Moda Center Won’t Require Vaccination Proof for Guns N’ Roses Concert, the Arena’s First Live Show Since COVID Shutdown

This Sunday, Aug. 22, Moda Center holds its first live concert since the pandemic closed the arena back in March 2020.

Though the arena has hosted Blazers games with both vaccinated and physically distanced sections, no such vaccinated sections were sold for the Guns N’ Roses show, and the capacity to which the show was sold remains unclear.

“Guns N’ Roses will be ‘loaded like a freight train’, ‘speedin’ like a space brain’ one more time this weekend,” TriMet wrote in a release that encouraged attendees of the concert to use public transit to prevent gridlock. The release predicted “more than 10,000 fans expected to join Axl Rose and crew.”

Hilary Gorlin, director of communications for Moda Center, responded to WW’s questions about vaccinated sections—“there are not vaccinated sections for this show”—and whether vaccine proof would be necessary for admittance. “There are no vaccination requirements for this show either,” Gorlin wrote.

“That could certainly change for future shows, but nothing has been communicated at this time. All guests will be required to wear masks at all times while on campus and inside the arena.”

Gorlin did not respond to questions about the show’s capacity and did not answer follow-up attempts.

There’s also a fairly detailed FAQ page specifically for the Guns N’ Roses show—it also does not say what capacity the show was sold to.

The cloudy capacity of Moda Center’s first live concert since the pandemic shutdown comes on the same day that Metro and Portland’5 Centers for the Arts announced they will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within 48 hours for admittance to shows, in addition to the mask mandate required by the state.

Portland’5 represents Keller Auditorium, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, as well as the Brunish, Winningstad and Newmark theaters.

The Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns FC also recently adopted a nearly identical policy—proof of vaccination or a negative test “taken within 48 hours of kickoff”—for entrance to Providence Park.