ULI JON ROTH FORCED TO DROP OUT OF “GUITAR GODS” TOUR DUE TO VISA ISSUES

ulijonroth400 Yngwie Malmsteen’s Guitar Gods 2014 will begin June 12th Wilkes-Barre, PA without one it’s “Gods,” Uli Jon Roth will not be on the bill as planned.

Says the guitarist in a statement, “Unfortunately, we are forced to cancel my participation in this tour due to unforeseen circumstances which are beyond our control. We don’t know why, but work visas got mysteriously delayed for no apparent reason to the point where we were left with no other reasonable choice but to cancel at this late stage. In over 30 years of obtaining U.S. visas this has never happened to me, but I guess there’s always a first. I would have loved to play for the North American audience on this tour, like so many times before, but I’m sure my three guitar-playing friends will be just fine without me and will more than make up for it with their considerable skills. I’m wishing them best luck and lots of inspiration!”

The Guitar Gods tour also features tour organizer Yngwie Malmsteen, Gary Hoey and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (Guns N’ Roses).

Guitar Gods tour dates:

6/12/14 Wilkes-Barre, PA The F.M. Kirby Center For The Performing Arts
6/13/14 Huntington, NY Paramount Theatre
6/14/14 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom
6/15/14 Akron, NY Brauns Concert Cove
6/17/14 Englewood, NJ Bergen Performing Arts Center
6/20/14 St. Charles, IL Arcada Theatre
6/21/14 Toronto, ON Canada Phoenix Theatre
6/22/14 Joliet, IL Mojoes Concert Hall
6/23/14 Minneapolis MN Skyway Theatre
6/26/14 Seattle, WA Showbox Theatre
6/27/14 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
6/28/14 Richmond, Canada BC River Rock Casino
7/2/14 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory
7/3/14 Beverly Hills, CA Saban Theatre
7/5/14 Ramona, CA Ramona Rodeo And Fair Grounds
7/7/14 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues
7/8/14 Tuscon, AZ Rialto Theatre
7/10/14 Dallas, TX House of Blues
7/12/14 Houston, TX House of Blues

21 Responses

  1. Not all Visas can be corrected quickly, it depends on the reason why the Visa was denied. Three reasons that could have caused his denial are:

    Has committed fraud, deception or misrepresentation in his current application as well as in a previous application.
    Has obtained a criminal record, has been arrested, or has criminal charges pending.
    Has previous visa/immigration violations (even if the violations didn’t happen in the country the applicant is seeking a visa for).

    There are so many other reasons for not getting his work Visa approved and not always can be fixed rather quickly. Traveling outside of your Country with Passports and Visas is not as easy as everyone thinks they are. If you don’t follow certain guidelines for Visas and/or Passports you can be denied entering ANY Country that you need them for.

  2. Hey Z, don’t fret, saw the show @the Paramount ny, Despite no Uli Roth, the show still kicked some serious ass. Bumblefoot, Hoey and especially Malmsteen killed. Trust me, you don’t want your money back. \m/

  3. Malmsteen is the most arrogant musician I have ever seen in concert. We saw him at the Bergen Pac last night 6/17/2014 in what he calls the Guitar Gods tour which is really just his show. His own band was stuck in the corner of the stage I would guess so he could walk around the rest of the stage and throw his guitar to his stage hand once in a while. The bass player was out of sight most of the show hidden between the Keyboardist and the Drummer. Malmsteen repeated the same fast guitar work for his hour and a half. For five minutes it was great after that we wanted some creativity not just the same thing over and over. Bumblefoot and Gary Hoey were only given maybe 20 to 25 minutes each. Gary Hoey is an amazing guitarist whose talent blows away Malmsteen. He played 5 songs and said his time was up. Bumblefoot started his stop watch before playing so he knew when his time was up. He asked someone standing off stage if he had time for one more song and they said no. You could tell he was annoyed by the amount of time he was given. The show was advertised as Guitar Gods tour not the Malmsteen show. We expected a good amount of time for each band not 5 songs for the first two bands and then an hour and a half for the arrogant Malmsteen. Easily the worst concert I have ever been too even with Gary Hoey rock-in the house for the 20 minutes.

    1. Saw the show last night & 100% agree with you Steve. I’m a huge Gary Hoey fan but I actually splurged on these tickets for my husband because of Uli Roth on the billing. Been going to shows for decades & I totally get the “encore” bit where the artists walk off the stage, crowd gets loud so artist comes back out and does a couple more. Last night, Malmsteen walked off the stage after EVERY song, sometimes for several minutes and the bassist was like make some noise for the mystro, so he’ll come out and get loud. Um, no, I paid well over $100 a seat, he needs to get out here and do his damn job. My husband, who has seen him several times over the years, just laughed at my reaction & said he’s always been that way. I felt bad for Bumblefoot & Hoey when they came out to do the one song together because they were all tied up with their amp cords. Great show due to Bumblefoot & Hoey but as for Malmsteen…won’t pay for that ever again. Our venue last night only had 900 seats and it was not sold out, maybe his ego needs a reality check.

    2. I completely agree with you. The last time I saw Yngwie was August 1985 at Day On The Green – Oakland Coliseum. Yngwie was fantastic with the band and his guitar playing was great. I saw the Guitar Gods show on 7/3/14 at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills…I drove 5 hours to get there. With the exception of Gary Hoey, the show may have been the worst concert I have ever seen. I was not impressed by anything Yngwie played and the fact that he had 39 Marshall Heads on Stage..yes I counted them..only 3 were on. He played with his hair and the volume was so loud that the concert was enjoyable. He was irritated at the crowd for not applauding between songs, it was because they were happy to have silence for a few moments. Anyway I snapped a few pics with Gary Hoey and talked about gear since I run an EVH Head/Cab rig as well and he was super cool and answered my questions about his rig. I still love listening to Alcatraz and Rising Force, but I have lost a huge amount of respect for Yngwie and how out of touch he is in not even understanding the dynamics of the room/venue he is playing in. My ears felt completely violated. Uli is very down to earth, I think he was just looking for a way to get out of what was the Yngwie cluster jerk off fest that he has made the Guitar Gods tours.

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