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COVID-19

Dave Matthews Band cancels weekend performances in South Florida due to COVID

By Scott Travis South Florida Sun-Sentinel

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Dave Matthews Band has canceled its West Palm Beach concerts for this weekend after a band member came down with COVID-19.

The Grammy-winning band, whose popular hits include “Crash Into Me” and “The Space Between,” was scheduled to perform Saturday and Sunday nights at the ITHINK Financial Amphitheatre, an outdoor venue.

“Due to a positive Covid case inside the band, we must regretfully postpone tonight and tomorrow nights’ appearances in West Palm Beach, FL.,” the band posted on its website. “We are incredibly sorry to all our fans who planned to spend the holiday weekend with us. Please hold on to your tickets as we work towards a rescheduled date.”

The band did not identify the member.

It’s not the first time COVID-19 has impacted the band. In November, saxophonist Jeff Coffin contracted the virus and couldn’t perform a two-night run at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The shows went on, with saxophonist Ben Golder-Novick filling in, according to reports.

A September concert in Durant, Oklahoma, was canceled, with the band tweeting, “it was not possible to implement the band’s COVID-19 policies in this venue.”

The three South Florida counties and seven other counties in the state now have high COVID community levels with much of the rest of Florida rising to medium levels, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

All of the pandemic’s key indicators have been on the rise since late March as new subvariants of omicron work through the state. Positivity rates across South Florida are at their highest levels – at or above 20% – in nearly four months. And COVID-related hospitalizations statewide are at a nearly three-month high.