Yngwie Malmsteen postpones US tour dates on “doctor's orders”

Yngwie Malmsteen has postponed a series of dates on his current US tour.

A statement posted to social media on the guitarist's behalf on Friday (December 10) explained that “Yngwie has been instructed to take a few days rest” on “doctor's orders”. The statement clarifies that the postponement is not Covid-related.

“All purchased tickets and meet and greets will be honored for the rescheduled dates,” the statement continues. “Yngwie's looking forward to resting up and seeing all of you when the time comes.”

Malmsteen's California shows in Fresno, Montclair and Santa Clarita on December 10, 11 and 12 were postponed, though it's not yet clear which future dates will be affected. The guitarist's website is yet to be updated, and still has him scheduled to perform four dates between December 14 and 18 in Albuquerque, Dallas, Tulsa and Houston.

Earlier this month, fan-shot footage emerged on YouTube of Malmsteen's recent November 23 concert in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

During the set, the shredder tore through a selection of cuts from his expansive discography, including Wolves at the Door and Relentless Fury from his latest album Parabellum, his biggest hits like Rising Force and Black Star and a cover of Deep Purple's classic Smoke on the Water.

In a recent interview with Guitar World, Malmsteen discussed playing everything apart from drums on Parabellum.

“In rock ‘n’ roll it’s embedded in people’s minds that it has to be a band playing everything,” he said. “And I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that – I love the Rolling Stones and Deep Purple and so many bands.

“And 99.9 percent of the songs in those bands usually come about when the guitar player comes up with a riff, the drummer starts playing along with it and finally the singer comes in and starts singing over that. Which is great. But for some reason I tend to approach things more like a writer or a painter would.

“Like, the painter paints the foreground, he paints the background… he doesn’t go, 'Oh, can you do this part for me?' It’s the same with a classical composer, for that matter. And that’s just the way I approach it.”