The inaugural music season at The Coves Amphitheater has barely begun, and already there is a cancellation. This one signals a honky-tonk blues iconâs retirement.
Delbert McClinton, who was scheduled to play the Union Hall venue July 10, announced the end of his touring days in an Instagram post on Thursday. His reason was simple: He didnât want to deal with COVID-19.
âHere I sit, 80 years old, in the middle of a pandemic,â McClinton said in the Instagram post. âThis is not how I envisioned playing out my final years as an entertainer. Music has been my total being for my whole life. ⦠I had been considering finishing this year with a modest number of shows. But the more I thought about it, and the more obstacles that have been placed in front of me, the less my heart was in it.
Check out info from a parking lot drive-in show that was a centerpiece of Down by Downtown. Featuring a headless Keen! Tad Dickens / The Roanoke Times
When blues-rocker Tab Benoit took the stage outside Berglund Center April 7, it broke a bit of a drought for Roanokeâs largest music venue.
The Berglund hadnât hosted a concert since the COVID-19 shutdown last year. And an outside show? Berglund hadnât done one on that scale since it presented some shows at Elmwood Park a few years ago.
So, by all accounts, there was an apparent learning curve. Benoit, hitting after co-headliner Samantha Fish, was supposed to go until 10:30 p.m., then play an encore â or so show organizers thought. Berglund Centerâs general manager, Robyn Schon, said that she was not aware that the cityâs noise ordinance shuts down the action at 10 p.m.