Shinedown was forced to push their spring “Deep Dive Tour” to the late summer months due to the coronavirus pandemic, and frontman Brent Smith said those new dates are currently going to be happening as scheduled.
In a new interview, Smith said, “…As of right now, that’s all a go. So we’re not backing off of that rescheduled timeline. Obviously, our number one priority is the safety of the public, but we also want the public to know something from us to all of them out there: we are not afraid to play for you. We wanna do everything safely and we wanna go by the professionals in the medical community and what we’re gonna need to do, but you can’t stay inside forever.”
Smith continued, “Your immune system and everything about this virus, I want people to understand this, is that if you shelter at home for too long, it’s going to deplete your immune system. Obviously, people that are older, if they have pre-existing conditions or they have a compromised immune system, yes, we need to be extremely diligent with them and make sure that they’re safe. But for people that don’t have compromised immune systems, not being around people right now and not being back at work, that’s actually hindering your immune system. We have to get back out safely.”
Smith concluded, “We are doing everything in our power to make sure that when it is time for us to be able to do shows again, we want everybody to know when you come to a Shinedown show, you are coming to a safe environment; we would never put anyone’s health at risk. But that being said, you’ve got to maintain a level of — being healthy is also working out, eating right, taking certain supplements to help boost your immune system. Don’t be paralyzed by fear. You can’t allow that to happen, because then this invisible virus, however you wanna put it, then it begins to win. And we can’t allow that.”
Shinedown is currently raising funds for COVID-19 relief on their official store is a new t-shirt, and when purchased, fans will be able to download the unreleased track “Atlas Falls.” One hundred percent of the proceeds from sales will go to Direct Relief, which provides protective medical equipment like masks, exam gloves and gowns to hospitals in need.