Vanilla Ice Cancels July 3rd Independence Day Concert In Texas After Outcry Over Rising Coronavirus Cases
AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM) — Dallas native Vanilla Ice has canceled a concert in Texas that could have had him performing before thousands as the state breaks records for coronavirus hospitalizations.
In a social media post the performer said they are moving the concert to a better date. "Gonna give you a little update about the concert in Austin, basically I'm not going. I listen to my fans. I hear all you people out there. I didn't know the numbers were so crazy in Austin," he said.
The rapper said he and his team were hoping the coronavirus pandemic would have subsided by July 4 and that the concert had been booked a long time ago -- according to the owner of the venue Friday's concert was booked in 2019.
"So, basically [we] just want to stay safe... we do take it serious and we wanna make sure that everybody's safe," Vanilla Ice said in the video post. "So, we were just hoping for a good time ya know 4th of July weekend, but uh it turned in to be a big focal point on me and its not about that."
Due to the increase in COVID-19 numbers in Austin we're gonna move the concert to a better date. We were hoping for better Coronavirus numbers by July but Unfortunately the numbers have increased quite a bit so for the safety and health of everyone we're going to stay home. pic.twitter.com/MWWfNWf3zd
— Vanilla Ice (@vanillaice) July 2, 2020
It was a loophole in COVID-19 restrictions in Texas that allows for some large venue concerts and entertainment events to be held.
The concert was scheduled to take place at the Emerald Point Bar & Grill in Austin -- a business on Lake Travis that is categorized as a restaurant because at least 51% of its sales are food.
There were some 2,500 tickets on sale for the show. The total capacity at Emerald Point is said to range from 4,000 to 5,000. The venue claimed the expansive size of their outdoor area meets social distancing guidelines.
The cancellation of the Austin show came about four hours after the 90's star tweeted that there wouldn't be a problem putting on the event. His post said, "I take the coronavirus serious. But we can't live in a bubble. I think at this point we all understand the severity of it. practice social distancing and wear a mask. This is an outside venue, Fourth of July on the lake with fireworks. Plenty of room for distancing."
In the past days Vanilla Ice -- whose real name is Robert Van Winkle -- had also taken to social media to promote the concert. He recently posted a video on Instagram showing footage from a packed concert. The caption beneath read, "I can't wait to get back to this. The Nineties were the best. We didn't have coronavirus, or cell phones, or computers."
Last Friday Governor Greg Abbott's executive order closed all bars due to a surge in state COVID-19 cases, but it only reduced restaurant capacity to 50%.
There were more than 8,000 new cases of the virus recorded in the state on Wednesday.
So it seems 'The Independence Day Throwback Beach Party' is no more. So far there's been no information about refund on tickets which ranged in price from $25 to $300 -- and all of the VIP tickets were reportedly sold out.