Thomas Rhett is opening up about the challenges of his Very Hot Summer Tour, which wrapped up earlier this month. The tour took Rhett to outdoor venues all over the country, which he admits wasn’t always easy, especially as the temperatures sometimes soared into the triple digits.
“This year has been a huge learning curve for us because we’ve headlined arenas in the past, but never have I headlined any of these big amphitheaters that I’ve played for so long, opening for people like Jason [Aldean] and Luke [Bryan] and FGL,” Rhett shared with his record label, Big Machine. “And when you play indoors, you kind of get used to being able to control things. The weather, for one. It’s always dark, you can control the temperature, you control the lights. But when you go outside – like this whole summer – this tour was called the Very Hot Summer Tour and it was very self-explanatory.
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“Everywhere we went, like Hershey, Pennsylvania, we fried an egg on the thrust that day because it was like 110 degrees,” he continued. “So just kind of dealing with different weather environments, and then learning how to entertain a crowd outside is a whole different aspect of learning how to entertain a crowd indoors in an arena.”
Rhett might have had some challenges with this VHS Tour, which included Dustin Lynch, Russell Dickerson and his dad, Rhett Akins, as his opening acts, but he is already plotting another similar tour in the future.
“I grew to love playing amphitheaters and hope to do a lot more of ’em in the future,” Rhett acknowledged. “And it’s been so fun to be able to bring my friends on tour with me, and I think for the future I just wanna bring people that I love being around, first and foremost, and if they have a great show that’s the cherry on top.”
Rhett doesn’t have another performance scheduled until April 24, 2020, at Stagecoach Festival, a three-day event he is headlining alongside Carrie Underwood and Eric Church. The Georgia native is likely choosing stay close to home until the birth of his third child, due in February.
Rhett is nominated for three CMA Awards: for Album of the Year (as artist and producer) for Center Point Road, and for Male Vocalist of the Year. The 2019 CMA Awards will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Photo Credit: Getty / Terry Wyatt
