UPDATED: 03/12/20 5:45 p.m.
Novel coronavirus might officially have a chokehold on the Tampa Bay concert calendar now. On Thursday—as events across Tampa Bay fell victim to the global pandemic—concert promotions giant Live Nation paused all tours, including Tampa Bay shows, due to coronavirus.
“The announcement affects all Live Nation tours, domestically and internationally,” Billboard reported, adding that all Live Nation employees have been instructed to work remotely and not come into the office.
The New York Times reported that another global concert giant, AEG Presents, was also making plans to postpone tours.
"Major tours presented by both companies — which include Billie Eilish and Celine Dion — will pause starting this weekend, with a few already in progress to continue on Thursday and Friday," the Times wrote. "Both companies expect to keep the tours off the road through March, and re-evaluate the situation in April, in the hope of restarting for the lucrative summer season, according to the people, who were not authorized to disclose the companies’ plans."
Local venues—including Amalie Arena, MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Mahaffey Theater, The Ritz Ybor, Jannus Live and Yuengling Center—have yet to send out releases regarding their calendars, but several handfuls of shows could be affected by the news.
Cher’s Amalie Arena show was already officially postponed until September, but the downtown arena is supposed to host Tool (April 19), Janet Jackson (June 27), Justin Bieber (July 25), and Joe Rogan (Aug. 14) in the coming weeks.
The old Gary amphitheatre, for it’s part, has Brooks & Dunn (May 29), Hasley (July 22), Breaking Benjamin (Aug. 22) plus Santana with Earth Wind & Fire (Aug. 29) all on the calendar.
Guns N’ Roses is supposed to play Raymond James Stadium on August 15.
We’ve reached out to venue officials to get official word on cancelations, and a rep for Amalie Arena told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, that their venue and the Yuengling Center will be affected.
"Announcements of postponements are out for shows affected at this time," the Amalie rep wrote.
A rep for St. Petersburg independent promoter No Clubs told CL that some of its shows have been affected, that "haven’t been sent any statements yet," and that refunds for any canceled shows would be available at point of purchase.
Have a look at some of the potentially affected Live Nation shows below.
For a list of all Tampa Bay events affected by coronavirus click here.
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