Another big star from within the country music world just called out singer Chase Rice after he resumed touring amid the coronavirus pandemic over the weekend.
According to 360aproko, Rice performed at Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee on Saturday night — and while the 10,000-capacity space “drastically” reduced the number of concertgoers allowed in, footage from inside the show proved there was very little social distancing and barely any masks in sight.
“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,” Kelsea Ballerini tweeted on Sunday night, re-posting footage from the event.
“@ChaseRiceMusic, We all want (and need) to tour,” she added. “We just care about our fans and their families enough to wait.”
While Rice himself has yet to react to the backlash his performance has sparked, the Brushy Mountain Group — which hosted the event — released a statement to TMZ.
“All local requirements were abided by for the recent concert, and numerous precautions were taken,” they wrote. “We drastically reduced our maximum venue capacity of 10,000 to 4,000 maximum capacity (lower than the state’s advisement of 50%) with less than 1,000 in attendance Saturday night providing ample space in the outdoor lawn area for fans to spread out to their own comfort level.”
“All guests were given temperature checks prior to entering the venue and free hand sanitizer was provided to everyone at entry,” the statement continued. “All vendors and staff were advised to wear masks and gloves when interacting with guests, and bandanas were available for purchase on-site.”
They added they’re looking into more preventative measures going forward as well.
