Deacon Blue’s Ricky Ross hits out at lack of guidance as band cancels gigs

Scottish pop band Deacon Blue have postponed their upcoming shows, saying “people shouldn’t be asked to attend gigs just now”.

Frontman Ricky Ross said he was disappointed that “authorities” had not made an announcement on concerts given the rise of the Omicron variant.

The band were due to play the final two shows of their tour in Aberdeen on Saturday and Glasgow on Sunday.

Other bands who have chosen to postpone gigs due to the rise in coronavirus cases include The Charlatans and Del Amitri.

The Scottish Government has issued advice urging people to limit social gatherings to three households but stopped short of new legal restrictions on live event numbers.

From Friday, however, hospitality will be required to reintroduce measures such as physical distancing used at the start of the pandemic.

Writing on Twitter, Ross said: “Folks: We’re disappointed authorities didn’t make any decision regarding live concerts in the wake of Omicron spread.

“However it’s clear to us @deaconblue should not be playing and people shouldn’t be asked to attend gigs just now. We’re postponing our last two shows.”

He added: “Sorry to bring you this news, but we had to make the right decision for the good of everyone. We think we have.”

On Tuesday, the band had issued a statement saying the gigs would be going ahead as they had received “assurances from both venues that they comply with all the policies” set out by Nicola Sturgeon in her announcement of new measures.

Omicron is expected to become the dominant strain of coronavirus in Scotland from Friday, with Ms Sturgeon warning the variant is “running faster than even the fastest rollout of vaccines”.

In a statement issued later, Deacon Blue said the Aberdeen show would be rescheduled for May 6 and the Glasgow gig, May 7.

They said with “historic levels of Covid infections circulating in the community” it would be “irresponsible” to go ahead with the concerts.

“We were so excited about finishing our Cities of Love tour on a high this year and we know it will be disappointing to many of you that we have been forced to make this decision,” the statement added.

“However, it is obvious to us that gathering in large numbers would be a huge risk for our fans and our crew and with the authorities only offering broad advice we decided that it would be best for everyone if we postponed the shows until the spring.”