“Shit’s Weird Keep Calm and Carry On” livestream set for Monday, March 16th
YungBlud will perform a concert in Los Angeles that will be live streamed on his YouTube channel on Monday, March 16th at 7 am PDT. “Shit’s Weird Keep Calm and Carry On” will feature Yungblud performing with his full band. In between songs, he’ll field questions from fans living in countries where he has had to postpone shows due to precautions being taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
After spending the past two months in the studio, working on his new album, Yungblud was looking forward to connecting with fans on tour this spring. With show cancellations in ten countries, he conceived the live stream concert as a way to give back to fans who have been impacted and help foster a sense of community.
“The world is in a very weird time at the moment. Everyone doesn’t know what to do or where to turn. It’s like we are all trapped in a glass or perspex box whilst someone is playing a trick on us. My shows were getting cancelled left right and centre,” says Yungblud. “I miss the energy, I miss the connection, I miss my fans and family. We need each other more than ever right now and having the opportunity to interact with them taken away from me fully wasn’t even an option for me! We’re holding an online concert Monday 7 am PDT earliest show of my life see you there!!!”
The news follows the majority of the entertainment industry suspending entertainment productions through at least March 31st. Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter, has suspended all domestic and international touring through at least the end of March. Billboard reports that the company has instructed tours to return home in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak worldwide. The company will re-evaluate the outbreak in hopes to resume touring in May or June.
A slew of artists and festivals were either canceled or postponed due to the worldwide pandemic in the past week. Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney, Chris Stapleton, The Who, Pearl Jam, Dan + Shay, Sammy Hagar, Santana, Sons of Apollo, Zac Brown Band, Slipknot and others, have canceled or postponed spring shows due to the outbreak.
Major festivals and events have also been canceled including the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to shutting down 11 days early because of public health concerns, SXSW in Austin and the Ultra Festival in Miami. Promoters Goldenvoice Entertainment announced earlier this week that Coachella and Stagecoach have been pushed back six months to October 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival in Nashville has also been rescheduled “in light of the tornado this week as well as growing health concerns over the coronavirus.”
The C2C: Country to Country Festival in London, Dublin and Glasgow and the iHeartCountry Festival slated for May 2nd in Austin, TX have also been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The 35th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony set for May 2nd has also been indefinitely postponed. No new date has been set as of this writing.
The Country Music Hall of Fame has postponed all programming events for the next two weeks, including Hatch Show Print Block parties.
The ACM (Academy of Country Music) Awards are still slated to be held in Las Vegas in April, but organizers are monitoring the situation closely. CMA Music Fest organizers are also closely watching the outbreak as they prep for the June event in Nashville.
Earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus a worldwide pandemic. More than 125,000 cases have been reported in 110 countries with nearly 5000 deaths. However, nearly 70k people have contracted and survived the virus that was discovered last year.
On Wednesday (March 11th), U.S. President Donald Trump declared a 30 day travel ban to European countries, except the U.K., for foreign nationals that goes into effect at midnight on Friday, March 13th. He shares, “I am confident by counting and continuing to take these measures we will significantly reduce the threat to our citizens and we will ultimately and expeditiously defeat this virus,” per Fox News.
