Ben has had to cancel the solo portion of the current European tour due to a case of tendinitis, which as you can imagine, makes playing the piano very difficult and painful. The show, with the band, will go on through Edinburgh on 18 November. Those holding tickets should be hearing from the performance venues shortly about refunds or other arrangements.
Ben provided the following explanation on social media:
To my European friends, I have a right case of tendinitis in my left hand and forearm, and some nerve issues in my left wrist and thumb joint. This appeared as I embarked on my UK tour, and it’s not been subtle. I can’t even tie my shoes, and it’s not from the tequila. This, I’m told, will recover. But I have been advised by my doctor to cancel my upcoming European solo shows, rest and rehabilitate. I hate that personally, and I’m sorry. As for the UK, I’m confident these are some of my best shows. The band accompanying me on the UK run is really special, and we’re ON IT. Having a band on the UK shows means I can work around the injury, simply because playing piano doesn’t require an athletic left hand. If I didn’t mention this to you, you’d never notice, except that my shoelaces are untied. So we will stay the course to finish this UK run strong in Edinburgh. But the trademark of my solo performances is a strong left hand, which I depend on abusing to create the full band sound. It’s my style. So the tour dates without the band scheduled after Edinburgh are cancelled. It was a year of looking forward to this rare tour. Not to mention I keep stepping on my untied shoelaces. My team is in contact with the venues where I was scheduled to perform, so you should hear from them soon about refunds and such. Much love and apologies, Ben
Having had nerve issues myself, and realizing that nerves are very strange things that affect you in weird ways, my sympathies are with Ben as he recuperates and regains his left-handed strength.
