Bruce Springsteen may be haunting the pharmacies of Philadelphia, since his illness has been claimed as the reason for the cancellation of two gigs scheduled for the city. According to a notice on his X/Twitter profile, shows on Wednesday and Friday nights will have to be rescheduled.
“Bruce Springsteen’s concerts with the E Street Band at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on August 16 and 18 have been postponed due to his illness,” the social media account stated. “We are working on rescheduling the dates, so please hold on to your tickets as they will still be valid for the rescheduled shows.”
Springsteen has some time to rest before the remaining tour dates are impacted. The band’s next upcoming concerts are on August 24 and 26 in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The announcement from Philadelphia marks the third time this year that illness has been cited as a reason for a postponement or cancellation, though it’s unclear whether each time it was Springsteen who fell ill. Three shows in Albany, Columbus, and Uncasville, Connecticut, were canceled in March and rescheduled for September “due to illness,” with no further explanation.
Springsteen and his wife Patti Scialfa had to cancel a performance in April after being diagnosed with COVID, however this occurred during a tour break and no actual concerts were affected. They both missed the inaugural American Music Honors awards ceremony in New Jersey, which served as a fundraiser for the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University — after testing positive the day after the final show of the initial run of the 2023 U.S. tour. They recorded a video acceptance speech instead, claiming to be well regardless of the diagnosis, and they both were back on the road without problem when the tour started two weeks later.
Other Blog: Tori Kelly Hospitalized for Blood Clots in the Legs and Lungs
A few dates on the 2023 tour have gone through despite the absence of E Street Band members. Steven Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren missed single events in the early weeks of the tour, while Soozie Tyrell and Jake Clemons missed two concerts each.
Except for the month of October, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have a reasonably packed schedule for the rest of the year. The 2023 tour focuses on the east coast through the end of September, then resumes in Canada following a month off in November. It finally makes its way to the southwest for a final U.S. tour wrap-up in the first half of December, culminating with gigs in San Francisco on December 10 and 12.
