Thomas Rhett recently wrapped up his Very Hot Summer Tour, which taught him a lot of new things about touring. He says, “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 and Luke and FGL.”
While some people might think playing indoor arenas isn’t much different from playing outdoor amphitheaters, Thomas would definitely disagree. He says, “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, I mean, this tour was called the Very Hot Summer Tour and it was very self-explanatory. Everywhere we went, like Hershey, Pennsylvania, we fried an egg on the thrust that day because it was like 110 degrees. 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.”
While learning to play outdoor amphitheaters was a challenge for Thomas, by the end of the tour, he says, “I grew to love playing amphitheaters and hope to do a lot more of ‘em in the future.”
Also, Thomas got to spend his Very Hot Summer with Dustin Lynch, Russell Dickerson and his dad, Rhett Akins, opening for him, and he says, “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.”
Thomas will spend the rest of the year writing songs, which he never stops doing, promoting his latest single, “Remember You Young,” and preparing his touring plans for 2020, which will include headlining one night of Southern California’s huge three-day Stagecoach Music Festival for the first time in April 2020.
Thomas Rhett – learned from VHS Tour :47
“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 and Luke and FGL. 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, I mean, this tour was called the Very Hot Summer Tour and it was very self-explanatory. Everywhere we went, like Hershey, Pennsylvania, we fried an egg on the thrust that day because it was like 110 degrees. 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. But I grew to love playing amphitheaters and hope to do a lot more of ‘em in the future. 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.”