For the last week, it seems like every headline brings tidings of yet another cancellation. Music festivals and other tours are being canceled or postponed left and right. Major sporting events, such as the Rockies opening day and more hockey games that will further secure the Colorado Avalanche a spot in the playoffs, are being postponed for a minimum of two weeks. The coronavirus seems to have everyone spooked enough to start stockpiling toilet paper and hiding away in the comfort of their homes. Well, nearly everyone – but not even the coronavirus could stop Post Malone from bringing his “Runaway Tour” to the Pepsi Center on Thursday night.
Following an announcement from AEG and Live Nation that they will be postponing major tours, there were plenty of doubts that the show would even take place. The Pepsi Center’s Instagram account confirmed that the show would, in fact, go on – in a post that immediately followed an announcement that the Blake Shelton concert the following night would not be occurring — followed by another post that Celine Dion’s tour is postponed as well.
As the world of live music and events came crashing down around him, Post Malone stood as the sole surviving artist to host large-scale events. As they say, the show must go on – even if the rest of the world is in a panic about the state of things. Post Malone’s Pepsi Center show still taking place despite the odds is newsworthy in itself, and that fact was not lost on the artists who performed.
Tyla Yaweh opened the night with a high energy performance that kept him running the length of the stage, and leaping from one spot to another with enthusiasm. However, while his energy was undeniable, the gravity of the night was not lost on Yaweh, who took time out of his set to thank the fans. He graciously praised fans for braving the odds to attend the show.
While Yaweh dedicated a brief amount of time to recognize the dangers of the coronavirus at an event like Thursday night’s performance, the second act made the gravity of the situation apparent. Between his uptempo songs, Swae Lee dropped the major news that Thursday night’s show would be the last show of the tour. While no official statement has been made to confirm this at the time of this article’s publication, Swae Lee’s multiple reminders that the tour was ending served as more than enough to animate the crowd – after all, Denver might not get another chance to party like this for quite some time.
Promising fans that this last night of tour would be the best one yet, Swae Lee whipped fans into a frenzy of dancing bodies. Fans bounced around in their seats and erupted into a cacophony of cheers as Swae Lee invited a few lucky fans on stage to dance with him. One of those concert-goers was a young girl who Lee announced was also a musician – encouraging the audience to support her once she starts releasing music.
When Post Malone took the stage, backed by an explosion of fireworks and pyrotechnics, it was clear that if his performance was the last major concert that Denver could attend for a few months then it would be a damn good one.
Immediately launching into “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” Post Malone’s enthusiasm was more than enough to distract fans from their fears. In fact, the enigmatic rapper stood in stark contrast to the opening acts. Throughout the duration of the evening, Malone only mentioned the dangers of the coronavirus once – and he waited until the very end of the evening.
While the pandemic is certainly at the forefront of everyone’s mind as of late, Malone’s apparent indifference to it on stage provided the perfect respite from the constant bombardment of headlines filled with an endless tide of alarming news.
Malone rolled through all of his hits with a level of enthusiasm that was larger than life. Bounding across the stage as fans sang along to songs like “Circles” and “Goodbyes,” the rapper gave all the best parts of himself to the Pepsi Center.
As the night wore on, Malone slowed things down to perform “Stay.” However, the slow down was brief and Malone’s buoyant presence quickly elevated the feeling of the arena back into party mode.
The night came to a close with a performance of “Congratulations,” before which, Malone took an opportunity to thank his fans and encourage them to believe in themselves. Retelling the story of how he surprised all of the naysayers with his music that has gone gold and platinum.
Finally, the mirage washed away when applause ceased and Malone thanked his fans one final time for attending. He ultimately acknowledged the dangers of the coronavirus, encouraging fans to use hand sanitizer and be safe – a testament that even amongst the panic, even our idols aren’t certain how to reassure us.
In the end, reassurance was not what fans at the Pepsi Center needed Thursday night. What fans and the rest of Denver needed was a respite from the chaos and the panic – and that’s precisely what Malone delivered.
While Post Malone’s Denver performance survived, many other shows have been postponed or canceled as a response to concerns over Coronavirus. See the full list of what’s been rescheduled or canceled here.
He may have given them their last major show, but the audience may have given Denver a major outbreak. Screw Post Malone for not canceling.
?at least one person in attendance was sick with covid-19. I personally did not go and lost the $3,500 my company spent on a suite. Social responsibility outweighs money. Too bad not a lot of other people have the same values.
This concert helped people distract themselves from the chaos brought forth by this pandemic. Post Malone put on an amazing show and the fans made their own decision to attend. Clear your head and think about how music can make you feel and forget about all of the negative things that are going on around us. Music inspires us, gives us hope, and takes us to a place where we are free. We can be exposed to this virus anywhere there are people but not all of us choose to be quarantined alone. The music community is one big family and I don’t know about you but I would rather be with my family and take a chance.
Wow, I am glad that our elected leaders don’t have the same mindset that you do. You can enjoy Malone’s music in the comfort of your own home. But Post Malone’s decision is idiotic along with the people who gave this moron money. I hope the people who die after getting infected felt like it was worth it.
It is outrageous that this show went on. I am livid at Post Malone and everyone involved in this. Thanks for inflicting this on Denver.
There was an Avalanche game, with the same amount of people, literally the night before and no one said a thing. Thursday just represented a tipping point for cancellations of large gatherings… and thus was reflected in the outrage online.
For this show, I arrived late and left early as well as snuck off to the side where there wasn’t anyone around me. I’d like to think everyone attending had the virus in mind and exercised their own precautions. Going to the grocery store I feel just as exposed to infection from others, if not more so, as I did going to that show. I touch surfaces at the grocery store, and I didn’t touch a surface or a single person at the show.
Maybe the response should be somewhere in the middle. Was it prudent to go ahead with this show? PROBABLY NOT. Will it inflict an extreme outbreak on Denver and result in thousands more infections and deaths? PROBABLY NOT.