The Format postponed their New York, Chicago and Phoenix shows, which have all been rescheduled for July 2020. Nate Ruess and Sam Means shared message on their website, stating, “Hi Everyone, Due to concerns related to the coronavirus, we’ve decided to move our upcoming shows to this July. We’ve been looking forward to these shows, but if we could wait 12 years, what’s another few months? Sorry if this causes any inconvenience. We know some of you booked flights and hotels, but we want to make sure that everyone stays safe. If you had a ticket for the first night, then you’ll have a ticket to the new first night and so on.”
The Format played a surprise reunion show at Hello Merch in Phoenix, Arizona in early February 2020. Ruess told the crowd, “About a year ago, I was driving and I was listening on random, and Interventions came on,” he told the crowd, referring to the Format’s debut album, which they “absolutely despised” at the time. “And I was listening to it and I was like ‘I should probably skip this,’” he continued. “And I listened and I thought, ‘Holy (expletive), this kicks ass. This is totally rad.” He texted Means to say, “Dude, Interventions is awesome.” Means replied, “I know.” Ruess and Means performed an acoustic set to a crowd of approximately 150 people during their performance in Phoenix, which served as the first time they had performed together in 12 years.
Their last studio album release, Dog Problems was released on their own label imprint, The Vanity Label (with help from their management company Nettwerk Music), and came at a time of new found independence for the band, which had struggled through a series of mishaps with major record labels. Their first major label Elektra, folded and as eventually absorbed into Atlantic, however the label dropped them after releasing their Snails EP in 2005. Despite being dropped from a major label, Dog Problems received critical success at the time of its release.
On their website, the band also mentioned, “If you can’t attend your rescheduled date, you can get a refund at your point of purchase (Ticketmaster, Ticketweb Eventbrite, Lyte, Hello Merch, etc). In the meantime, please take care of each other. Donate to your local homeless shelter, or do what you can to help those who might not be able to afford medical care. Thanks for all the support. We love you and miss you all.”
The Format’s Canceled Tour Dates
3/20 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom3/21 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom3/27 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall3/28 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall4/3 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
The Format’s New 2020 concert dates:
03/20 moved to 07/17 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
03/21 moved to 07/18 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
03/22 moved to 07/19 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
03/27 moved to 07/21 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
03/28 moved to 07/22 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
03/29 moved to 07/23 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
04/03 moved to 07/25 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
04/04 moved to 07/26 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
04/05 moved to 07/27 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
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