Vanilla Ice Has Canceled His Texas Concert Following Backlash

Update: Fox 7 Austin reporter Rudy Koski reports (as Austin 360 notes), “Vanilla Ice just called the owner of Emerald Point Bar & Grill and told him that he is pulling out of Friday’s Show- event canceled due to blow back on capacity dispute with [Travis County, Texas].”

Initial reports suggested the venue would have a capacity of about 2,500 attendees, but Emerald Point Bar & Grill owner Barret Brannam told The Texas Tribune that number had been cut down to 450, saying, “We reduced the capacity to 450 people because that’s what we thought we could space with tables.”

Vanilla Ice confirmed the cancellation himself in an Instagram video, in which he says he didn’t know the number of coronavirus cases in Texas was “so crazy,” and that when the show was initially booked, he was planning on the number of cases being lower.

Before the cancellation, Vanilla Ice tweeted today, “I take the coronavirus serious. But we can’t live in a bubble. I think at this point we all understand the severity of it. practice social distancing and wear a mask. This is an outside venue, Fourth of July on the lake with fireworks. Plenty of room for distancing.”

https://twitter.com/vanillaice/status/1278682547099242496

The original post follows below.

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Given the current state of the world, performing live concerts isn’t a good idea. That’s not stopping Vanilla Ice, though: The “Ice Ice Baby” rapper is set to perform a show in Austin, Texas tomorrow, July 3. Virtually all concerts and live events have been canceled due to concerns about the pandemic, but social distancing could actually be easy to achieve at this show: The Texas Tribune reports that according to the venue’s organizer, as of Wednesday night (two days before the event), only 84 tickets for the performance have been sold.

This comes shortly after Texas governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order to shut down bars in the state. However, Emerald Point Bar & Grill on Lake Travis, where the show is set to take place, is classified as a restaurant, so it is able to operate at 50-percent capacity.

The order also bans outdoor gatherings of over 100 people. Emerald Point owner Barret Brannam noted the capacity for the event is set at 450 people, saying, “We’re not trying to buck the system — we’re going within the guidelines we’ve been given. Music is part of Emerald Point — and it will always be part of us going forward. […] We reduced the capacity to 450 people because that’s what we thought we could space with tables. It’s really not as gross as people are making it out to be.”

He added, “[Vanilla Ice] has already been paid. If I cancel the show, […] I’m just flushing money down the toilet. […] If only a couple hundred people come out, at least those people got to see a cool show.”

A few days ago, Vanilla Ice posted concert footage and wrote on Instagram, “I can’t wait to get back to this. The 90s were the best. We didn’t have coronavirus, or cell phones, or computers. we had 5.0’s, blockbuster, Beavis and Butthead, Wayne’s world, Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. And Mortal Kombat is still better than fortnight but we got out of the house, We danced, we invented house parties in the 90s. The last of the great decades.”

This morning, he shared a video of street performers and, seemingly in response to the backlash his upcoming performance has received, wrote, “Music makes the world go around. It makes people happy. I think we could all use some happiness With all this corona mess Happening.”