Due to apparently serious medical issues, Forrest Olsen, singer and guitarist for the Minneapolis based Somerset, has announced that he will bow out from the band’s previously announced final show. In his absence, the show has been canceled entirely. Forrest had this to say:
Over the past few months, serious health issues have resulted in my hospitalization on three occasions. Unfortunately these health issues are so serious that I must bow out of the March 15th show at the Varsity Theater. Furthermore, professionally I would not want Somerset’s audience to experience anything but a top-notch performance, which at this time, i can not achieve. This has been a near-impossible decision I’ve had to make. I spent many of the best times of my life with Somerset, and am sorry that it has come to an end. I hope there is a time in the future when I’ll be able to honor this ending with a show; but for my sake, and for the sake of the people I love who help care for me, I cannot now.
The rest of the band responded with a clarification:
We want to thank everyone so much for the enthusiasm we received in the build-up to the show. It kills us to have to disappoint everyone like this, especially those who went to great lengths and spent a lot of money on flights to be able to be there. At the risk of sounding spiteful, we do think it’s fair to clarify that canceling the show was not a unanimous agreement. It was Forrest’s decision alone (for reasons that he outlined in the bulletin preceding this one). He didn’t present us with any explanation beyond that which he ultimately posted on his myspace page, and later on ours. We gave our best effort to change his mind, but we were unsuccessful. Since it wouldn’t really be our final show without Forrest, we were forced to concede. In the past, there have been times where we have gone months without even practicing. These long periods had always ended with a rehearsal or show that reignited our passion for this group. Forrest, more than anyone (in our opinion), seemed the most positively impacted. We’d hoped that this show could provide a similar type of catharsis and be a great final chapter to the Somerset story. Sadly, it wont be happening anytime soon.
The full text of both statements can be found by clicking Read More.
The show was previously announced to include The City On Film (Bob Nanna of Braid and Hey Mercedes) and Justin Pierre, frontman for Motion City Soundtrack. Somerset released Pandora in 2005 via Punknews Records.
Source Due to apparently serious medical issues, Forrest Olsen, singer and guitarist for the Minneapolis based Somerset, has announced that he will bow out from the band’s previously announced final show. In his absence, the show has been canceled entirely. Forrest had this to say:
Over the past few months, serious health issues have resulted in my hospitalization on three occasions. Unfortunately these health issues are so serious that I must bow out of the March 15th show at the Varsity Theater. Furthermore, professionally I would not want Somerset’s audience to experience anything but a top-notch performance, which at this time, i can not achieve. This has been a near-impossible decision I’ve had to make. I spent many of the best times of my life with Somerset, and am sorry that it has come to an end. I hope there is a time in the future when I’ll be able to honor this ending with a show; but for my sake, and for the sake of the people I love who help care for me, I cannot now.
The rest of the band responded with a clarification:
We want to thank everyone so much for the enthusiasm we received in the build-up to the show. It kills us to have to disappoint everyone like this, especially those who went to great lengths and spent a lot of money on flights to be able to be there. At the risk of sounding spiteful, we do think it’s fair to clarify that canceling the show was not a unanimous agreement. It was Forrest’s decision alone (for reasons that he outlined in the bulletin preceding this one). He didn’t present us with any explanation beyond that which he ultimately posted on his myspace page, and later on ours. We gave our best effort to change his mind, but we were unsuccessful. Since it wouldn’t really be our final show without Forrest, we were forced to concede. In the past, there have been times where we have gone months without even practicing. These long periods had always ended with a rehearsal or show that reignited our passion for this group. Forrest, more than anyone (in our opinion), seemed the most positively impacted. We’d hoped that this show could provide a similar type of catharsis and be a great final chapter to the Somerset story. Sadly, it wont be happening anytime soon.
The full text of both statements can be found by clicking Read More.
The show was previously announced to include The City On Film (Bob Nanna of Braid and Hey Mercedes) and Justin Pierre, frontman for Motion City Soundtrack. Somerset released Pandora in 2005 via Punknews Records.
Source