Bright Eyes have pulled the pin on four dates of their first headline tour in a decade, citing concerns regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement came hours before the band took to New York City’s Forest Hills Stadium, sharing a statement to their email newsletter that read: “Due to the complications of managing a large touring party during a pandemic, Bright Eyes have made the difficult decision to postpone a handful of their indoor Summer 2021 shows.”

“Over the past few weeks, the band have joined the rest of the world in having to recalibrate and reassess their safety measures on an almost daily basis as new information is reported,” they continued. “The [wellbeing] of the musicians, crew, friends and family on the road are of the utmost importance to them.

“Conor, Mike and Nate are aware that decisions they make for their traveling workplace have widespread repercussions for all immunocompromised family members within their touring party’s orbit and have therefore made the personal decision to postpone four shows during this time of unprecedented uncertainty.”

Affected shows include a second New York date that was scheduled to take place tonight (August 1) at Terminal 5, two dates at The Eastern in Atlanta scheduled for next week, and the tour’s closing show at Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham.

Rescheduled dates are yet to be locked in at the time of writing. The band’s upcoming shows in Charlottesville, Raleigh and Asheville remain unaffected.

Earlier this month, Bright Eyes rescheduled their forthcoming run of UK and European tour dates, now set to kick off in August of 2022.

Last autumn, the band linked up with Phoebe Bridgers for the track ‘Miracle Of Life’. Described as “a protest song”, the single discusses abortion rights in America. All proceeds from its release went to Planned Parenthood.

“This song should not exist in 2020 America,” Oberst said of the song, which also featured members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Queens Of The Stone Age.

The track followed Bright Eyes’ first studio album in nine years, ‘Down In The Weeds Where The World Once Was’, which they released last August via Dead Oceans. In a four-star review, NME writer Andrew Trendell wrote: “Naysayers may have scoffed at the ‘21st Century Bob Dylan’ tag when it was first applied to Oberst, but his maturity and depth can’t be denied here.”