Two Door Cinema Club cancel European tour as Kevin Baird battles “incurable autoimmune disease”

Two Door Cinema Club have cancelled their upcoming European headline tour due to the health of bassist Kevin Baird.

The band shared the news on social media via a message from Baird which explained that he had been receiving treatment for an “incurable autoimmune disease”.

“I’ve loved every second of playing shows again this summer, especially after such a long time away but the harsh reality is that it’s been really hard on my body,” the message read.

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“I’ve been experiencing a lot of ups and downs in managing this bastard of a disease and after a lot of long chats with my doctor we’ve decided that the next step is surgery to remove the affected organ after which it should be much more manageable.”

He added that he was “scheduled to have the operation in a few weeks”, which means the band will no longer be able to play their September and October dates in Europe. As for shows later in the year, he said: “As it stands the medical advice I’ve been given is that we’ll have to wait and see how the recovery goes after my operation.”

Baird concluded the message by thanking the NHS and his bandmates Alex Trimble and Sam Halliday for their support, adding “thanks to all of you for being the best fans in the world”.

The band also added a tweet, writing: “Refunds will be available from point of purchase. Love. TDCC x.”

The Northern Irish trio’s fifth studio album ‘Keep On Smiling’ arrived last week and was written and produced by the TDCC both during and coming out of the COVID-enforced lockdowns. It features additional production from Jacknife Lee (The Killers, Taylor Swift, Bloc Party) and Dan Grech Marguerat (Halsey, Lana Del Rey, George Ezra)

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In July, the band headlined Community Festival 2022 in Finsbury Park, London. Reviewing the set, NME wrote: “[…] Two Door Cinema Club are up for the challenge of closing out the day, and know what’s required.

“Like The Wombats before them, material from across their back catalogue is met with rampant excitement.”