Pond cancel North American tour due to visa issues

Australian psych band Pond were set to start their North American tour on Friday in Nashville but they ended up cancelling the first couple shows, including their appearance at Shaky Knees in Atlanta, due to frontman Nick Allbrook’s visa not being approved. They’ve now canceled the whole tour.

“We are so extremely devastated to have to make the announcement that we can’t proceed with our North American tour due to Nick’s Visa not being approved,” Pond wrote on their socials. They went to to try and explain all the red tape involved with the visa process.

“Our Visa Attorney and Management began the (wildly expensive) process of Nick’s Visa renewal (while his other Visa was still valid) almost a year ago on July 6, 2022,” they write. “Nick had his interview in February in Sydney and based on our previous experiences he should have had his Visa issued by now. In the past it’s taken 2 weeks to a month to receive approval after the interview process. The post Covid world has made these processes much more grueling, expensive and as it turns out extremely slow.”

They continue: “We spent this past weekend trying to find a financially viable way to make this tour work without the shows in the US, but have been told it’s not possible with the cost of freight and flights. This wasn’t the outcome any of us were hoping for or expected. We have been practicing a new set with new songs that we were so excited to play for you guys.”

Pond concluded with, “To everyone who bought tickets, thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, we wish we could be with you this month – this is what we love to do, it’s what brings us life fun and wonder – but powers that be wouldn’t let it be. we promise we will get back to the states AND MEXICO as soon as possible.”

Pond, we hope to see you soon. Good luck.