Two ’90s rock legends were forced to cancel their concerts due to the “dangerous air quality” caused by the ongoing Canadian wildfires. Garbage and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds announced Wednesday that their co-headlining show at Madison, Wisconsin’s Breese Stevens Field was canceled due to an air quality advisory for Madison and Dane counties.
Gallagher, who formed the High Flying Birds in 2010, just a year after Oasis split, shared the news on both Instagram and Twitter, telling his followers that based on an air quality advisory for Madison and Dane counties on June 28, “the Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Garbage concert at Breese Stevens Field originally scheduled for this evening has been canceled.” In its own statement, Garbage said they were “absolutely gutted to disappoint you all but your safety is paramount,” adding, “This is essentially our hometown show – even for me it is my American hometown show – and I cannot underscore how crushed we all are about this rather alarming turn of events.” Both groups said ticket holders will be refunded at their point of purchase and will receive an email with refund information.
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Concert promoter FPC Live also confirmed the cancellation, per Sky News, citing local public health advice. The Wisconsin State Journal reported that The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said the state was experiencing the worst air quality in more than a decade, the health department saying that the air is considered “very unhealthy” and advising that people avoid physical activity outdoors and reschedule or move activity indoors.
The Canadian wildfires have left more than a third of the U.S. population under air quality alerts, with smoke drifting into the U.S. blanketing more than a dozen states from the Midwest to the East Coast. USA Today reported that approximately 102 million people live in areas where it was expected to reach at least a code orange level of air quality Wednesday, which is unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Garbage and Gallagher’s decision to cancel their scheduled performance amid the poor air quality alerts follows Killing Eve star Jodie Comer’s decision earlier this month to stop a matinee of the Broadway play Prima Facie. Comer experienced breathing difficulties due to poor air quality in New York City at the time, according to a representative for the show.
