Dopapod To Begin Indefinite Hiatus At End Of 2024

Dopapod will embark on an indefinite hiatus starting in 2025. The quartet begins the sabbatical following a busy remainder of 2024 that will include the Best Friends 2024 Fall Tour after previously announced summer dates.

Dopapod — guitarist Rob Compa, keyboardist Eli Winderman, bassist Chuck Jones and drummer Neal “Fro” Evans — previously took an extended hiatus at the end of 2017 that lasted through April of 2019. The band “will no longer be touring, recording, or writing for the foreseeable future” beginning in 2025 according to a statement posted on social media.

“The last sixteen years have been an unbelievable adventure. We really did get to experience the whole spectrum of having a full time, professional touring band,” wrote Dopapod. “To paraphrase Homer Simpson: ‘The dizzying highs, the crushing lows, the creaaaaamy center.’ All of it, the highs, lows, and everything in between has been an absolute treasure trove of life and learning experiences.”

Dopapod then got into the reason for the sabbatical. “The price we have paid mentally, financially, physically and otherwise can no longer be ignored. We feel deep down in our guts and our hearts that this is the best possible thing not for the band, but for four dudes who truly love each other and want the best for each other,” the members of the band continued. “And to be clear, our families have always offered full support of this lifestyle and did not play a role in this decision. The touring life has never been easy and it seems to be getting more difficult. We send our love to all the artists/crew that put so much of their heart and soul into making live music possible.”

The group went on to point out the similarities between the upcoming hiatus and their previous break. “Coincidence or not, we did say when we took our last break that we were inspired by an article where a company would take a sabbatical every 7 years, and it’s been 7. Plus, in 2017 we had a full solar eclipse and this year we had another. Regardless of all that, we are treating this as an indefinite hiatus.”

Dopapod will return to the stage on June 21 in Saranac, New York and will spend the bulk of July on the road. After a series of August dates and an appearance at Lotus’ Summerdance, the quartet’s fall tour will start in Raleigh on September 4. The band laid out dates and cities for their 2024 Fall Tour dates with venues forthcoming as well as more shows to be announced. Tickets go on sale for the new fall dates this Thursday, June 20.

Read the full note from Dopapod and view the cities and dates for the new fall shows below: