Last Friday, M.I.A. announced during her performance at McCarren Pool that she is canceling her upcoming tour. She confirmed the cancellation before her performance at MoMA's "Party in the Garden."
“This is my last show. I cancelled the UK tour," M.I.A. told New York Magazine. “Nobody knows. This is it. You’re hearing it first. My manager was supposed to cancel it yesterday, but he was watching football — don’t tell anyone — and he forgot. So nobody knows. I guess now they will.”
Why M.I.A.? Why?
“I’m canceling because I feel like physically I just have to stop for a second. It’s too insane. I was losing a sense of just, like, reality, you know what I mean? I think for an artist like me, it’s so important for me to be in the streets and go to the same shop every day and see the same people and, like, communicate. And it’s really difficult to do that when you’re in the city every day for 24 hours. Like, I love connecting with my band, but I want to actually help them and be a part of peoples’ lives. Which is really hard when you’re on tour.”
Oh, I see. But what about a new album?
“I’ve been writing on tour. I’m really into writing new songs. I’m going to put out a new record instead. At the end of the day, I’m here, you know.”
It's unknown whether or not the entire European tour is canceled or just the UK dates, but New York Magazine believes its the entire tour. Also unknown is if this cancellation includes her Bonnaroo appearance, but I'm guessing probably not. Really, your best bet is to simply show up at any of the following dates and wait and see if she shows up. If she doesn't, you can be all, like, "Wow, she's truly M.I.A.!"
