Machine Head will look a lot different once their upcoming fall tour wraps, as frontman Robb Flynn has announced that guitarist Phil Demmel and drummer Dave McClain will part ways with the band.
The surprise announcement came today (September 28th) via a Facebook Live video in which Flynn admitted that the members have “grown apart as people.”
“I’ll get right to it,” Flynn began, “Wednesday night, Phil Demmel quit Machine Head. Yesterday afternoon, Dave McClain quit Machine Head, and [bassist] Jared [MacEachern] kinda quit, but didn’t know if he was quitting for sure.”
He went on to say that the band’s scheduled fall tour, which kicks off October 4th in Sacramento, California, is still going to go on, and that the members “have all agreed to make it a celebration of our music of this era of the band.”
An emotional Flynn confessed, “We have grown apart as people. Musically, we’ve grown apart. I have held on too tight to the reins of this band, and I have suffocated those guys. I’ve got some rough edges. I’m kind of a barnacle. And those rough edges have given us the success we have, but they’ve also hurt the people around me.”
He added, “I ask that you respect Phil and Dave’s decision, as I respect their decision. I wanna say that I’m honored and grateful for everything that they’ve contributed to Machine Head, which is a lot — 15 years with Phil, 23 years with Dave.”
He would go on to say, “It’s the end of an era. I did a lot of crying yesterday, and felt like I got run over by a truck.”
Flynn said that he doesn’t “know what the future holds” for Machine Head, but added that he spoke with Jared again this morning, and that the bassist had decided to stick around.
Machine Head’s most recent album, Catharsis, was released in January of this year.
Machine Head Fall 2018 Tour Dates:
10/04 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace Of Spades
10/06 – Missoula, MT @ The Wilma
10/08 – Calgary, AB @ Palace Theatre
10/09 – Edmonton, AB @ Union Hall
10/10 – Saskatoon, SK @ Louis
10/12 – Winnipeg, MB @ The Garrick
10/13 – Minot, ND @ The Original
10/15 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
10/17 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
10/18 – Des Moines, IA @ Wooly’s
10/19 – Kansas City, MO @ Truman
10/20 – Joliet, IL @ The Forge
10/22 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora
10/23 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Intersection
10/24 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
10/26 – Ft. Wayne, IN @ Clyde Theatre
10/27 – Columbus, OH @ Newport
10/29 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
10/30 – Hartford, CT @ The Webster
10/31 – Huntington, NY @ Paramount
11/02 – Sayreville, NJ @ Starland
11/03 – Richmond, VA @ National
11/04 – Baltimore, MD @ Soundstage
11/07 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
11/09 – Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
11/10 – Nashville, KY @ Exit In
11/11 – Charlotte, NC @ Underground
11/13 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
11/14 – Tampa, FL @ The Ritz
11/16 – New Orleans, LA @ House Of Blues
11/17 – Austin, TX @ Emos
11/18 – Lubbock, TX @ Jake’s
11/20 – Tucson, AZ @ Club X
11/21 – San Diego, CA @ House Of Blues
11/23 – Anaheim, CA @ House Of Blues
11/24 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst