Veteran New Zealand musician Dave Dobbyn's tour of the provinces has been halted before it began, but his Loyal fans are being urged to hold on to their tickets.
Fans of the iconic singer-songwriter will be Waiting a little longer to see Dobbyn live in concert after his nine-stop Open Up tour, consisting of numerous sell-out performances, was postponed due to new coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions.
The Government confirmed New Zealand's 102-day streak without any evidence of community transmission was ended, in an impromptu press conference late on August 11.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield announced four new cases of COVID-19 had been found in Auckland, acquired from an unknown source, but all from the same family.
Ardern announced Auckland would move to COVID-19 alert level three for three days as a "precautionary approach", while level two restrictions would be imposed in the rest of the country.
On August 14, the period was extended until at least August 26.
Dobbyn's tour was due to kick-off last Thursday in Gisborne, with sold-out performances in Waipawa and Feilding this weekend. Next week, the Slice of Heaven hitmaker was also scheduled to visit Carterton and Stratford, among other provincial North Island towns.
Dobbyn said on his Facebook page that he was "disappointed to have to postpone our tour but this will fire us up for rescheduled dates as soon as we are through the latest restrictions".
"We're a calm, tough people," he said.
"My guitar is weeping, but we live in hopeful peace awaiting a loud power chord."
Under COVID-19 alert level two, people are strongly urged to maintain a physical distance of two metres from people they don't know when in public spaces, or to wear a face covering, such as a mask, where this is not possible. All gatherings and events, including concerts, are restricted to 100 attendees.
Dobbyn, who resides in Auckland, is affected by the ban on non-essential personal movement.
Dobbyn's status in the New Zealand music scene was evident by rapidly selling-out the 344-seat Central Hawke's Bay Municipal Theatre in Waipawa, in five hours. The kiwi music legend also sold-out venues in Stratford and Feilding, the latter for his third time in four years.
The initial eight-stop tour announced on July 22, was extended to include a new concert in Carterton on August 27, which later sold-out and an additional show at the acclaimed live music venue, Cassels Blue Smoke, in Christchurch, after the first sold out.
The music veteran's career began in 1977 performing in bands Th' Dudes and DD Smash, before launching his solo career in 1986.
The tour originally proceeded what is already a busy second half of the year for Dobbyn.
He is still scheduled to perform a 'Cauldron' mode concert at Auckland's Spark Arena on September 12, before joining Th' Dudes on their ten-show Th' Bliss reunion tour in November and December.
All tickets purchased for the Open Up tour will remain valid for new rescheduled dates, which are still to be confirmed.
An update on the COVID-19 alert levels will be made tomorrow by the Government.
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