This past weekend I had the opportunity to see live for the first time my all time favorite artist, Eric Church. Expectations were high, as Church is known as one of the best live performers in country music history. Famous for putting on 3+ hour shows with no opener and high energy from start to finish, this Saturday night in Charlotte was no different. The concert got going just after 9pm, and 33 songs and three and a half hours later, all the expectations were not only blown away but sent to space. Eric Church is know as one of the outlaws of country music. He leans more towards the southern rock side of the genre while country music as a whole moves more towards pop. He writes almost all of his songs, and each one has witty and carefully crafted lyrics that tells a story or paints a picture. This is paired with an unreal melody and instrumentation. He opened up with his song “Stick That in Your Country Song” which set the tone for the entire night, up until when he ended his encore with a medley of classics of his first album. Highlights of the night included his big time hits “Smoke a Little Smoke,” “Drink in My Hand” (during which he always finds a shot Jack to take from the crowd), and “Springsteen,” while he walked through the crowd signing everything thrown at him and taking selfies.
Another hit, “These Boots,” always includes everyone in the crowd singing along while holding up one of their shoes or boots high in the air. Other top songs included more personal notes, like “Hippie Radio,” which talks about how he fell in love with music in the back of his dad’s old car when he was little. His parents were in attendance due to Church being a Carolina native. Which brings us to the another crowd pleaser, Carolina. It got the crowd roaring and throwing Carolina flags on stage as appreciation gifts for the artist. After 3.5 hours of rocking out, it’s safe to say this was by far the best concert I’ve seen live, and I highly recommend it to any true music fan whether you like country or not. Church is artist who puts everything he has into the show, relatively unheard of in today’s age, and one I think everyone should experience.
Set List
- Stick That In Your Country Song
- Country Music Jesus
- Heart on Fire
- That’s Damn Rock and Roll
- Drowning Man
- How Bout You
- Round Here Buzz
- Drink in my Hand
- Hell of a View
- Russian Roulette
- Pledge of Allegiance the Hag
- Homeboy
- Smoke a Little Smoke
- Knives of New Orleans
- Rock and Roll Found Me
- Carolina
- These Boots
- High Wire
- Mr. Misunderstood
- Hippie Radio
- Creepin’
- Cold One
- Desperate Man
- Talladega
- Jenny
- Like Jesus Does
- Give Me Back My Hometown
- Springsteen
- Some of It
- Record Year
- Sinners Like Me
- Chevy Van
- Love Your Love
- Hell on the Heart
- Those I’ve Loved Along the Way
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