Dead & Company have canceled the 17-date tour they were planning to launch this summer, joining a long list of musicians whose live events have been impacted by the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The band is promising full refunds to all fans who have already purchased tickets to the shows.
“Because of the global coronavirus outbreak and to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, we have no choice but to cancel Dead & Company’s Summer Tour 2020,” the band wrote in a statement. “The well-being and safety of our Deadhead community, venue staff and the band’s touring family is of the utmost importance. We also want to get refunds back to our fans while so many are hurting economically. All tickets will be fully refunded at point of purchase.”
The Grateful Dead/John Mayer jam band has been a mainstay of the U.S. live music calendar since forming five years ago, mounting a popular summer tour each year from 2016 to 2019. This year, they would have begun with two shows in July at Boulder, Colorado’s Folsom Field, followed by stops in Atlanta, Chicago, Ohio, Pennsylvania and more, wrapping up with two nights at Boston’s Fenway Park in August. All those shows have now been shut down.
In its statement, the band offered a few words of hope and a quote from the Dead’s 1987 hit “Touch of Grey”: “We are thankful for your understanding and we look forward to the day when we can all be reunited. In the meantime, keep the faith and believe in the power of music. We will return. We will get by. We will survive.”
