Chase Rice is drawing fire from several in the country music community, including Kelsea Ballerini and Mickey Guyton, after he headlined a large show over the weekend during the coronavirus pandemic, posting pictures that seemed to indicate a packed crowd that was neither wearing masks or social distancing. The singer posted a few photos on his Instagram Stories, which was shared on Twitter, causing Kelsea and Mickey, among others, to speak out.

Journalist Lorie Liebig posted the video, saying, “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.” Kelsea retweeted Lorie’s post, saying, “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

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

Mickey also replied, writing, “I’m shaking I’m so livid. He doesn’t give a sh– about anyone or anything but his pocket book and that is clear in this video,” she wrote, later adding, “I’m disgusted. Shame on him for putting people at risk.”

Chase’s concert was held at the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, a former maximum-security jail located about 160 miles east of Tennessee. The venue now hosts tours, and is also offering a Live at Brushy concert series, which is why Chase was performing. Although their website promised ahead of time that they would be observing social distancing guidelines, one of the owners, Brian May, released a statement following Chase’s concert, saying they would be reevaluating their procedures moving forward.

“All local requirements were abided by for the recent concert, and numerous precautions were taken. We drastically reduced our maximum venue capacity of 10,000 to 4,000 maximum capacity (lower than the state’s advisement of 50 percent) 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,” Brian said (via CMT). “All guests were given temperature checks prior to entering the venue and free hand sanitizer was provided to everyone at entry. All vendors and staff were advised to wear masks and gloves when interacting with guests, and bandanas were available for purchase on-site.

“We were unable to further enforce the physical distancing recommended in the signage posted across the property and are looking into future alternative scenarios that further protect the attendees, artists and their crews and our employees,’ he continued. “We are reevaluating the series from the top to bottom — from implementing further safety measures, to adding stanchions, to converting the space to drive-in style concerts, to postponing shows.”

Chase has yet to publicly speak out about the concert, but he previously hinted that he was ready to perform, regardless of the rules and regulations.

“In six months, I’d say, they gotta let us go play. In my opinion — you gotta keep people safe and all that,” Chase told Taste of Country at the beginning of June. “They gotta let us go play and the people that are healthy can decide if they want to come or not. That’s what the American constitution is all about is us having the choice.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of EB Media / Cody Cannon