All eight concerts, the entire Southeast Tour by the US Coast Guard Band, have been canceled due to sequestration.
Part of a statement from the U.S. Coast Guard Office of Public Affairs reads: "In this difficult budget climate the service’s primary objective is to preserve our ability to meet the highest-priority mission activities, including search and rescue, critical security operations, and emergency response."
The band tour was to start Thursday evening in Florida:
- Thursday at 7 p.m. at Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, FL
- Friday at the University of South Florida School of Music, Tampa, FL
- Saturday at the Riverwalk Pavilion, Bradenton, FL
Other appearances canceled include:
- March 10 at Valdosta High School Performing Arts Center, Valdosta, GA
- March 11 at Mobile Civic Center, Mobile, AL
- March 12 at The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
- March 13 at Germantown Performing Arts Center, Germantown, TN
- March 14 at Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oxford, MS
The Coast Guard Band calendar still shows concerts scheduled in April, May, June and through December 2013, but all of them are performed at the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT.
The cancelations are in line with other military cutbacks.
The Navy canceled four appearances by the Blue Angels in April at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa; Corpus Christi, TX; Vidalia, GA and Beaufort, SC.
