Photo Courtesy of ilovefreeconcerts.com
Today was a sad a day for Dr. John and his fans alike. Though the rain had dispersed and it hadn’t become too muggy to bear just yet at the SummerStageNYC Presents in Central Park, Dr. John fell ill just before he was set to perform a free show for fans and the concert was cancelled. A spokesperson made an announcement once it became clear Dr. John could not go on.
“Unfortunately, Dr. John has fallen ill. He doing all right – he’s conscious, he’s lucid, but the doctors advised him to go get further attention, so he will not be able to play the show tonight. Dr. John feels very bad about this – he even tried to ignore the medics, but they’re not having it. We apologize that we have no further events for you tonight, but we hope to see you at the next SummerStage presents concert. Thank you.” Fans clapped to his health after the announcement was made and sadly went on their way.
SummerStage officially announced the cancelled the show on their Facebook page roughly thirty minutes after the announcement was made. The legendary musician is a six-time Grammy Award winner as well as a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee. He is a contemporary embodiment of New Orleans music and a seventy-three year-old cultural music icon known and loved throughout the world. Shortly after the cancellation, Dr. John tweeted his regrets, saying first that he apologizes to fans, and promises to return ASAP to make it up to them, and then tweeting that he, “Wuz bitten by a flu bug & doc wouldn’t let me play today. Thanx to all the fans for their love & I’ll be out jammin’ for you all again soon.”
Having just recently returned from touring in Europe, Dr. John and the Night Trippers have tour dates scheduled through to the end of this year. In the meantime, his tribute to Louis Armstrong album titled “Skat-De-Dat-Dat The Spirit of Satch” is available for pre-order now and will be available in the U.S. August 19th via Concord Records, and in Europe on Septemer 1st via Proper records. Listen to and download the free single “Motherless Child” featuring Anthony Hamilton here. You can read about the sneak peak track on FDRMX here and find out more about the tribute album on the Encyclopedia of Music here. Find out more about the opening band, Hurray for the Riff Raff’s latest album “Small Town Heroes” here.