With the rapidly spreading Delta strain of the Covid-19 virus, it seems that the live music world is about to be turned on it’s head once again. Concerts are starting to be cancelled and even the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival has announced that it has cancelled for the 2nd year in a row. Cancellations are more than likely will start coming in more as the days pass. The latest cancellation has been Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson. Bruce has been forced to cancel two upcoming dates on his spoken word tour as a member of his “immediate household” has contracted COVID-19, prompting the singer to enter an isolation period.
The news comes amid a global rise in COVID-19 infections, many of them attributed to the highly-transmissible delta variant, which has already cut tours short as positive cases have been identified among others bands’ members or crew.
A full statement from Live Nation, shared by Iron Maiden, the promoter behind Dickinson’s spoken word jaunt, informed fans that the singer would not be moving forward with the planned Aug. 9 and 10 stops and will abide by the U.K. government’s regulations pertaining to COVID-19 exposure and subsequent isolation.
It was also noted that Dickinson tested negative today (Aug. 9) and has done so throughout the spoken word tour.
Read the full statement below.
Due to a member of Bruce’s immediate household having tested positive for COVID-19, it is with regret that the final two shows of his ‘Evening With’ tour cannot go ahead as planned tonight at The [Alexandra, Birmingham] or tomorrow at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London. Despite Bruce himself having tested negative today and throughout this tour, he now has to isolate for the next 10 dates under current UK government rules. He is understandably very upset that he won’t see you all for these final 2 shows but the safety and well-being of the fans, as well as the crew and venue staff, obviously comes first.
Please keep hold of your tickets for now and bear with us while we work with our promoter to endeavour to reschedule the dates. We thank you for your patience and understanding in these still very uncertain times of the global pandemic. We’ll post all news and updates here as soon as we have a solution.”
Once Dickinson’s 10-day isolation period is over, it will be just two weeks before Iron Maiden’s long-awaited 17th album, Senjutsu, comes out on Sept. 3. So far, one song, “The Writing on the Wall,” has been released and can be heard here.
This variant is VERY real folks. Please be safe, be smart, and listen to science. Best wishes to Bruce and his family for a speedy and healthy recovery.
About The Author
