Iconic Bay Area rockers Y&T have pulled out of SAXON's upcoming European tour due to frontman Dave Meniketti's back injury. The guitarist/vocalist is adhering to his doctor's advice and giving himself the necessary time to heal and recover. Says Dave: "It is with great disappointment that I announce Y&T's decision to withdraw from SAXON's upcoming fall Europe/U.K. tour. "As many of you already know, I severely injured my back in July and have been under the care of a sports doctor/back specialist ever since. After I received two rounds of cortisone injections to reduce the inflammation, we all had high hopes I'd get 'back on the field' in time for this tour. But as many people know, recovering from this kind of back injury takes time. "Given the advice of my doctor and the urging of everyone around me, really, the only course of action for my long-term health is to stay home and properly complete my recovery. This decision has weighed heavily on me — and believe me, I'd much rather be on tour playing for all of you — but getting on an 11-hour flight and sitting for five weeks on drives of up to 10+ hours every day in a van traveling 11,000 miles/18,000 km would be a reckless approach at this stage of my recovery. I can't risk another setback like I experienced last month when I played a show against my doctor's advice. "I apologize to the fans and to our buddies in SAXON for any inconveniences and disappointments that this has caused. We're big fans of SAXON and consider them to be one of the best live straight-ahead rock bands out there, so we're all disappointed to miss what surely would've been a great time on tour with them. "For my part, and for Y&T going forward, I'm on the mend and can't wait to get back up on stage later this year. To our amazing fans in Europe and the U.K., again, my apologies. We'll be back in 2019." Meniketti is the only surviving member of the Y&T lineup — then known as YESTERDAY AND TODAY — that recorded the band's self-titled debut album. Original Y&T rhythm guitarist Joey Alves died in March 2017 at the age of 63. Two founding Y&T musicians — Haze, 61, and bassist Phil Kennemore, 57, who both had left the lineup — died from complications of lung cancer: Kennemore on January 7, 2011, and Haze on September 11, 2016. Y&T's current lineup is rounded out by guitarist John Nymann, drummer Mike Vanderhule and bassist Aaron Leigh. Y&T released its first-ever acoustic EP, "Acoustic Classix Vol. 1", in January.
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