York Barbican reopens tonight (Tuesday, 20 July) after months of being closed due to the pandemic.
The venue has been closed since the first lockdown in March 2020.
It will reopen with two shows from Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison.
With restrictions easing in England from Monday, social distancing guidance has been removed and face coverings are no longer required by law – though the government still ‘expects and recommends’ them in crowded and enclosed spaces.
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Van Morrison is set to perform two shows at York Barbican on 20 and 21 July at 8pm. Tickets are still available.
He came under some controversy after releasing a series of anti-lockdown songs last year.
Lyrics included ‘The new normal is not normal / It’s no kind of normal at all / Everyone seems to have amnesia’ and ‘The government said everyone should stay home / And they spread fear and loathing and no hope for the future / Not many did question this very strange move’.
In another song, ‘No More Lockdown’, he accused the government of taking our ‘freedom’ and that scientists were ‘making up crooked facts’.
Van Morrison was originally meant to perform at York Barbican on 25 and 26 May 2020, before being rescheduled for July.
The timing with the easing of restrictions is coincidental.
The Fleetwood Mac tribute act Rumours of Fleetwood Mac are also set to perform at York Barbican on 26 July.
The next performance then currently scheduled is Grayson Perry in September.
For more information and to book your tickets for shows at York Barbican, please visit their website.