Singer’s ‘reprehensible’ Idaho concert makes news for drawing festival crowd
Although many festivals have been canceled or postponed because of the coronavirus, a few are moving forward — but not without controversy.
Gordy’s Hwy 30 Music Fest, which took place June 25-27 at the Twin Falls Fairgrounds in Filer, Idaho, was included in a Washington Post article titled, “Country singers criticize Chase Rice as ‘selfish’ for concert in front of hundreds in Tennessee.”
Hwy 30 was headlined Saturday by Chris Janson, who “posted Instagram videos of a big crowd ... and deleted them after he started to see criticism,” the Post writes. The article quotes part of a tweet from Whitney Pastorek, a recently unemployed Nashville manager who took issue with Rice and Janson for performing in front of fans who did not appear to be social distancing.
“Oh look, Chris Janson also doesn’t care about the health of his fans!” Pastorek tweeted, along with video Janson had shared. “I used to work for his management company but they laid me off in April so now I can come right out and say that this is reprehensible, yay!”
The Post article shares more of Pastorek’s sentiments: “ ‘Our industry was a shining light of what happens when people place the well-being of society over their own pocketbooks. We did it right and didn’t complain,’ Pastorek wrote on Instagram, referring to the many Nashville acts who canceled tours this year. ‘But even if it meant I could earn back every lost dollar and every second of lost health insurance I would not work with an act who decided to jeopardize the health of their fans (and their fans’ families and communities) the way Chase Rice and Chris Janson did last night. It’s abhorrent.’ ”
An Associated Press article about the shows says that Hwy 30 Music Fest issued a statement indicating that more bleachers were added so concertgoers could spread out. But, the AP adds, “a recap video on their social media account showed some crowding at the front of stages and hardly any people wearing masks.”
Hwy 30 wasn’t the only Idaho festival that happened over the weekend. With safety precautions in place, the smaller Weiser River Music Fest also went on as planned.
Idaho-raised singer Jeff Crosby, who performed Friday and Saturday, tweeted in advance that the gigs would be “likely our last shows in public for a while till things calm down again.”
One of the biggest festivals in Boise, Treefort Music Fest, was postponed from March until Sept. 23-27. Organizers are still planning a modified version of the event within safety guidelines. An update is expected at Treefort’s website in early July.
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 12:33 PM.