Eric Church to Play Two Pennsylvania Shows Solo After Band Members Contract COVID-19
Eric Church will go it alone on Friday and Saturday night (Oct. 8 and 9) due to cases of COVID-19 among his band. Rather than canceling shows, the country superstar is turning two Pennsylvania stops on his Gather Again Tour into solo performances.
Church announced on social media on Friday morning that his show that night in Pittsburgh, along with his Saturday night stop in Philadelphia, will be played solo. "Despite thorough safety protocols, a limited number of breakthrough COVID-19 cases have occurred within the Eric Church Band," the statement explains.
"Get ready, PA," it concludes.
Church began his Gather Again Tour in mid-September. As he did during his previous trek, 2019's Double Down Tour, the singer is playing two sets each night, and touring without an opening act; on this tour, however, his stage is in the round for the first time.
Church, who has been vocal about receiving his COVID-19 vaccine and encouraging others to do the same, explained to Taste of Country Nights in the spring that this tour required extra planning and flexibility, given the ongoing pandemic and differing (and still-changing) COVID-related protocols within different parts of the United States and Canada. "I have become an amateur epidemiologist," he joked at the time.
“This is not something that we just did," Church added. "We didn’t just say we were going to do this — there has been more meetings with local municipalities and governors and epidemiologists and scientists."
Following his two stops in Pennsylvania, Church's next scheduled concert is in Denver, Colo., on Oct. 15. The trek is supporting his 2021 triple album, Heart & Soul.
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