Phish has pulled the plug on a series of shows at Madison Square Garden over New Year’s due to COVID-19.
“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 band explained on its website. “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.”
Phish was scheduled to do four shows between Dec. 29 and Jan. 1. The dates have been pushed to April 2022.
“We are also mindful that a significant number of people travel for these shows and then return to their communities, and we want to avoid accelerating transmission of the virus,” the band’s statement added. “Finally, even with the strictest of tour Covid protocols, the prolonged exposure of a four-night indoor run (plus the days of preparation and travel) to critical crew and staff considerably increases the possibility of having to shut the shows down once they’ve started.”