During most of the pandemic, Canada’s border with the United States was closed to non-essential travelers. On August 9, though, the country started welcoming US tourists back into the country. This is good news for American musicians, as cities like Toronto and Montreal are major markets and common stops on North American tours. Billie Eilish is set to perform in both of those cities in early 2022, for example. She won’t be the first major US artist to perform in Canada, though, as that honor will go to Maroon 5 (according to Billboard, as NME notes).
The concert in question, for which Maroon 5 will be joined by Blackbear, is scheduled for September 2 at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage. Arthur Fogel, chairman of global touring for Live Nation, said of the border re-opening, “This step opens possibilities to get Canada back on the touring map for sure. Some artists already have shows planned with more conversations picking up.”
Meanwhile, earlier this week, Live Nation announced that all attendees of their shows and festivals will be required to present vaccinations or negative COVID-19 tests. Live Nation president and CEO Michael Rapino said, “Vaccines are going to be your ticket back to shows, and as of October 4th we will be following the model we developed for Lollapalooza and requiring this for artists, fans and employees at Live Nation venues and festivals everywhere possible in the US.”