Luke Bryan felt as though he had no choice but to reschedule two of his upcoming Word On The Street Tour dates.
Wildfires burning in the eastern parts of Oregon and Washington (there ares some in Idaho, Montana and Utah as well) have led to horrible air quality in the Pacific Northwest. The “That’s My Kind of Night” singer was out in Oregon playing a show in the city of Bend when he says he felt the impact of the wildfire smoke first hand, and decided to call off shows he had coming up this weekend in Washington state:
“Obviously, we are out west, and had a show in Bend, Oregon last night. Got on stage, and everything was going great, but with all of the smoke and the wildfires midway through the show, I started really struggling up there. I have asthma and a lot of people don’t really know that.
Sometimes it gets the best of me, and it did last night. Then having to show up in Washington tonight and tomorrow with all of the wildfires going, we just felt like it’d be probably best to come back and reschedule to where we know I’ll be 100%.”
The shows Bryan was set to play tonight and tomorrow were in Spokane and Seattle.
The country star expressed the disappointment he feels postponing the two dates, and made sure to mention the bigger picture… that those affected by the wildfires, and those helping to fight them, were on his mind:
“Most importantly, we want everyone to know that we’re praying for them and thinking about all of the firefighters out here and all of those that are affected by these western wildfires.”
Interesting enough, Luke Bryan also admitted that he and his team had spoke to people in Spokane and the venue said it would be good for them to come on and play the concert. It was actually just yesterday that the casino where Bryan was set to play – the Northern Quest Resort & Casino – said the event would proceed as scheduled.
Evidently, things changed between then and now… and it certainly seems like Bryan’s asthma and struggle to get through his concert last night played a large role in postponing the two Washington dates:
“We are rescheduling tonight’s show in Spokane to October 11 and tomorrow’s show in Seattle to October 10. Thank you for your patience and understanding. I can’t wait to be back and see y’all soon. Please hold on to your tickets, as they will be honored for the new dates.”
Always a bummer when concerts go through last-minute changes.
That’s for fans and the venues that were booked as well. The Northern Quest Resort & Casino put out their own statement about the cancellation, saying they still plan on donating to wildfire response funds since some of the proceeds from Bryan’s now-postponed show were supposed to go to help fighting wildfires:
“We apologize for any inconvenience or disappointment this cancellation may cause and send our thoughts and prayers to everyone in the area who has been impacted by these devastating fires. The Kalispel Tribe and Northern Quest will still be making a donation to the Spokane Complex Wildfire Response Fund established by the Innovia Foundation, in addition to the $50,000 already donated on August 3.”
The Northern Quest show that was supposed to take place tonight will now be moved to Sunday, October 11 at 7 p.m. As for Bryan’s show in Seattle at the White River Amphitheatre (originally scheduled for August 8), that will move to Saturday, October 10.
