POLL: Where are we on Eric Church canceling a tour stop for the Final Four?
If you haven’t yet seen today’s big news in country music, megastar Eric Church canceled an upcoming tour stop because he wants to attend the Final Four instead. Church was all set to perform for 10,000+ at the AT&T Center in San Antonio this coming Saturday, but he bailed on his own concert for North Carolina versus Duke in an NCAA semifinal game.
A lifelong Carolina fan, Church asked for understanding from his fans as he and his family, “stand together to cheer on the Tar Heels,” he wrote in an e-mail blast to ticketholders. “This is the most selfish thing I’ve asked the choir to do: give up your Saturday night plans with us so that I can have this moment with my family and sports community.”
Alright, Big Blue Nation. I’m torn on this one and want to hear where you stand. Obviously, thousands of people are impacted, many with travels plans and costs they cannot change or refund. Concert tickets will be refunded, but only to the original buyers, leaving anyone who bought tickets on the secondary market to get absolutely hosed. All of this on five days’ notice, only so Church can attend another big event one state over. As expected, his reasoning was not well received by a large percentage of the “Church choir.”
This guy with the NSFW language is one of many upset “Gather Again Tour” ticketholders.
So there’s that side of the coin, the side where Church ditched a very big obligation and hurt his own audience, the very people who made him a star.
But then there’s Church’s argument: Carolina-Duke in the Final Four for their first-ever meeting in the NCAA Tournament is, “any sports enthusiast’s dream.”
First of all, it’s a Carolina or Duke enthusiast’s dream, not a sports enthusiast’s dream. I find enthusiasm in sports and I’d rather see any two other teams in the tournament play in the Final Four over the two we have on one side of the bracket. But for Church and others, yes, it is a very big deal for many reasons, truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity if you’re into that sort of thing.
As Kentucky fans, we can’t relate to having a prior obligation to 15,000 people and San Antonio’s downtown economy, but we can relate to Church’s urge to attend the Final Four at all costs. He has the opportunity to see his Tar Heels reach the national championship game in Hubert Davis’ first year and close the casket on Coach K’s career. If you or I had his money and could attend a Kentucky game of that magnitude on the fly, we too would bail on some pretty big life events that may coincide with UK’s basketball schedule. Some of you would leave your wife during childbirth for lower-level seats at a Kentucky-Louisville Final Four game. It’s OK. Nobody on this website is judging.
But this website will ask: where do you stand on Eric Church bailing on his fans on short notice for the Final Four? Is it unforgivable to the “Church choir” in Texas or can you, a Kentucky fan, relate to his passion for his college basketball team and the disregard for others when that college basketball team is playing?
Don’t worry. Nobody in your life will know how you vote. Go ahead, be free. Just remember, we as a planet need everyone’s best effort in defeating Coach K, including our country music stars.
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