Arkansas officials are putting the kibosh on a socially distanced Travis McCready concert scheduled to take place Friday, Rolling Stone reports.
On Tuesday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the state’s health department will issue a cease-and-desist order that will instruct event organizers not to hold the concert.
The decision to prevent the concert from taking place is due to the timing of the show, according to Hutchinson.
Indoor venues in Arkansas will be allowed to open Monday with social distancing measures in place and audiences of 50 people or fewer.
The McCready show is scheduled before the official reopening date at TempleLive in Fort Smith with plans to have an audience of 229 people. The venue can hold 1,100 people.
"It's out of time," Hutchinson said during a Tuesday briefing, according to ABC News. "Can you imagine what reaction we would have had across Arkansas if we set the date for May 11 to open up restaurants but a bunch of them just decided to do that on May 5? You can't just arbitrarily determine when the restrictions are lifted. That is something that is done based upon a public health requirement.”
The concert did not have approval from the state despite implementing safety protocols including “fan pod” seating to maintain six feet of social distancing, requiring concertgoers to wear masks and undergo temperature checks at entrances.
Concert promoter Mike Brown told ABC News Tuesday night that there was no decision made as to what next steps to take. TempleLive was still selling tickets to the concert on Ticketmaster as of Wednesday morning.
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