NEW YORK • For the first time in more than 15 months, New York's Madison Square Garden is gearing up to host a rock concert without social distancing, masks or capacity limits.

American rock band Foo Fighters will perform on June 20 - but only for fans who are fully vaccinated.

It will be the first full-capacity concert in a New York arena since March last year.

"We've been waiting for this day for over a year," Dave Grohl, the band's frontman, said in a statement on Tuesday, telling fans to prepare for a long night "of screaming our heads off together to 26 years of Foos".

The audience will be required to show proof of full Covid-19 vaccination along with their tickets to enter the venue, Mr James Dolan, executive chairman and chief executive of Madison Square Garden Entertainment, said in a statement.

Full-capacity concerts represent the latest sign of a return to cultural life in Manhattan.

On Monday, rock legend Bruce Springsteen announced that Springsteen On Broadway, his autobiographical show, would return for a limited run at the St James Theatre on June 26.

Although Broadway theatres and producers are still holding off on opening until after Labour Day in September, a drop in coronavirus cases and increasing vaccination rates in the United States have encouraged many producers and performers to accelerate their plans.

This month's show is part of a Foo Fighters tour that was meant to celebrate the band's 25th anniversary, but which had been postponed for a year because of the pandemic.

The group last performed at Madison Square Garden in July 2018 on its Concrete And Gold Tour, selling out tickets on both nights.

Last year, they released their 10th studio album, Medicine At Midnight, and Grohl engaged in a playful drum battle with child prodigy Nandi Bushell, then 10 years old, that delighted fans on social media.

Foo Fighters will also be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in October - an honour they earned in their first year of eligibility.

Other concerts booked for Madison Square Garden include rock band Eagles in August, as well as Mexican group Banda MS and country duo Dan + Shay in September.

English singer Harry Styles will perform for five nights in October and American singer Billy Joel will resume his monthly residency in November.

Concerts will return to Barclays Centre in Brooklyn in September with singer Marc Anthony.

NYTIMES