Credit: Danny Clinch
Joining a slew of acts from Madonna to BTS who called off their tours due to rising tensions over coronavirus… is Pearl Jam. The band announced Monday that they called off their upcoming Gigaton tour due to health and safety concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak.
In a series of 10 tweets and later in a direct letter to fans, the “Last Kiss” act issued a heartfelt apology to fans on Monday while explaining why they made the difficult decision to postpone their tour, originally set to start on March 18.
“As residents of the city of Seattle, we’ve been hit hard and have witnessed firsthand how quickly these disastrous situations can escalate. Our kids’ schools have closed along with universities and businesses,” the band prefaced before adding “It’s been brutal and it’s gonna get worse before it gets better.”
Saying they are listening closely to reports cautioning the public against large gatherings, Pearl Jam said that their greatest concern is the “safety and well-being of our supporters.”
“So it is with deep frustration and regret that we are forced to make this most unfortunate of announcements… This scheduled first leg of our PJ/Gigaton tour will need to be postponed and shows rescheduled for a later date,” the band announced, saying they have exhausted all other options before arriving at their unfortunate conclusion.
Pearl Jam then vented their frustrations about the response to the outbreak, writing, “It certainly hasn’t helped that there’s been no clear messages from our government regarding people’s safety and our ability to go to work.”
The band added that “we have no reason to believe that it will be under control in the coming weeks ahead.”
After profusely apologizing, the band assured fans that Ticketmaster will be in touch “shortly” about the rescheduled dates.
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