Matchbox Twenty's Thomas Discusses European Tour Postponement In War Time

03/28/2003 7:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Darren Davis

(3/28/03, 7 a.m. ET) -- Matchbox Twenty postponed its European tour last week when the war with Iraq began. The band was scheduled to fly to Europe to start the tour the next day, but Matchbox Twenty vocalist/songwriter Rob Thomas said that it didn't seem like a good idea in light of safety concerns.

"There was one half...I know our crew and everybody was kind of worried because there was these warnings put out for Americans worldwide, a caution for Americans, and Sadaam Hussein saying that Americans aren't safe anywhere in the world," Thomas said. "It didn't seem like a good time to bring two busloads of Americans through Germany and to Wembley Arena and to kind of put people in that position. And on top of it, it didn't seem appropriate."

Thomas added that Matchbox Twenty has already started to reschedule the dates for September, and he hopes by then the conflict will have died down.

Matchbox Twenty will embark on a U.S. tour starting April 25 in New Orleans. Thomas has been writing songs during the unplanned downtime, and he said the band will start rehearsals next week for the U.S. trek.

-- Darren Davis, New York

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