Eric Church canceled his concert in San Antonio this past Saturday night so that he could attend the NCAA Final Four matchup between his beloved North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke. While Church explained his decision, one of his fellow Country artists isn’t buying it.
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Church shocked fans when he made the announcement and tried to be amicable when explaining his decision. “As a lifelong Carolina basketball fan, I’ve watched Carolina and Duke battle over the year but to have them matchup in the Final Four for the first time in history of the NCAA Tournament is any sports enthusiast’s dream,” he said in a statement at the time.
“This is also the most selfish thing I’ve ever asked the Choir to do: to give up your Saturday night plans with us so that I can have this moment with my family and sports community. However, it’s that same type of passion felt by the people who fill the seats at our concerts that makes us want to be part of a crowd at a game of this significance. Woody Durham always said, ‘Go where you go and do what you do.’ Thanks for letting me go here and be with the Tar Heels.”
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Naturally, Church got some pushback from disappointed fans. However, he’s also caught flack from some of his Country peers.
Travis Tritt took to Twitter and slammed Church’s decision to cancel. “Over the years I’ve missed friends and family’s weddings, funerals, family reunions and a bunch of other events I would have loved to have attended because I was booked for shows,” he wrote. “I don’t think I could ever get by with canceling a show because I wanted to watch sports.”
Jason Aldean also criticized Church telling E! News it was “a tricky question because Eric is a friend of mine.”
“I’m a diehard Georgia Bulldogs fan, and Atlanta Braves, so I understand somewhat where he’s coming from,” he said.
“I don’t know that I could cancel a show to make it to a game. I feel like people are buying a ticket to see your show, you kinda have to hold up your end of the deal on that. But I know Eric’s a huge basketball, Carolina fan. And I don’t want to dive into that too much, but I don’t think I would feel good if I did that so I don’t know if I could pull it off.”
Church has since announced a free show for tickets holders to his cancelled concert in San Antonio, promising a "one of a kind" experience.
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