A nationwide wave of event cancellations is putting increasing pressure on the large venues holding out. As of this afternoon, those holdouts include the much-anticipated Billie Eilish concert at PNC Arena.
The show, which has been sold out for weeks, would put nearly 20,000 attendees in dangerously close proximity. The 18-year-old pop star—who is rumored to have asthma—kicked off her tour on Monday in Miami.
By Thursday, Eilish tour presenter Live Nation had taken a $1.8 billion hit as stocks plunged amid coronavirus fears, and Billboard reported that the entertainment company will postpone all its touring shows starting in a few days, to resume as late as May or June.
It seems that Eilish’s show at PNC tonight slid under the wire, though you can probably say goodbye to upcoming Walnut Creek shows by Brooks & Dunn, Sam Hunt, The Lumineers, and Jimmy Buffet, as well as Ritz shows like Band of Horses and Tycho.
With fifteen confirmed COVID-19 cases in North Carolina as of this posting—and people beginning to implement social distancing at a scale far more minor than a stadium arena—many are outraged that PNC has not pulled the plug on the concert.
On Twitter, numerous people tweeted at Live Nation, PNC Arena, and the governor with calls for intervention.
Call the @NC_Governor office at 919-814-2000 and tell them to cancel tonight’s @billieeilish concert @PNCArena! Putting 20,000 people in close contact right now is criminally irresponsible. #coronavirus #FlattenTheCurve #Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/toXcXsf7Q2
— NO WAR (@treeecitybeats) March 12, 2020
Whatever else happens, Eilish is definitely in the Triangle—and she’s definitely been hanging out with dogs. The pop star posted numerous Instagram stories earlier today that featured her cradling shelter puppies at local non-profit Saving Grace with the caption “somebody please come adopt these babies 😍”
Is it a good idea to attend Eilish’s crowded arena show tonight? No, it absolutely is not. Stay away.
Is it a good idea to adopt a dog right now? Maaaaaybe. Sure, you should first make sure that you have the resources to take on a pet. Shelters typically see a surge in abandoned dogs during crises, though, and the need is there.
With the World Health Organization announcing that dogs—may they inherit the earth—cannot spread or contract coronavirus, having an animal companion during a period of indefinite social isolation is beginning to seem extremely appealing. Take it from WHO and Billie Eilish.
Contact deputy arts and culture editor Sarah Edwards at sedwards@indyweek.com.
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This whole hysteria is getting ridiculous. It’s not irresponsible by any means to continue the concert when only 15 people in the entire state have it. More people are walking around with colds and the flu that kill thousands each year and nobody cares