Photo: Adrianna Casiano for iHeartRadio
Dan Smyers just explained why he and his duo partner opted to use a “+” in Dan + Shay.
Here’s a hint: it all makes sense on their arena tour.
Smyers and Shay Mooney kicked off Dan + Shay The (Arena) Tour, which included a stop at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The show included performances on an island stage in the middle of the floor, which the duo always dreamed would be shaped like a “+” to match their logo. Smyers explained:
“ever since we started this band, we’ve been made fun of for having a ‘+’ in our logo (among other things 🤠). the vision from day one was that, if someday we ever got to headline arenas, we’d have a ‘+’ stage in the middle of the floor and make it do all kinds of crazy stuff. this also kept us from using an ‘&’, because that would surely be a pain in the (a**) to build lol. at the time, it was such a long shot, but y’all have stuck by our sides through every bit of this journey, and here we are. the (arena) tour, sold out in philadelphia, pa…thanks for making this dream come true.”
Smyers shared the explanation on Instagram with a series of photos showing “all kinds of crazy stuff” the band could do with the stage shaped like a “+” that they envisioned years ago. The post also includes a screenshot of the “original logo email,” dated May 28, 2013.
Before they started playing shows, Dan + Shay also shared a throwback video of their first show together nearly a decade ago. It was in Austin, Texas, and they played for an audience of fewer than five people. Dan + Shay “were just two songwriters who loved country music and wanted to sing for whoever would listen, so we hopped in a car and drove through the night to get there.”
The duo released their fourth full-length project, Good Things, last month. Before it dropped, they said they considered it their “best album yet.”
Check out Dan + Shay’s “+” stage here: