Is Chase Rice Really Touring In-Person This Summer? — Did the Backlash Over His Recent Concert Change His plans?
Country music singer Chase Rice made headlines over the weekend when he performed an in-person concert to what looked like a packed crowd. Fans and fellow country singers were outraged at the lack of masks on the concert-goers. However, Rice believes the show must go on. Is he still touring this summer?
Chase Rice would not cancel any shows if it were his decision
When the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shut down the United States in March 2020, Rice took to social media to express his frustration.
“If it were up to me, I wouldn’t cancel one damn show, but it ain’t,” Rice wrote on Instagram. “Today a lot of tours and shows got canceled or moved. I’m not throwing blame to any promoters or decision-makers on this, they gotta protect themselves and the well being of people, so I get all sides of this deal. I personally choose not to live scared, especially of something that I can’t really control.”
The musician held to his word when he performed his first in-person concert on June 27, 2020, at the Historic Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. The former prison, which is now a tourist destination, is two and a half hours outside of Nashville, Tennessee.
The show had fewer than 1,000 people, although the venue can hold 10,000. There were temperature checks for all guests, hand sanitizers and masks, and gloves for the staff.
There was “ample space in the outdoor lawn area for fans to spread out to their own comfort level,” Brian May, vice president of the Brushy Mountain Group, said in a statement according to the Washington Post.
Is Chase Rice still touring this summer?
Rice is still planning at least two in-person concerts in the coming months. A third performance was scheduled but canceled following the backlash over the weekend.
As of 7:00 a.m. on June 29, 2020, Rice was scheduled to perform at the Phenix City Amphitheater in Phenix City, Alabama, on July 9, 2020.
“It seats approximately 3,000 people, but still feels intimate and cozy,” the venue’s website reads.
However, one hour later, the show, “Live Nation presents Chase Rice,” was canceled due to COVID-19.
Rice is still playing an in-person concert at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia, on August 14, 2020. He also is scheduled to perform at the Sunset Station Outdoor Amphitheater in Nevada on Sept. 12, 2020.
Rice is touring across the country at drive-in theatres
Along with a few in-person dates, Rice is also touring at many drive-in theatres across the United States. He will visit Ashland, Kentucky, on July 3, 2020, and then head to Georgia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
“If I’ve gotta break it down to just me and a guitar on the bed of a truck and play to whoever shows up, I’ll do it, love y’all,” Rice wrote on Instagram.
The country music singer is doing everything he can to make sure that he continues to perform.
