Gotta love Canada, eh?
I mean, I do love Canada in a lot of ways. They’ve got good beer, great hunting and fishing, pristine wilderness, great people, tons of hockey what’s not to love?
But I have to admit (and some of my Canadian friends would agree), it seems like they need to chill out a bit lately…
Their COVID response was extremely strict, their mandates and penalties, pretty harsh compared to other places in the world. And then today, they put a freeze on the buying, selling, or trading all handguns (you can keep yours if you already own one). Now, I’m not trying to get into a gun control debate, but for a country with a relatively high amount of guns, they have pretty low amount of gun crime compared to other countries.
But they also have a pretty strict rules when it comes to crossing the border, and while the vaccine requirement ended earlier this month, it’s still proven to be difficult to get across in some cases.
Just ask Zac Brown Band.
A number of crew members were denied entry at the border, and therefore, Zac Brown Band has officially canceled their show in Vancouver tonight.
He released the following statement:
“We’re sorry to announce that we won’t be able to perform in Vancouver tonight. Our Canadian fans are incredible, and we would love nothing more than to share an evening of music together.
Some of our crew members had charges on their records from over a decade ago that have since been removed. Our team has regularly performed in Canada for 10 years, including two performances this year alone.
Each time we’ve come to Canada, we have been at the mercy of a single border agent who decides who is allowed in to work, and unfortunately, not everyone was able to make it in the country last night.
We are a family, a tribe. We stick together and support each other and we never leave anyone behind. As a band who prides themselves on showing up with excitement and professionalism, we will always play where we are welcome and appreciated, and we’re so sorry we can’t be there tonight.”
Given the fact that they’ve already played there a couple times this year, it definitely doesn’t make a whole lotta sense, but either way, it looks like they’ll be heading back to Portland, Oregon, for their Saturday show.
They’ll be playing a few more shows in California next month, as well as a show in Arizona before wrapping up 2022 in Nashville for a New Year’s Eve celebration.