Ex-Fear Factory vocalist Burton C. Bell plans to go in-depth on his former band’s gold-certified album “Obsolete” via spoken word tour this month seem to have hit a snag. A pair of stops booked around his impending Australian tour both appear to have been cancelled. Upon revealing the spoken word events, Bell stated:
“Join me as I read a capella the story and lyrics from all my original notes for [Fear Factory‘s] ‘Obsolete’ album, along with my first account insight of the lyrics. I have specifically chosen intimate venues to hold these events. I will politely ask everyone to place their phones on silent, and stored away for this unique event.”
An official event listing further specified that an acoustic set would follow the spoken word events, which had been dubbed ‘Obsolete By Word Of Mouth‘. Those events were originally intended to hit two venues, however, the June 19th show at the Little Cooler in Sydney, Australia has already been canceled. The listing spelling out the origin plans for the show read as follows:
‘Witness one of Heavy Metal’s biggest characters in one of Sydney’s smallest venues. This may be the most unique event you see all year. Burton C. Bell welcomes you to peer behind the veil, hear the stories and interact candidly with one of the great albums in Heavy Metal history, and the man who made it.
1995’s groundbreaking ‘OBSOLETE‘ album was a highly significant album for Fear Factory, and Heavy Metal writ large. In this face to face style spoken word event, Burton C. Bell shares insights, notes and anecdotes from the time of its creation.
‘OBSOLETE Word Of Mouth‘ is not just an event for fans of Burton or Fear Factory, but a must for anyone interested in better understanding how an iconic body of work, in any category of art, can be conceptualised, compiled and ultimately understood on the deepest level possible.’
Likewise, listings for the June 16th show at the Holy Diver Bar in Collingwood, Australia also appear to have been pulled. Dates planned for the spoken word tour included:
06/16 Collingwood, AUS – Holy Diver Bar
06/19 Sydney, AUS – Little Cooler
Bell is still scheduled to hit Australia next week for a solo tour with the following stops booked:
06/11 Brisbane, AUS – The Triffid
06/12 Newcastle, AUS – King St. Band Room
06/13 Sydney, AUS – Factory Theatre
06/14 Melbourne, AUS – Corner Hotel
Bell had a contentious relationship with Fear Factory over the years before exiting in 2020.
