Pitchfork

For as much as Beirut's music abounds in European influences-- whether Balkan or Brel-- Zach Condon and the continent just don't seem to gel.

Condon was in Paris, as you may recall, when he landed in a hospital and had to cancel some shows due to a bout with "extreme exhaustion" in November 2006. "It felt like my body was falling apart while I was completely out of control of it," Condon later told Pitchfork, reflecting on the incident.

Now Europe will get the shaft, as Beirut have decided to cancel a couple month's worth of summer shows over there. For the reasoning behind this move, we take you to a note Condon posted on Beirut's website today [via Tiny Mix Tapes]:

A Letter from Zach

It's with great regret that I have to tell all of you that Beirut is canceling their summer European shows. My reasons for doing this are many, a lot of them personal, but I still feel I need to provide something of an explanation.

The past two years have been a mindblowing experience. From the first indications that people were putting songs from Gulag [Orkestar] up on their blogs to our incredible tour of Australia and New Zealand that we just completed, everything that has happened has been beyond anything I'd ever hoped could happen with the music I wrote and recorded in my bedroom. Once things started happening, I decided I wanted to do everything as big as possible. So, I set about putting together a large band, and giving that band a huge sound, and making the most spectacular records we possibly could.

I know this can sound like an artist shithead kind of comment, but going through all that really does have its low points along with the highs. The responsibilities of gathering people around your vision, working with great people like those who work directly for the band and those at the label, wanting to insure that every show is as good as humanly possible so that every single person in the audience sees that we put in a real effort, all of that leads to a lot of issues in terms of doing right by people who have done you right.

It's come time to change some things, reinvent some others, and come back at some point with a fresh perspective and batch of songs.

Please accept my apologies. I promise we'll be back, in some form.

-Zach

A handful of North American Beirut shows appear to be still on for the moment, so those may be your last opportunity to catch the "old" Beirut. Beyond that, we'll just have to hope Zach gets his shit together soon. Dr. Pitchfork prescribes multiple listenings to the White Stripes ditty "Little Room".

Beirut:

05-22 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
05-24 George, WA - The Gorge (Sasquatch!)
05-25 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
05-27 San Francisco, CA - Grand Ballroom
05-28 San Francisco, CA - Grand Ballroom
05-30 Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern Theatre
06-26 Paris, France - Olympia
06-27 Évreux, France - Festival Le Rock
06-28 St. Gallen, Switzerland - Openair St. Gallen Festival
06-30 Munich, Germany - Muffathalle
07-01 Schorndorf, Germany - Manufaktur
07-02 Cologne, Germany - Live Music Hall
07-03 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter
07-04 Hamburg, Germany - Fabrik
07-06 Gdynia, Poland - Heineken Open'er Festival
07-20 Benicassim, Spain - Benicassim Festival
07-24 Sines, Portugal - Festival Musicas do Mundo
08-06 Oslo, Norway - Øya Festival
08-08 Gothenburg, Sweden - Way Out West
08-15 Crickhowell, Wales - Green Man Festival