Well, he didn’t die.
And for well over three hours on Thursday night, nearly every single one of the more than 15,800 Eric Church fans at Tampa’s Amalie Arena pledged allegiance to a chief who kept his faithful contingent on its feet until the final song of a three-song encore (“Sinners Like Me”) ended at at 11:50 p.m.
To say the two sets were a marathon would be an understatement (the men’s and women’s winners of last month’s Boston Marathon finished their races in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 37 seconds and 2 hours, 21 minutes, 52 seconds, respectively, if you need a comparison). No, what happened at this installment of Church’s “Holdin’ My Own” tour was a goddamn revelation. It was a 36-song spectacle. And it could make any mainstream country music skeptic a believer.
Playlist: Listen to every single song Eric Church played at Amalie Arena on May 4
Then again, Church — a North Carolina boy with a marketing degree from Appalachian State — doesn’t exactly fit in with mainstream country, does he?
Sure, he adores the Man In Black. Yes, he is a George Strait freak. Church’s first big break definitely arrived thanks to Capitol Records Nashville, too, but Mr. Misunderstood (who actually laments the rapid expansion of “Music City”) has always made his best work from the outside the fringes of the format most country artists like cozy up in. What Church did on Thursday night was just another reason why the guy who prefers his marijuana edible is cut from one of the more special cloths “radio country” has to offer.
There was no opener at the show, and Church wouldn’t need one. His stage, a crooked donut-shaped matte black runway, was adorned with about a dozen mics, but there was no band (they’d pop up out of the ground). The setup served as kind of an exercise loop for Church, who worked every angle of the arena like a man who saw every last one of his long lost cousins in the far reaches of the upper deck (it is truly a gift to connect with that part of an arena, and Church is like a Nashvegas Jesus when it comes making the entire room feel special). If the man wore a FitBit onstage, it would probably say he strutted far enough to get to Clearwater Beach and back…twice.
In Tampa, Eric Church took 304 tickets away from scalpers — but how?
And that was just it. Church, who celebrated his 40th birthday the day before his Tampa show, works hard. Like, incredibly and impossibly hard.
“I told myself I was gonna play longer in my 40s than I did in my 30s,” Church — who frequently sipped from a Jack Daniels and cola secured by a microphone stand drink holder, told the crowd. “You guys ready to go for a while tonight?”
They were.
Only a few languid faces showed themselves towards the end of the night, but nearly all of the performance featured spirited sing alongs (“Cold One,” “Drink In My Hand”) with a few tender moments (“Carolina,” “Round Here Buzz,” “Talladega”) complete with a little slow dancing in the seats. Every ounce of energy emitted by Church seemed to be upped by his fans, and Church — who kept talking about his days playing smaller rooms like Tampa’s Dallas Bull (where he apparently broke attendance and sales records back in '09) — seemed to want to take the night even further with every step. No one has to play as long as Church did in Tampa, but the “Springsteen” singer seems to have pulled a page out of the Boss’s book because you won’t find a soul who stayed until the end who would believe that Church actually wanted to leave that stage at all.
And who would want to?
His fans adore him. They wave boots (“These Boots”) and throw bras (“Lotta Boot Left To Fill”). They made a cover Church hadn’t really played (John Anderson’s “Seminole Wind”) feel like it was his song (wish we could’ve had some Pearl Jam or Mavis though, Eric). Fans even they paid respect where it was due (loud cheers for a photo of Merle Haggard after a take on “Pledge Allegiance to the Hag”).
Church was quick to acknowledge it, then pay it forward, at at every turn. It felt like half the setlist featured a lyric change to include the word “Tampa,” and pretty much every song came packaged with heartfelt high fives and handshakes between Church and fans close enough to get a whiff.
At one point in the evening Church even snuck off backstage (understage, really) to get some more “kryptonite.” He was actually lining up about 22 shots of Jack Daniels for his crew gathered down in the bowels of the stage. The set was so long that it was impossible to not feel endeared to the people standing beside, in front of, and behind you. Shit, a disco ball might’ve created a legit dance party during a very boogie-fied take on “Chattanooga Lucy.” Church would not let his fans forget why they were gathered in the monstrous room together either.
“This only happens because 25 of you come to see me and then tell 10 of your friends,” Church said at one point, “over the years it becomes this.”
At one point, before actually playing “Springsteen,” it sounded like Church said something about hoping his daddy would be proud of him. Hopefully pops has had a look at how far Church has come since that 2006 debut (Sinners Like Me) or his days at the divey Fiddle and Steel Guitar Bar in Nashville.
Don't think of Church as a radio country guy. Think of him more as an honest-to-goodness salt of the earth songwriter and storyteller trying to trailblaze through the pop country throes. Most of all, think of him as a cook as the Gratitude Cafe where he gives thanks to everyone who's helped him along the way.
Dad would be proud alright, and you’d have to be pretty damn cynical to not feel proud for Church, too.
Check out more photos from the show below, and listen to a playlist featuring every song Church played at Amalie Arena by clicking here.
Setlist
Intro — Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley)
Mistress Named Music (w/Freedom High School Choir)
That’s Damn Rock & Roll
The Outsiders
Knives of New Orleans
Drink In My Hand
Carolina
How ‘Bout You
Over When It’s Over
Cold One
Round Here Buzz
Mr. Misunderstood
Talladega
Like A Wrecking Ball
Pledge Allegiance To the Hag
Smoke A Little Smoke
[Intermission]
Ain’t Killed Me Yet
Guys Like Me
Lotta Boot Left To Fill
Record Year
Homeboy
Chattanooga Lucy
Two Pink Lines
Kill A Word
Seminole Wind (John Anderson)
I’m Getting Stoned
Give Me Back My Hometown
Jack Daniels
Before She Does
Mixed Drinks About Feelings
Creepin’
Three Year Old
These Boots
Springsteen
—
Holdin' My Own
What I Almost Was
Sinners Like Me
