Chase Rice is determined to finish what he started — whether you like it or not!
As we’ve been reporting, the country music star is under fire right now after holding a concert this past weekend in Tennessee that didn’t exactly exemplify ideal social distancing protocols. Even fellow major country artists like Kelsea Ballerini called him out over it… but now, we know he’s not backing down.
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The 34-year-old performer spoke out about social distancing, the coronavirus pandemic, and his concert tour in a new Instagram video posted to his official page on Monday afternoon. In the 76-second clip, the North Carolina native attempts to quell the controversy, speaking directly to fans about what went down at his last show, and his plans moving forward with future concerts.
He opened the video by addressing his controversial Saturday night concert, saying:
“I understand that there are a lot of varying opinions, a lot of opinions on COVID-19, how it works with live music crowds and what all that looks like. My biggest thing is y’all. Y’all are why I get to write songs. Y’all are why I get to tour the country, why I get to do live shows and sing these songs to you guys and you guys sing them back. You guys are everything to me, so your safety is a huge, huge priority.”
Hmmm… but is it really??? Those words ring pretty hollow after this weekend’s free-for-all. Just saying!!! Regardless, Rice attempted to minimize the damage by instead choosing to address the crowd for his upcoming show this Friday in Ashland, Kentucky. The singer said:
“Take your truck. Take your cars. You have your own space. You can get out of your cars, you can get out of your trucks and party with me. Please do sing the songs, but stay in your own space and the people you came with. The biggest thing for all of us is the safer we are now, the quicker we get to actual normal live shows, which I know we all want. Please go by the rules. Please go by the laws on this Friday show coming up and the shows moving forward, so we can get to regular shows soon enough. Love you guys. God bless you and God bless country music.”
Can’t forget to bless country music there at the end, can we? Here’s the full clip:
We’ll give Rice some credit here because he sounds… remorseful? Sort of? At least he knows he did something wrong?? Baby steps… We’re not exactly hopeful about future shows, though — at least judging by the comment section in that very same IG post. One user summed up what a lot of people are (unfortunately) thinking, writing:
“We are adults and we can make our own decisions if we want to attend a concert or not. Some people are getting all pissed off over this but it’s the people’s choice! We are AMERICANS we live in a country of freedom and if we feel safe and we want to attend a show it’s OUR choice! If you are worried about getting the virus don’t go I see both sides of it. I don’t think you should feel bad for having your show man.”
Sigh…
There’s at least some good news here, though: Rice’s future concerts are specifically designed to be drive-in events, where fans can watch the concert from their car and surrounding designated tailgating space. As he himself noted in that video (above), if fans “go by the rules” with that model, the show should be able to go on with no social distancing problems.
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All this hasn’t come without at least some fallout, though. According to TMZ, the singer’s two shows set for the weekend of July 25 at the Tiger Drive-In in Tiger, Georgia have already been canceled. That decision apparently came down late Monday night when the promoter behind the concert decided to back out because of “too much controversy” surrounding the pandemic and related social distancing protocols. Probably a smart move…
What do U think about Chase’s decision to move forward with touring, Perezcious readers? Will the drive-in model work better to keep people separated and safe? Or does it not matter?! Should these concerts even be happening at all or were stars like Ballerini right to call him out in the first place??
Sound OFF about all this and tell us where you stand down in the comments (below)…
[Image via Nicky Nelson/WENN]
The post Chase Rice’s Tour Is Still On Amid Pandemic & Backlash — Country Star Asks Fans To ‘Go By The Rules’ On Social Distancing appeared first on Perez Hilton.