Bruce Springsteen postpones Philly shows because of illness

Hours ahead of the first of two performances at Citizens Bank Park, Bruce Springsteen announced on Wednesday that his Philadelphia tour dates would be postponed, citing illness.

Springsteen’s social media accounts posted at 2 p.m., saying the singer had “taken ill” and both Wednesday’s and Friday’s dates would be rescheduled.

Ticket holders are being encouraged to hold on to tickets, which will be valid for rescheduled show dates.

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The shows with the E Street Band were to be Springsteen’s first stadium shows in South Philadelphia since 2016, and were to mark his return to town just five months after a sold out show at the Wells Fargo Center in March.

That show had marked a return to the stage for Springsteen and the band after the three previous dates had been postponed due to illness — although the nature of the illness and whether it was Springsteen himself who was sick were not disclosed. After the initial U.S. leg of that tour concluded in April, the 73-year-old singer tested positive for COVID.

In an email sent to ticket holders, Citizens Bank Park confirmed the postponement and said updates would be available on the Phillies’ website.

Risa Altman became a Springsteen fan in 1975 as a 15-year-old. Her first time seeing him was at the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby. Her most recent time seeing him was during his Springsteen on Broadway residency between 2017 and 2018.

She was planning on going Wednesday night with her younger sister.

”Live music, especially by the E Street Band, will never ever compare to anything recorded from bootleg cassette tapes [or] Spotify,” Altman said. “You just can’t replicate the experience.”

The sisters heard about the postponement before catching their train from Fern Rock to the stadium.

”We weren’t planning on getting much sleep tonight,” Altman said. “I probably still won’t sleep well, feeling like there is something missing. We hope that Bruce’s condition isn’t serious and he gets well soon. He knows Philly loves him and that we know he loves Philly.”

Marta Storm, 67, drove down from the Poconos. The retired teacher picked up her daughter Emily, a nurse, from Bethlehem for what was to be her daughter’s first Springsteen show. “It was a bucket list item for me. I wanted to watch him with my mom,” said Emily, 37.

“I told her,” Marta said, “until you have seen Bruce play for three hours, you’ve never really seen a concert. We will be back. Whenever that is.”

Justin McAndrew, 19, of southern Chester County, was looking forward to attending Wednesday night’s performance with his father — a tradition the pair have shared since he was a preschooler.

Justin was in fifth grade when he saw Springsteen for the first time. In eighth grade, on a school night, he attended the singer’s longest U.S. concert, at Citizens Bank Park. The duo were looking forward to keeping their streak going.

”My dad and I are really disappointed about tonight,” McAndrew said in response to the postponement. “We are wishing the absolute best for Bruce and the rest of the band.”

It hasn’t been disclosed whether Springsteen was already in Philadelphia when he was taken ill, or whether he was home in New Jersey after the band’s Chicago shows.

Springsteen and the band completed a European stadium tour on July 25 that drew rave reviews. The American tour is scheduled to mostly play mostly outdoor sports stadiums such as Citizens Bank Park this summer before moving indoors in the fall.

Springsteen’s tour opened last weekend with two shows at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The next scheduled dates on the band’s itinerary are at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts on Aug. 24 and 26.

The Springsteen show postponements follow the cancellation of the Made in America festival, Jay-Z’s annual hip-hop gathering on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The concert draws as many as 50,000 fans a day to the stages in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The 2023 event was scheduled to be headlined by Lizzo and SZA before being called off last week.

Staff writers Rosa Cartagena and Bedatri D. Choudhury contributed to this article.