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Wells Fargo Center and indie venues announce full-capacity fall shows

The South Philly arena announced plans for five full-capacity shows for this year into 2022, including an Eric Church concert this October.

Eric Church performs on the Double Down Tour at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019. He is due back this October.
Eric Church performs on the Double Down Tour at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019. He is due back this October.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer
    by Dan DeLuca
    Published 

The Wells Fargo Center announced Thursday that it is planning full-capacity shows this fall, beginning with Mexico’s Banda MS on Sept. 4. Next up is Eric Church, the current Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year, due here Oct. 9.

Tenor Andrea Bocelli is then slated to sing on Dec. 8.

The arena also announced two acts slated for 2022. Country hitmaker Kane Brown will play Jan. 13. And dates for Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters’ previously postponed tour are on the schedule for Aug. 5 and 6, 2022.

It remains to be seen whether COVID-19 restrictions will loosen to allow full-capacity shows by fall. As of this week, the city is allowing 20% capacity at Wells Fargo Center for sporting events, up from 15%. Pennsylvania state regulations allow crowd sizes of up to 25% capacity at indoor venues elsewhere.

The announcement for the city’s largest indoor showplace comes during a week when smaller venues have also started announcing full-capacity indoor fall shows:

  1. Earlier this week, Ardmore Music Hall announced 22 new shows, starting with Ghost Note on Sept. 10.

  2. The Philly band Low Cut Connie is set to play the Fillmore in Fishtown on Oct. 14.

  3. And on Thursday, Union Transfer announced that Michelle Zauner’s band Japanese Breakfast will open their tour for their new album Jubilee there Aug. 7. The club paired the announcement, however, with a statement that expressed caution, saying “if city or state regulations do not allow us to re-open in August, we do have backup date(s) reserved for later in the year.”

Celine Dion played the Wells Fargo Center’s last show on Feb. 26, 2020, before the coronavirus brought the concert industry to a halt. In a statement, Wells Fargo Center president of business operations Valerie Camillo said, “You can hear the music at the end of the tunnel.”

The ability to put on full-capacity shows, however, will depend on city COVID-19 limitations. Last week, when asked about the possibility of the Made In America festival being staged outdoors on Labor Day weekend — when the indoor Banda MS show is scheduled to happen — Philadelphia Department of Public Health spokesperson James Garrow was cautious.

“The city is excited to be able to hold events again as soon as possible, but needs to make sure that it is safe to do so,” he said. “The Health Department is keeping a close eye on the trend in cases and hospitalizations and is regularly reviewing the city’s COVID restrictions and tailoring them to the current situation.”

The Wells Fargo shows’ on-sale dates and other details can be found at wellsfargocenterphilly.com.