"The health and well-being of the band has to come first": Saxon cancel 10 summer shows as Biff Byford undergoes emergency surgery

Saxon have cancelled a run a summer shows so that frontman Biff Byford can undergo emergency surgery.

The surgery requires six weeks of recuperation, and the band have cancelled ten shows across Europe to accommodate this, beginning with their appearance at the Area 53 Festival in Leoben, Austria on July 12, and ending at the Summer Breeze Festival in Dinkelsbühl, Germany, on August 16. The full list of affected dates is below.

"Saxon were so looking forward to performing at all the below Summer festivals and events," say the band's management company, "but the health and well-being of the band obviously has to come first.

"It goes without saying that all in Saxon are gutted that they will be unable to perform but look forward to hopefully being back on stage in time to play both Trutnoff Open Air Festival in Czech Republic on August 23 and Neuborn Open Air on August 29.

"The band are also very much looking forward to their upcoming tours of both Spain, France and the UK later this year too."

The band's Swedish club shows on July 24, 26 and 27 are cancelled altogether, and fans are advised to seek refunds from ticket sellers. Meanwhile, Saxon are working with promoters to reschedule the other dates.

"Saxon are sorry for any inconvenience caused to fans and ask for everyone’s patience and understanding at this time," say the band's management.

The band's next show, tomorrow night (July 2) at the Rockharz Festival in Ballenstedt, Germany, goes ahead as scheduled.

Saxon: Cancelled dates

Jul 12: Leoben Area 53 Festival, Austria
Jul 24: Ekilstuna Lokomotivat, Sweden
Jul 25: Borgholm Öland Rock Festival, Sweden
Jul 26: Linköping Garden, Sweden
Jul 27: Gävle Furuvik, Sweden
Jul 29: Oberhausen Turbinenhalle 2, Germany
Jul 31: Czaplinek Pol’And’Rock Festival, Poland
Aug 01: Wacken Open Air, Germany
Aug 09: Finland Stallörsparken, Ekenäs
Aug 16: Dinkelsbühl Summer Breeze Festival, Germany

Saxon: Scheduled tour dates

Aug 23: Trutnoff Open Air, Czechia
Aug 29: Wörrstadt Neuborn Open Air, Germany
Sep 05: Bilbao Sala Santana, Spain
Sep 06: Madrid Sala La Riviera, Spain
Sep 07: Barcelona Razzmatazz 1, Spain
Sep 11: Paris Zénith, France
Sep 12: Saint-herblain Zenith Nantes Metropole, France

Sep 13: Toulouse Zénith de Toulouse, France
Nov 04: Belfast Ulster Hall, UK
Nov 05: Dublin Olympia, Ireland
Nov 07: Manchester O2 Apollo, UK
Nov 08: Sheffield Octagon, UK
Nov 09: Glasgow O2 Academy, UK
Nov 11: Newcastle O2 City Hall, UK
Nov 13: Bristol Beacon, UK
Nov 14: Wolverhampton Civic Hall, UK
Nov 15: London Eventim Apollo Hammersmith, UK
Nov 16: Cardiff The Great Hall, UK

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