Stryper have announced the postponement of most of their dates in September to spring / summer 2023. The band posted the following message earlier today:
"It is with a heavy heart that we are postponing most of our September tour dates to the Spring / Summer of 2023. Refunds will be automatically issued. If you have purchased a meet and greet through Stryper's Etix page, those will be refunded as well. New dates for next year are being rescheduled now. We will be able to keep several of the 2022 tour dates as scheduled, including the Texas dates, the International and destination dates. (Details in the Tour section of Stryper.com)
"Unfortunately there were some economic cards stacked against us. Anyone in the music business will tell you about the Tour Bus and Labor shortage out there. We're feeling it first hand. The Tour Bus business is like the housing market right now with 10 times more bands trying to rent buses than are available. And you've seen the cost of gas lately. When you're putting 10,000+ miles on a bus, as we were planning to do, gas prices absolutely matter for a tour like ours.
"There are some other issues at hand as well that played a part in our decision to postpone the tour. As you all can imagine, we're very disappointed to have to make this decision. At the same time, we're excited about what's to come.
"We have a new album being released in October. We'd like the opportunity to play several songs from that album, and give it a proper tour to support it. So Spring of next year makes more sense to do that. You will have had more time to consume the album and let us know which songs from it you'd like to hear live.
"We can tour MORE markets in the Spring. Due to the over-saturation of the touring industry right now, we honestly had a tough time hitting some of the cities we wanted to play this year. But by moving this to the Spring it will allow us to play MORE cities.
"We could go down the line with half-a-dozen other reasons that played into this decision. Sometimes you just have to trust your gut and make the best decisions you can given the information at hand. And that's what we've done.
"We didn't come to this decision lightly, but we are positive that moving this tour to the Spring and early Summer of 2023 will make for a better experience for everyone. Thank you all for sticking by us.
"(Tour dates starting 9/27/22 and through the rest of the year will remain as scheduled. The dates that are moving are from 9/8/22 to 9/25/22). We will be live-streaming our show in Dallas TX on 9/29. Stay tuned for details on that.
"God Bless you all. Much love, Michael, Robert, Oz, and Perry."
Stryper recently unveiled the cover artwork for their new album, The Final Battle. Check it out below.
Meanwhile, the band's label, Frontiers Music, has issued the following update:
"Well, since in the internet age there is always someone who has to spoil the surprise, here's the album cover for the new Stryper album, The Final Battle. The album is an ABSOLUTE BEAST of a record, as indicated by this beautiful Stan W Decker artwork.
Pre-orders (including a variety of color vinyl and new t-shirt designs), another single, and the first music video will all be unveiled next month. Stay tuned. Album out October 21st."
Stryper have released a new single, "See No Evil, Hear No Evil". The song will appear on The Final Battle. More details on the album will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, enjoy "See No Evil, Hear No Evil" here, and/or below.
Says Michael Sweet: "'See No Evil, Hear No Evil' was, believe it or not, inspired by the health issues that Oz and I have been faced with. Despite our limitations, we were able to deliver an album that is powerful and relevant and 'See No Evil, Hear No Evil' is the perfect track to showcase that. We could not be more excited about this album! The best is yet to come."
