Foo Fighters Cancel Show After Venue Refuses to Turn Away Unvaccinated Fans
Just a day after announcing a whole mess of new North American live dates for 2022, the Foo Fighters have canceled one of those shows — because the venue won’t comply with their COVID-19 safety measures.
The show in question was scheduled to take place at the Huntington Bank Stadium, located on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis on August 3.
Says the band in a statement:
“Due to Huntington Bank Stadium’s refusal to agree to the band’s covid safety measures, Foo Fighters are unable to perform at that venue. We apologise for any inconvenience and are working on finding a suitable replacement – one that will prioritise the health and safety of everyone working and attending the show.”
According to the Star Tribune, the University of Minnesota requires its students to be vaccinated — but the stadium has “not mandate[d] masks, proof of vaccine or negative test results” for outdoor events. This seems to be the sticking point for the Foos, with U of M PR director Jake Ricker admitting that “The university declined to change its existing protocols for large events, which have been effective.”
Interestingly, the Star Tribune notes that “Most Twin Cities concert venues that don’t already require vaccination or a negative test have agreed to such a policy if performers ask for it,” citing a recent Harry Styles concert at the Xcel Energy Center as an example. So someone behind-the-scenes here clearly felt it necessary to take a hard stance. That’s a bummer for Foo fans, but overall, it’s good to know; it will hopefully prevent other performers from booking shows at the venue until they’re willing to be more reasonable.
Tickets for the newly announced headline shows that HAVEN’T been called off will be on sale to the public Friday, December 3rd at 10am local time. Dates are at the bottom of this post.
The Foos have been keeping extremely busy lately. They recently announced that they’ll star in a new horror comedy, Studio 666. That’s scheduled to be released in 2,000+ theaters on February 25.
Shortly after that announcement, they released a new video for the track “Love Dies Young” starring Ted Lasso‘s Jason Sudeikis.
On top of all of that, last week, their song “Making a Fire” was nominated for the Best Rock Performance Grammy.
Meanwhile, frontman Dave Grohl is once again celebrating Hanukkah this year by offering eight unique covers of tracks originally by Jewish musicians (one for each night of the holiday). Thus far, he has released a brutal metal version of Lisa Loeb’s “Stay,” a satirical take on the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” with the lyrics altered to be holiday-appropriate, and a unique reimagining of Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana,” which you can view below.
Foo Fighters Live Dates
5/14 – The Pavilion at Star Lake – Burgettstown, PA
5/20 – Coastal Credit Union Music Park – Raleigh, NC
5/24 – PNC Music Pavilion – Charlotte, NC
7/17– Citi Field – New York, NY
7/19 – Saratoga Performing Arts Center – Saratoga Springs, NY
7/22 – Rogers Centre – Toronto, ON
7/24 – Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia, PA
7/27 – Maine Savings Amphitheater – Bangor, ME
7/29 – Osheaga Festival – Montreal, QC
8/1 – Ruoff Music Center – Noblesville, IN
8/3 – Huntington Bank Stadium – Minneapolis, MN
8/6 – Empower Field at Mile High – Denver, CO
8/8 – USANA Amphitheater – Salt Lake City, UT
8/10 – Big Sky Events Arena – Big Sky, MT
8/13 – T-Mobile Park – Seattle, WA
8/18 – Banc of California Stadium – Los Angeles, CA
8/20 – Banc of California Stadium – Los Angeles, CA
