Bob Belber and Philip Morris spent Saturday on the phone and on weather apps. Two of the biggest shows of the year at their respective venues — a Bruce Springsteen concert at MVP Arena in Albany, where Belber is general manager, and opening night of the touring musical “Hamilton” at Proctors in Schenectady, of which Morris is CEO — were both scheduled for Tuesday, right in the middle of what meteorologists say will likely be the biggest local snowstorm in at least two years.
Further complicating matters for Belber was that the tour of Springsteen and the E Street Band had already canceled two concerts in the days immediately prior — this past Thursday’s in Columbus, Ohio, and Sunday’s at Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn. — because of an ill band member.
On Saturday, “We were involved in dialogue for most of the day, with phone calls probably every half hour,” Belber said, referring to conversations with Springsteen’s management and with the tour’s promoter, Live Nation. The unnamed band member was recuperating and potentially could have had a doctor sign off on a return to performing by Tuesday, but that was not guaranteed, Belber said. Further, the tour’s convoy of tractor-trailers and buses could also have had travel affected by weather, depending on the track of the nor’easter bearing down on the area, though they likely would have arrived in Albany from southern Connecticut before heavy snow started.
By midday Sunday, with the band member’s health still uncertain, Springsteen tour management postponed the concert. Belber said Monday he has offered available dates for a rescheduled concert at MVP Arena, which he hopes to be able to announce later this week.
Meanwhile, as of midday Monday, “Hamilton,” the smash-hit musical that retells the story of America’s founding fathers to a score of rap, rock and Broadway music, was still scheduled to open a two-week…
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