Louisiana doom metal institution CROWBAR has canceled its planned summer 2026 European tour after frontman Kirk Windstein revealed a recurring spinal condition has made touring physically impossible for the time being.
"I have a bilateral synovial cyst on my spine that is beginning to flare up again and it's giving me a lot of problems," Windstein explained in a video message to fans announcing the cancellation. The 12-date run had been scheduled to run from July 27 through August 7, 2026, covering venues across Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic and Belgium, including planned appearances at Rockstadt Extreme Fest and Alcatraz Metal Festival.
Windstein, who has fronted CROWBAR since founding the band in 1990 and also leads DOWN alongside Phil Anselmo, stressed that the decision was not one he arrived at lightly. "I have been touring for 36 years, and I've never canceled a tour. But due to my physical health at this point, I'm unable to get on plane flights and ride in the van for two weeks," he said. The condition had already forced Windstein to perform seated during CROWBAR's recent U.S. tour alongside EYEHATEGOD, a workaround that evidently proved unsustainable for the demands of a full European run.
Rather than pushing forward with a scaled-back version of the tour, Windstein confirmed the band's intention to make good on the missed dates at a later point rather than attempt a like-for-like reschedule this year. "We're not rescheduling the tour, but just to make up these cities next year when we're over in Europe," he said, signaling that CROWBAR still plans to return to the affected festivals and club dates as part of a future European run once his condition allows.
CROWBAR's live cancellation comes more than four years after the band's most recent studio album, "Zero And Below," released in April 2022, with no word yet on new studio material. For now, the priority remains Windstein's recovery, with the band's history of consistent touring — unbroken, by his own account, for over three and a half decades until now — underscoring just how significant a health setback this represents for one of doom metal's most enduring live acts.