No one knows for sure when concerts will start up again, but country music star Eric Church wants people to feel safe when they do return to hear live music.
In a recent interview, the country star says he'll be waiting for a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine before packing fans into venues again.
"When people come back, they have to feel that it’s okay to be there, that they can experience it the way they want to experience it," Church said. "They should be able to go up and throw their arms around the person next to them. They should not be scared about being three feet away and not six."
Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic in mid-March, many artists were forced to postpone or cancel shows. At this time, most shows are delayed until the middle of summer, though new predictions suggest that won't be long enough and Church agrees.
"For me, I think it's summer or fall of '21. I am going on the promise of a vaccine. I'm going on the possibility of a therapeutic that could change the game," he said.
The country singer continued on to explain how the coronavirus has reminded him of the fear he and so many others felt after the Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting. In 2017, a gunman killed 58 people and injured hundreds more on the final night of the Las Vegas festival which Church had headlined earlier that weekend.
"The thing that shook me about Vegas was that was my safe place," he recalls. "As messed up as the world is, I never in a million years thought that could be a danger area."
While Church doesn't have plans to hit the road anytime soon, he is gearing up to release new music. He recently finished up a new album during a remote recording session in North Carolina. He debuted a new song, "Never Break Heart" during the ACM Presents: Our Country special last month. Additionally, he's shared a preview with fans of another track called "Through My Ray Bans" at the end of a video in which he reads a hope-filled poem that can be heard below.
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