The pandemic has once again taken live music away from fans. Many bands are canceling their New Year’s Eve shows in New York due to the recent surge of COVID cases from the Omicron variant, including The Strokes, Phish and Yo La Tengo.
The Strokes were set to headline Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on New Year’s Eve, but the show has been postponed as the city attempts to deal with Omicron. The band took to their Instagram to break the news, saying, “How can we put this…. We’re postponing the show. We were so excited to be performing for everyone in Brooklyn this New Year’s Eve, but the Omicron variant has thwarted our plans. We’ve made the decision to postpone our show at Barclays Center. All tickets will be honored for the rescheduled date and details regarding refunds will be offered when the new date is announced. We want everyone to stay safe and healthy and we look forward to celebrating the new year with all of you … just a bit later than originally planned.”
Phish is also battling it out with Omicron. They were set to take part in their long-standing tradition of New Year’s shows with a run at Madison Square Garden, but had to postpone the concerts until late April. They wrote on their website, “With the Omicron variant of Covid-19 surging in New York City, we have made the very difficult decision to reschedule next week’s run of shows at Madison Square Garden. The health and safety of Phish fans, our crew, and venue staff is paramount in our minds. While Phish has played shows this year as the pandemic has continued, this variant’s ability for rapid transmission is unprecedented… Thank you all for your understanding. Stay healthy and safe, take care of each other out there and please get vaccinated and boosted if you haven’t already.”
Yo La Tengo were set to play a New Year’s show at Manhattan’s City Winery, but have also since called it off.
Despite this depressing news, 2021 hasn’t been all bad. Check out our list of 10 things that didn’t suck about 2021.
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