Rash Of Artists Stricken With ‘Blue Dot Fever’

There’s a new trend among major recording artists, and it’s becoming so common that it even has a viral new nickname: “blue dot fever.”

This disease comes not from alien chickenpox, but instead represents musicians who allegedly cancel their shows due to poor ticket sales. Those “blue dots” reference the empty seats that would-be attendees aren’t buying for whatever reason.

Some artists are upfront about their reasons for canceling, while others offer thinly veiled excuses. 

Post Malone canceled the first few weeks of his tour with Jelly Roll because he supposedly wanted to spend time making new music, but many fans speculate that it’s really because some stops had too many of those blue dots.

A local news segment from El Paso, Texas, reported that early stops on the “Big Ass Stadium Tour Part 2” that were axed “showed a majority of tickets not sold,” noting that “the blue ones are empty seats.” 

The singer said that wasn’t the reason, writing on social media, “truth is, I promised y’all beautiful people new music, and I don’t have the time to finish it before tour starts. We ain’t ready for tour just yet, so I’m making the decision to push the tour back about 3 weeks to get this music done.”

Meghan Trainor is also being accused of pulling out of performing due to an overabundance of blue dots. 

She canceled her “Get In Girl” tour last month and attributed it to wanting to spend time with her family. 

“Balancing the release of a new album, preparing for a nationwide tour, and welcoming our new baby girl to our growing family of five has just been more than I can take on right now, and I need to be home and present for each and all of them at this time,” she said in April.

Most recently, the girl group “The Pussycat Dolls” canceled their reunion tour’s North American stops — except for one — and did not give any specific reason for doing so.

“When we announced the PCD FOREVER Tour, we hoped to bring the show to fans across the world. After taking an honest look at the North American run, we’ve made the difficult and heartbreaking decision to cancel all but one of the North America dates,” the group said in an update shared on Monday. They stopped just shy of admitting the blue dots were the problem.

“Our U.K. and European dates are still moving forward as planned, and the response has been incredible, with several shows already sold out. We are putting everything into making this show a true celebration of the music and the memories, for the fans who have been with us from the beginning and those discovering us for the first time. We’re working hard to create the kind of show we’ve always dreamed of bringing to you. We cannot wait to bring this reunion to Europe and make these nights unforgettable.”

The Dolls will play one show in the U.S., however, stopping in at the WeHo Pride event in L.A. on June 6. “We could not think of a more meaningful place to celebrate with our fans,” the statement said. “The LGBTQ+ community has shown us so much love and support throughout our career, and we’re honored to be part of a weekend rooted in joy, pride, music, and chosen family.”

So why has blue dot fever become such an issue?

Many commenters are pointing out that these artists are targeting huge, 50,000+ arenas when they’d be better off putting on small, intimate shows that are guaranteed to sell out and therefore drive hype. There have also been plenty of complaints about high ticket prices. There were also observations about where the shows take place.

“The prices are high, but the biggest thing keeping me away from huge arena shows is that I have to drive to a major city,” one commenter said. “In my case it’s Los Angeles, only about 45 minutes away but it’s such a disgusting city that I just won’t go anymore.”

“Maybe don’t charge $100+ for an upper level seat or let bots buy all the tickets and charge resell prices,” another person added.

“No one has the disposable income that they used to have … Concerts are one of the first things that are going to go. Artists are either gonna have to lower their ticket prices or cancel concerts,” echoed a third.