Kirk Rundstrom, who decided to ditch chemotherapy and make one last tour with his band Split Lip Rayfield, died Thursday of esophageal cancer at age 38, The Wichita Eagle reported. Because his unsuccessful treatment had weakened him, Rundstrom had to learn to play guitar again for the tour. The shows were fantastic, and, as on previous tours, packed. Donations to Rundstrom's family can be made here. Rundstrom said it best in an A.V. Club interview last year:
This is a celebration. We're laying a line and we're playing harder than we ever have before. These shows are brutal. They hurt. And I think people are just rocking out. We've been working hard at this for a long time, and for me to have to stop playing is sad, so if these are my last shows, I'm trying to put every bit of energy I have left into them, and I think everybody else is as well. I know they are, actually. And like I said before, I'm just sleeping during the day, and I just get up and play as hard as I can until the show's done and I go back to bed and try to rest up as much as I can so I can do it again the next night.