planned the performances in conjunction with the US release of their new album The Fountain, out November 10th.  The cancellation of the tour is due to the rejection of the band's Central Withholding Agreement (CWA) by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The rejection was unexpected as the Echo & the Bunnymen team submitted the necessary paperwork in due time and in accordance with the process that had been followed on previous tours. Additionally, the IRS offered no reasoning for the rejection and was unresponsive to our inquiries. This CWA allows for foreign entertainers to be paid in full, otherwise promoters are legally obliged to withhold a minimum of 30% in lieu of tax which ultimately will not allow for a tour to happen at this time.

However, we have some very exciting news for the rest of 2009 and on into 2010! The hotly anticipated new album The Fountain will be available Tuesday, November 10. Exclusive bundles will be available through band's website, www.bunnymen.com, and are currently available for pre-order. The bundles include exclusive Ocean Rain sheet music for the well-known track "Silver" as well as an exclusive t-shirt. We will also be rescheduling the cancelled tour dates and adding additional dates in early 2010.

Cancelled Tour Dates:

Nov. 15 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
Nov. 17 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
Nov. 18 - State College, Pittsburgh, PA - State Theatre
Nov. 20 - Glenside, PA - Kewsick Theatre
Nov. 21 - Fairfield, CT - StageOne
Nov. 22 - New York, NY- Hammerstein
Nov. 23 - Boston, MA- House of Blues
Nov. 25 - Chicago, IL - Metro