Alien Ant Farm have cancelled all U.S. tour dates through September. The decision follows the May 22nd tour bus accident in Spain, which killed the driver and caused a serious back injury to frontman Dryden Mitchell. Guitarist Terry Corso broke his ankle in the accident, bassist Tye Zamora injured his foot and drummer Mike Cosgrove was treated for cuts and bruises. The group's tour manager and several tour technicians were also injured.

Last Friday, two days after the accident, Mitchell was airlifted to a hospital in London, where he remains and will most likely have to undergo surgery on his C2 vertebra. "I'm just so grateful that my injuries aren't worse," he says. "There will be a lot of rehabilitation and physical therapy, but I'm planning on working hard so the band can get back to writing songs, and then we can get in the studio and record the new album as soon as possible."

Mitchell also expressed concern for the band's security head and personal assistant David Zajic, the most seriously injured of the Alien Ant Farm crew, who is in critical condition in a Prague hospital: "He's our best friend and we're praying for a full recovery."

CHRISTINA SARACENO
(May 30, 2002)