Country singer Chase Rice is facing criticism after playing a concert over the weekend in Petros, Tennessee where attendees did not wear masks and ignored social distancing guidelines.
Rice performed at the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, a former prison that is now a museum and occasional concert venue, on Saturday night. The 10,000-capacity venue reportedly only allowed 4,000 people to attend the show and posted a notice to its website saying social distancing guidelines would be followed at the concert, but video and photos from the show make it clear that fans were packed in tightly and not wearing masks. Rice shared video from the show to his Instagram stories, captioning it “We back” and adding a sunglasses emoji.
The show took place just one day after Tennessee reported its highest ever single-day increase in COVID-19 cases.
Chase Rice just played a concert to an enormous crowd of unmasked fans here in Tennessee. For once, I am at a loss for words. pic.twitter.com/wB47u1EaFd
— Lorie Liebig (@lorieliebig) June 28, 2020
Other prominent musicians criticized Rice for playing the gig. Kelsea Ballerini tweeted, “Imagine being selfish enough to put thousands of people’s health at risk, not to mention the potential ripple effect, and play a NORMAL country concert right now. @ChaseRiceMusic, We all want (and need) to tour. We just care about our fans and their families enough to wait.” The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle wrote, “The people in this audience, along with the presenters of this show, are assuring that conscientious musicians won’t be able to work their jobs for a while, and that conscientious audiences won’t be able to see shows for the foreseeable, and to be blunt, that fucking sucks.”
Imagine being selfish enough to put thousands of people’s health at risk, not to mention the potential ripple effect, and play a NORMAL country concert right now. @ChaseRiceMusic, We all want (and need) to tour. We just care about our fans and their families enough to wait. 🤷🏼♀️ https://t.co/eJaLnGu28k
— Kelsea Ballerini (@KelseaBallerini) June 28, 2020
the people in this audience, along with the presenters of this show, are assuring that conscientious musicians won't be able to work their jobs for a while, and that conscientious audiences won't be able to see shows for the foreseeable, and to be blunt, that fucking sucks. https://t.co/QwB85m0Phv
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) June 28, 2020
Boy y’all really throwing the term “country star” around today. It’s like the adult film industry, they aren’t all “stars.” Hell, some are so broke they’ve decided to do shows this weekend regardless of what might happen to their non-isolated, maskless audience!
— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) June 28, 2020
Rice’s show on Saturday was the first stop on his planned summer tour.
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