Foo Fighters Cancel Minnesota Show Because COVID Policies Weren't Strict Enough

Rock and Roll used to be a musical genre of rebels. They used to push back against the narrative of the establishment with unabashed badassery — yes, I know that’s not a word, but it applies here. Nowadays, long-established rock bands have fallen in lockstep with the prevailing corporate media and authoritarian governmental agenda. Basically, rockers these days are soft.

Case in point, the Foo Fighters have reportedly pulled a concert at the University of Minnesota’s Huntington Bank Stadium because the venue’s Chinese coronavirus policies aren’t stringent enough for them.

The band posted a statement to their Twitter account concerning the cancellation on Tuesday:

The Star Tribune article on the cancellation doesn’t specifically mention what the Foo Fighters COVID policies are, but they do note the lack of restrictions for Huntington Bank Stadium.

While the U has required students to be vaccinated since October (aside from medical or religious exceptions), Huntington Bank Stadium did not mandate masks, proof of vaccine or negative test results for Gopher football fans. Masks are required for indoor events at the university, however.

That last sentence is moot considering that Huntington Bank Stadium is an outdoor venue.

Taking a journey to the Foo Fighters’ website, a prompt comes up after clicking on “TICKETS” when trying to purchase admission to any one of their upcoming U.S. shows.

The Event Organizer is requiring fans agree to the terms below prior to ticket purchases & event entry. Please note these confirmations will apply to all members of your party before they are allowed to enter the event and to any users of the tickets purchased by you. By purchasing tickets for this event, I confirm that at the time of the event I will have received a negative COVID-19 test within 72-hours of the event, OR be fully vaccinated (14 days past final vaccination shot) against COVID-19. Children under 12 years of age will be required to take a COVID-19 diagnostic test within 72-hours before the event, and will provide proof of negative result to prior to entering the venue. Mask wearing will be encouraged. Entry requirements are subject to change.

So, we can surmise that since Huntington Bank Stadium doesn’t require strict protocols to attend events, and since the Foo Fighters do require strict protocols, the band cancelled the show because the COVID policies weren’t strict enough.

It is what it is, I suppose. But, you don’t see that kind of thing from rock legends like Eric Clapton. In fact, with Clapton, you see the exact opposite.

Back in July, Clapton announced that he would no longer do shows at venues that enact vaccine requirements.

I’m not saying that in order to be considered “Rock and Roll” you have to avoid vaccines or doubt the efficacy of them. The point is that Rock and Roll was made popular because it allowed people to rebel against the status quo in a mostly reasonable way. It was an outlet for people. Now, it appears that it’s become just another “safe space.”