Detroit’s Masonic Temple’s upcoming hip-hop concert will be cancelled because the event promoter found that many fans didn’t agree with the venue’s policy requiring COVID-19 vaccinations, according to the Detroit Metro Times.
Dubbed “Move the Crowd,” the classic hip-hop show which featured rap icons The God MC Rakim, KRS-1 and Slick Rick was originally scheduled to be occurring at Detroit’s Masonic Temple in November.
However, after tons of voicemails and texts from fans about Detroit’s Masonic Temple’s vaccine mandate—and additional findings by the event’s promoter Derrick Kearney—Kearney decided to relocate the concert and reschedule the date, according to the Detroit Metro Times.
“We’ve received 100’s and 100’s of texts, voicemail’s and comments on social media about the Masonic temple’s vaccination mandate,” Kearney wrote in an email obtained by the Detroit Metro Times. “We have also found out that the majority of concert goers in that HipHop demographic aren’t vaccinated. So the vaccination mandate with the Masonic Temple is the reason.”
In August AEG Presents, which operates at venues like Detroit’s Masonic Temple, announced a policy that requires proof of vaccination status for guests, employees and talent, according to the Detroit Metro Times.
“We have come to the conclusion that, as a market leader, it was up to us to take a real stand on vaccination status,” Jay Marciano, COO of AEG and chairman and CEO of AEG Presents said in a statement.
Although this may be unfortunate for some fans in the area who were planning to attend the concert, the relocation of the event by Kearney was a responsible move.
“According to Michigan’s COVID-19 vaccination dashboard, only 46.56% of the eligible population in Detroit is vaccinated, compared to 71.94% of Wayne County’s eligible population,” according to the Detroit Metro Times.
With only half of Detroit’s population being vaccinated, it’s no surprise why residents in the area that planned to attend the concert had something to say about the venue’s vaccine mandate.