On Friday (Mar. 6), it was announced that Justin Bieber's arena tour in support of his new album, Changes, would be downsizing to smaller venues. Coronavirus was cited as a factor leading to these adjustments, as it has been impacting everything else in the world. The pandemic-approaching virus was reported to have had a negative effect on ticket sales for Bieber's tour in select markets. His upcoming performances in eight arenas in different cities across the United States are being moved to the cities' respective stadiums. The venues were bestowed with the responsibility of informing ticketholders of this news, as Biebs himself refrained from offering any comment on his personal social media accounts.
Joe Budden stumbled upon this announcement and, unsurprisingly, made zero effort to bite his tongue regarding his take on the situation. "This is a bold faced lie," Budden asserted upon seeing a headline that attributed the downsizing to Coronavirus. While the podcast host didn't elaborate on what exactly he believed the lie to be, we can speculate that he thinks Bieber is using Corona as a scapegoat to cover up already-poor ticket sales. Changes was widely panned by critics and after Bieber took several years off from his music career, there's a chance that the majority of his audience outgrew his brand of pop.
Justin Bieber Forced To Downsize Stadium Tour Venues
Justin Bieber was forced to switch eight of his "Changes" stadium tour stops to arena venues due to low ticket sales, likely affected by the Coronavirus.
Justin Bieber and his team made the "hard decision" of downsizing eight stops on his Changes 45-date stadium tour to instead take place in arena locations, after the Coronavirus scare appears to have had a negative effect on ticket sales in select markets. Justin first announced the Changes tour on Christmas Eve, far ahead of the release of the title project, which marks his first album in five years. While there was no indication of the venue changes on Justin's official social media accounts, eight arenas in different cities across the United States announced that his show had been moved to their venue from the initial stadium location due to "unforeseen circumstances."
According to Variety, close sources noted that Justin and his team had to make the "hard decision" of downsizing locations due to low ticket sales. Unsurprisingly, the weak turnout occurred in markets in which tickets went on sale just days before the Coronavirus hit the U.S. His team realized that sales were unlikely to improve in these cities, considering festivals like South by Southwest have been cancelled due to health concerns surrounding the spread of Coronavirus, so they ultimately made the business decision to move certain stops to an arena in order to avoid the financial burden of paying off a stadium.
Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for Fontainebleau Miami Beach
The venues for the specific stops have been updated on Justin's official website and are listed below:
June 5th - Glendale, AZ- Gila River Arena
June 27th (formerly July 2nd) - Houston - Toyota Center
June 28th (formerly June 27th) - Dallas - American Airlines Center
July 11th - Nashville - Bridgestone Arena
August 8th - Columbus, OH - Schottenstein Center
August 14th - Indianapolis - Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse
August 21st - Washington, DC Capitol One Arena
August 30th (formerly August 29th) - Detroit - Little Caesars Arena