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Mercyful Fate Name Their Fill-In Bassist for the North American Tour

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Scheduling conflicts can be a bitch and unfortunately for Armored Saint and Mercyful Fate bassist Joey Vera, it means he’s going to have to miss out on the latter band’s first romp through the States in 20 years.

According to a post on the Mercyful Fate Instagram account, Vera issued a statement explaining that he had prior touring engagements on his docket with Armored Saint prior to the announcement that King Diamond and company would be coming to his side of the globe. The post is also where it was revealed that Becky Baldwin would take his spot in the Mercyful Fate lineup for the duration of the tour.

“My dear friends: As some of you have done the math and checked your calendars, you may have noticed that it appears as though I’ve scheduled myself to be on two tours at the same time this Fall. As most of you know, I have been promoting the tour with Armored Saint supporting WASP for almost a year now. A tour I committed to in 2021 and Never You Fret, I am standing by that commitment. No thanks to the results of Covid affecting nearly every aspect of the touring industry, touring schedules have since been cancelled and moved to different times in the year. And so, Mercyful Fate had received a touring opportunity recently that was impossible to turn down. Unfortunately, this schedule conflicts with my tour in the fall with Armored Saint. So, it pains me a great deal that I cannot be in two places at one time, because If I could, I most certainly would.

“Over the past 3 months I have been welcomed into the Mercyful Fate family with open arms, and this includes all of the fans. I have made new lifelong friends and have had the most amazing time this summer performing with these great musicians onstage and of course for you, the fans. These Mercyful Fate shows have been some of the most incredible gigs I’ve ever been a part of. Ever. I have been asked to be a full member in the Mercyful Fate band for touring and recording their next record, and I have accepted. However, I regretfully have to sit out this upcoming Fall Tour in the USA and S. America.

“Since the show must go on, I hope you will welcome my stand-in bassist for the fall tour Becky Baldwin, with your open arms, who also plans to play the Mercy music with honor and respect to our fallen brother Tim Hansen, just as I have tried to do. I know many of you have seen the live clips on Youtube, but I promise you, this is a show you will have to see in person to believe it. Prepare yourselves to be completely blown away.

“I will miss my brothers and our crew in Mercy this fall, but I’m looking forward very much to playing with my mates in Saint again and of course seeing all of you on our fall tour. See ya down front! In closing, If I may borrow King Diamond’s ‘sign off,’ – Stay Heavy”

Mercyful Fate will be hitting the road near the end of October and won’t call it quits until November 16. Though they won’t be touring to support a new album until after King Diamond does, that doesn’t mean there’s no new music that could potentially make the setlist. The band’s been playing a new song called “The Jackal of Salzburg” since this past June. Here’s hoping we’ll hear more new songs on this next run of dates!

MERCYFUL FATE w/ Kreator, Midnight:
10/25/2022 Dallas, TX – The Factory
10/27/2022 Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre
10/29/2022 Inglewood, CA – Youtube Theater
10/30/2022 Wheatland, CA – Hard Rock Live Sacramento
11/01/2022 Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
11/03/2022 Gary, IN – Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana
11/04/2022 Cincinnati, OH – The Andrew J. Brady Music Center
11/05/2022 Detroit, MI – Masonic
11/08/2022 Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore Silver Spring
11/10/2022 Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theater
11/11/2022 Laval, QC – Place Bell
11/13/2022 Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall At Fenway
11/14/2022 Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore Philadelphia
11/16/2022 Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle

Mercyful Fate Name Their Fill-In Bassist for the North American Tour
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