Garth Brooks to ‘reassess’ tour because of COVID surge
The stadium tour launched in Las Vegas in July might not run its full schedule.
Garth Brooks has announced he will reassess his U.S. tour after performing Aug. 14 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. The move is prompted by concerns over the resurgence of COVID across the country.
Brooks is due to play Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on Saturday night, leading to the Lincoln concert. The country superstar then has a built-in, three-week pause in his schedule before he is booked to resume at Lumen Field in Seattle on Sept. 4.
It’s a party no matter what. Thank you for being YOU!
love, gWatch #StudioG : https://t.co/z14IJgW5HE pic.twitter.com/BPDGULXZue
— Garth Brooks (@garthbrooks) August 2, 2021
Tickets to the Seattle show were scheduled to go on sale Friday. Instead, Brooks says he is reluctant to sell any more tickets to the tour when the dates might be in doubt.
Brooks also is reviewing the remaining shows on his U.S. tour. After the Seattle date, the show is scheduled to play previously sold concerts in Cincinnati on Sept. 18; Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sept. 25; Baltimore on Oct. 2; and Boston on Oct. 9.
“It breaks my heart to see city after city go on sale and then have to ask those sweet people and the venues to reschedule,” Brooks said. “We have a three-week window coming up where we, as a group, will assess the remainder of the stadium tour this year. It’s humbling to see people put this much faith in you as an artist, and it kills me to think I am letting them down.”
Thunderstorms forced Brooks to postpone his show set for Saturday at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. That show will be rescheduled. On Friday, he said, “Here’s the important thing: Our job is to gather people in mass numbers. If that’s a bad thing, then we need to stand down. And that’s what we’ll do.”
Video on Brooks’ tour encourages fans to wear masks, but also asks fans not to confront those who are not. Brooks’ team asked the media to wear masks and keep a 6-foot distance during his pre-show interviews at Allegiant Stadium.
Brooks opened the tour on July 10 at Allegiant Stadium, the first country music concert at the venue. The show sold out, with an estimated 68,000 fans on hand. The show thrilled Brooks fans. But the event was marred by parking and traffic concerns, and complaints about the stadium’s sound quality.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
