Kings of Leon could cause an enormous insurance pay out after cancelling the remaining dates on their tour of the United States.
It’s not a good time for Kings of Leon. The Followills have been left exhausted by near continual and – if the rumour mill is to be believed – singer Caleb Followill could be facing a spell in rehab.
Playing a show in Dallas last Friday (July 29th) the band’s set plunged into chaos. Disturbed by the heat, Kings of Leon singer Caleb Followill told the crowd: “I’m gonna go backstage and I’m gonna vomit. I’m gonna drink a beer and I’m gonna come back out and play three more songs.”
Failing to return, Kings of Leon halted the show. Postponing a number of dates, the band then decided to pull the remainder of their Stateside tour – cancelled a total of twenty nine performances.
Issuing a statement, the band blamed “exhaustion” for the postponement. Rolling Stone asked widely experience booking agent Dennis Arfa how fans were supposed to interpret the vague wording of the statement.
“Well, I mean, it tells me stuff is goin’ on. Something’s not right, obviously,” he says. “Exhaustion is a label. It doesn’t tell you the detail – just says ‘exhaustion.’ Exhaustion usually means you have issues going on beyond just being physically tired. It’s a convenient label.”
Meanwhile, Kings of Leon could face an enormous insurance bill after pulling out of the tour. Lloyds of London could have to pay as much as $15 million to cover the failed tour, and this could impact on the band’s career.
SteelBridge Insurance spokesperson Elizabeth Wightman told Rolling Stone how the process works. “There’s a lot of rating factors – whatever the contract says, size of the venue, age of the performer, health of the performer, how far they have to travel, plane, train or automobile,” she explained.
“It’s kind of like a credit report. You have to earn your reputation over time. Insurance companies are going to be looking at that.”