Brantley Gilbert, Little Big Town, Chris Janson All Push March Shows Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
Three more country acts are postponing tour dates due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Brantley Gilbert, Little Big Town and Chris Janson are all rescheduling shows originally set for the coming weeks.
On Instagram, Gilbert announced that all remaining March shows on his 2020 Fire't Up Tour are being postponed to to-be-announced dates. The move affects concerts in Idaho, Washington, Nevada and elsewhere.
"BG Nation, right now we’re asking the same questions y’all are about this virus and what it means for all of us, but we do know we don’t want to cause extra worry or stress," Gilbert writes. "Hold on to your tickets cause we’re working on findin' a date we can come back and play for ya."
Gilbert's Fire't Up Tour will, for now, resume on April 16 in Greenville, S.C. More information about the postponements is available at BrantleyGilbert.com.
Little Big Town, meanwhile, postponed a Thursday night (March 12) concert in Detroit, Mich., and are postponing two weekend concerts (March 13-14) in Chicago, Ill. The Detroit show will now take place on Oct. 1, the band announced on Twitter, while the Chicago shows are rescheduled for Oct. 22-23. LBT's next Nightfall Tour dates are scheduled for March 27-28 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
For his part, Janson has postponed four March tour dates. Shows in New Mexico, Colorado and Virginia are affected, the singer announced on Twitter.
"It's heartbreaking to have to postpone these shows but have no choice but to do the best thing for the band, crew and, mostly, the fans," Janson writes. "I’m looking to reschedule soon! Thank you for understanding during this uncertain time."
There are more than 128,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus across the globe, including more than 4,700 deaths, as of Thursday evening. The number of cases within the United States has been increasing, with 1,663 cases and 40 deaths confirmed.
Following President Donald Trump's Wednesday (March 11) address to the nation, which included a decision to ban foreign nationals traveling to the United States from Europe beginning Friday (March 13), hundreds of tour dates were canceled or rescheduled by country artists in an effort to help control the spread of the disease. Live Nation and AEG are among the organizations that announced they would be recommending all large-scale events through the month of March be postponed.
Chris Stapleton, Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney, Dan + Shay, Reba McEntire and Jason Aldean are just a few of the artists who have moved tour dates due to the pandemic. California's Stagecoach Festival and the 2020 C2C: Country to Country Festival have also been postponed.
Coronavirus Pandemic: What Country Music Events Are Postponed or Canceled (or Not)?