If Eric Church ever decided that he wanted to do an acoustic tour, I would be the first in line for tickets.
Not that he really needs to. The Chief is currently on his rockin’ Gather Again Tour and has already sold over $7 million in tickets in 2022 alone – and it’s only February.
But over the years we’ve gotten some tastes of Church on stage solo with just his guitar, and it’s as good as it gets.
There was, of course, his epic 30-minute, 17-song “Mistress Named Music” medley at CMA Fest a few years ago.
And a few years ago, when his entire crew got a stomach flu before the show and weren’t able to set up the video and lights, and also sidelined some of his band, he decided to press on with the show and delivered an entirely-acoustic arena concert in front of some lucky fans.
And more recently, Eric had to perform two stripped-down shows in Pennsylvania after COVID hit his band.
Eric’s “Mistress Named Music” medleys, where Chief mixes covers of some classic rock and country songs into an acoustic medley, have become a fan favorite.
But at his show in Louisville, Kentucky last night, Church decided to break out an acoustic medley of his own songs this time.
After wrapping up the concert with a full-band version of “Through My Ray Bans,” Eric treated fans to an encore featuring just a man and his guitar, and he saved some of his best songs for the fans who stuck around.
He opened the encore with an acoustic version of my favorite Eric Church song, “Sinners Like Me,” before launching into fan-favorite “Carolina.”
But then Chief stumbled a bit when he tried to move into the next song, another single from the Carolina album, “Hell on the Heart.”
He started off strong before abruptly forgetting the words around the second line, admitting to the crowd:
“I don’t know that one that well.”
Church brushed it off quick though, joking:
“That is when your spirit is very strong but the flesh is weak, right there.”
And of course Chief has never been one to shy away from breaking out songs that he doesn’t sing very often and sometimes forgetting the words – which is completely understandable when your catalog is as big as his and you change up your setlist every single night to break out some deep cuts that fans still want to hear.
Church recovered quickly from the brief memory lapse though, and finished out the medley with his version of “Chevy Van” from his 2011 Caldwell County EP, “Those I’ve Loved,” and “Love Your Love the Most.”
There aren’t many artists who have enough hits to play an entire full-band show and still have enough fan-favorites for a six-song acoustic medley as an encore (well, technically five and a half I guess…).
But if there’s one artist who could pull of an entire acoustic arena tour, it’s without a doubt Eric Church.
And with the way he keeps pulling surprises out of his hat to keep his tours fresh, it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s something we saw later on down the road.
