Eric Clapton recently played at a venue that required covid vaccination, despite previously saying that he would not play at such venues. The Smoothie King Center in New Orleans is one of the many venues across the country that is requiring vaccination for entry, and the venue, per Rolling Stone, not only required at least one vaccine dose to attend, but also required masks to be worn during the full set, from “Cocaine” all the way up to “I Shot the Sheriff.” Clapton, who is vaccinated against the coronavirus but experienced “disastrous” side effects from the AstraZeneca jab, previously said in July that he was against the idea of solely performing to attendees that were vaccinated against Covid-19.

The pandemic has been fluctuating in number of deaths in recent months, and amidst the changing course of these numbers, more and more venues across the United States and abroad are requiring its attendees to be vaccinated against the virus. Eric Clapton took a hard stance against these restrictions as he wants as many people to come to his shows as possible, regardless of vaccination status. This last Saturday was the first time he played a venue that required vaccination rather than allowing attendees to opt to get tested within 72/48 hours of entry instead.

Clapton has received extensive backlash on his stance, with other big artists such as Brian May of Queen calling his a few choice names such as “fruitcake.” The Rolling Stone publication has also taken a hard stance against Clapton, their own article being titled Anti-Vax Hypocrite Eric Clapton Breaks Own Vow, Plays Venue With Vaccine Mandate.