Features

Seven Significant Musical Hiatuses

4. String Cheese Incident, 2007: In August 2007, the String Cheese Incident took to the stage at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado, for a final four-night run. The band announced that these would be the last shows for a while. During the final night at Red Rocks, the first set was entirely acoustic, the second set featured Keller Williams on a few songs, a rowdy third set and a double encore.

In an interview prior to the shows, Kyle Hollingsworth wanted to reinforce the fact that the band was not breaking up, but said, “I’m not sure exactly what’s going to happen. We have no plans. But I just want to make it clear from my point of view that the future’s wide open for us.”

5. Widespread Panic, 2012: In an interview with Vanderbilt University’s student newspaper in September 2010, JoJo Hermann let it slip that the band was “probably going to call it [quits] for a while. So we’re looking forward to next year and going out on a high note.” Widespread Panic has since announced an all-acoustic “Wood Tour,” only 11 shows and the only shows in 2012, which will be the last before they begin their hiatus.

Panic has only taken a year off in 2004, having toured regularly since 1986. The band will head to Colorado for three nights at the Fillmore in Denver and then for three nights at the intimate, 450-person venue, the Belly Up-Aspen in Aspen. Look above for a taste of what you can expect during this acoustic tour.

6. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, 2009: In early 2009, Ryan Adams announced that he would be parting ways with the Cardinals, with whom he released Cold Roses and Cardinology, and would be taking a musical hiatus. The band’s final show with Adams would take place in Atlanta in March. In a blog post announcing the hiatus, Adams wrote that he is “ready for quieter times as I think it is very evident I am struggling with some balance and hearing issues.”

“I am excited to step away,” Adams continued. “I lost more than anyone will ever know (hearing, someone I loved, my sense of dignity, a never ending losing battle with stage fright)…” Adams’ hiatus lasted just over a year, releasing the metal-influenced album Orion and playing his first performance in October 2010.

7. God Street Wine: God Street Wine officially broke up in 1999 and played three big farewell shows in December at the New York City venue the Wetlands. The band invited special guests to the stage, including John Popper (Blues Traveler), and released a live album from the shows, Good To The Last Drop.

However, their breakup was short-lived: they played a show in honor of the closing of the Wetlands in 2001, followed by a series of shows for the first time in nine years in their home base city, New York, as well as playing on Jam Cruise, in the summer of 2010. Though these shows may have indicated to fans that the band was going to be touring on a regular basis again, God Street Wine made it clear that they would be returning to the status of “indefinite hiatus.” While GSW won’t be returning to the stage any time soon, Lo Faber and Aaron Maxwell will continue to perform together.