Foo Fighters will no longer perform this weekend at the Forum in Southern California, postponing the concert due to what the band called a “confirmed COVID-19 case within the Foo Fighter organization.”
Days before Saturday’s planned showtime, the band said in a statement that it was shelving the show out of an “abundance of caution and concern” for the safety of the band, its crew and its fans.
“The new date will be announced shortly,” Foo Fighters said in the statement, which the band shared on social media platforms.
“Tickets for the July 17th date will be honored for the new date,” it said.
Foo Fighters did not identify the person who tested positive for COVID-19, the contagious respiratory disease that the novel coronavirus causes. The group also did not specify if they are a band member or somebody else.
Saturday’s concert was scheduled to have been the first held at The Forum, the former home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Musical artists far and wide stopped touring when the novel coronavirus pandemic erupted in early 2020 and public health officials accordingly warned people against gathering indoors in large groups.
Some major acts have recently hit the road again, albeit often performing to crowds under new rules imposed by either the artist, the promoter, the venue, or the local public officials and health authorities.
The Forum, for example, says on its website that guests for all events must confirm they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have recently tested negative for it before they can enter. Last month, in New York City, Foo Fighters fans ages 16 years and up were required to show proof of vaccination to enter Madison Square Garden, where the band performed to a full crowd or more than 15,000.
Anti-vaccination protesters demonstrated outside Madison Square Garden during last month’s Foo Fighters show and by another venue where the band recently played to a fully vaccinated crowd of about 600.
Nationwide, around 160.4 million people, or nearly half of the U.S. population, are considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Foo Fighters was formed in 1994 by Dave Grohl, the former drummer for grunge rock band Nirvana. Mr. Grohl, 52, grew up in northern Virginia and played drums for D.C. punk band Scream before finding fame.
Nirvana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, the first year the group was eligible. Mr. Grohl is set to become a two-time inductee when Foo Fighters gets the same honor in November.
