AUSTIN (WFLA/KXAN) — Vanilla Ice canceled his Friday concert on Lake Travis amid an uptick in coronavirus cases in the area.
He posted an update to his Instagram page Thursday.
“Basically, I’m not going,” he said. “I listened to my fans. I hear all you people out there. I didn’t know the numbers were so crazy in Austin, but we were hoping it would be a lot better by Fourth of July ’cause we booked this concert a long time ago.”
The concert was scheduled to take place on Friday at the Emerald Point Bar & Grill on Lake Travis. Another concert, featuring 90s band Color Me Badd, is happening Saturday.
Even though Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced last week that the state will be closing bars to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, the business is allowed to remain open as a restaurant because a majority of its earnings come from food.
KXAN called a manager at Emerald Point, who declined to comment about the concert. The Texas Tribune reports the venue’s organizer has said only 84 tickets had been sold as of Wednesday night and that the maximum capacity for the event is set at 450 people.
For Friday, many of the more expensive tickets were sold out, but ones described as “standing room only” on the beach and upper deck were available Thursday morning. KXAN is reaching out to find out if the tickets will be refunded, and if the other concerts will still take place Saturday.
Under Abbott’s order, all outdoor gatherings of 100 people or more must get approval from local governments. It’s unclear how this rule applies in this case because people are able to watch both inside and outside the venue.
Earlier this week, Vanilla Ice promoted the event and shared a couple of posts on Instagram saying fans should reminisce about the fun of the 90s despite the rising cases.
“I can’t wait to get back to this,” he captioned a video showing screaming fans at a concert. “The 90s were the best. We didn’t have coronavirus, or cell phones, or computers.”
On Thursday, before canceling the show, he tweeted, “I take the coronavirus serious. But we can’t live in a bubble. I think at this point we all understand the severity of it. practice social distancing and wear a mask. This is an outside venue, Fourth of July on the lake with fireworks. Plenty of room for distancing.”
On Wednesday, the City of Austin sent out emergency text and phone call alerts to residents warning them to stay home, wear face coverings and social distance over the holiday weekend. The City and County also closed all parks and recreational facilities over the weekend.