Chase Rice has responded to criticism she received after performing a concert that appeared to lack adequate COVID-19 social distancing measures. Rice led an outdoor show on Saturday night for nearly 1,000 fans at the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, a historic prison, and a concert hall in Petros, Tennessee.
The photos and videos of Rice’s performance, showing people clustered near the front of the stage, sparked an uproar on social media, with fans and even other artists criticizing Rice for putting her fans’ health at risk. Kelsea Ballerini called him “selfish”; Will Hoge said Rice and Chris Janson, who also led a festival in Idaho on Saturday night, “should be ashamed.”
“I just wanted to head to my show on Saturday night … I took a video of the concert, everyone had a lot of fun, but once I posted the video, a lot of people who saw that online had a big problem with how the show, how the show was cut, “Rice said in an Instagram post. “I understand that there are a lot of different opinions, a lot of different opinions about COVID-19, how it works with crowds of live music and what all that looks like.”
Going forward, Rice said the focus will be on the safety of fans. “You are everything to me, so your safety is a big, big priority,” he said, adding that his next concert, a July 3 date in Ashland, Kentucky, will be presented in drive-in format. “The safer we are now, the faster we get to real normal live shows, which I know we all want. Follow the rules, follow the laws.”
Brian May, vice president of the Brushy Mountain Group, which oversees the location of Rice’s performance on Saturday, released a statement over the weekend explaining his planned security efforts: “All local requirements were met for the recent concert, and Numerous precautions were taken We drastically reduced our maximum place capacity from 10,000 to 4,000 (less than 50% of the state), with fewer than 1,000 attendees on Saturday night, providing ample space in the outdoor grass area for fans to extend to their own comfort level. All guests received temperature checks before entering the venue and free hand sanitizer was provided to everyone at the entrance. All vendors and staff were encouraged to wear masks and gloves when interacting with guests, and scarves were available for purchase on site ”
Rice, who had a number one hit in 2018 with the song “Eyes on You,” released her latest LP, The album, Pt. II, In May. It has concerts reserved until September.
