DevilDriver’s Metal Alliance Tour launches this Thursday at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, but the band’s bassist Aaron ‘Bubble’ Patrick will not be able to join them for at least the first show because he has been hospitalized.

Patrick has been diagnosed with pneumonia and is currently undergoing tests which will force him to miss the first date of their North American tour. Chris Towning, who was Patrick’s bandmate in the group Bury Your Dead, will be filling in for him.

DevilDriver’s headlining trek is in support of their latest record ‘Beast.’ The Metal Alliance tour kicks off on March 15 in Austin, Texas, and features support from The Faceless, Dying Fetus, Job for a Cowboy, 3 Inches of Blood, Impending Doom and Wretched. For a full list of dates and cities go here.

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