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The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

Boots swaying in the air at Eric Church concert

In an interview last week, up-and-coming country singer Eric Church commented on his rebel attitude.

“I don’t care what the label thinks,” Church said. “I don’t care what radio thinks, I don’t care what fans think.” Church said that he simply plays what he likes to play, and lets the creativity flow.

If there was any doubt as to his rebellious ways, last Friday night at Chaifetz Arena made one thing very clear: Church does what Church wants.

And Church knows how to rock the house.

The self-proclaimed outlaw of country music has had nine Top 20 singles in his career. You’d think he would choose one of those to open the show on his first-ever headlining “Blood, Sweat and Beers Tour.”

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Nope. Church opened with the little-known song, “Country Music Jesus,” elevating from a hydraulic lift on the stage in front of flame torches and a massive American flag. He followed this introduction with “Guys Like Me,” a single from 2006, and “Pledge Allegiance to the Hag,” from his first album.

Something else became clear very quickly: this concert was for the fan. It was for true Eric Church fans— the ones who have liked his music from the beginning.

While he did play recent hits— including the popular “Homeboy,” his No. 1 single “Drink in My Hand,” and the current hit, “Springsteen” — it was obvious that Church had intended for this concert to be a “thank you” to his biggest and most loyal fans.

The sell-out crowd never sat down, and the energy in Chaifetz rivaled other big shows such as Lupe Fiasco and Blake Shelton.

Church was extremely high-energy, running and jumping around the stage and interacting with the crowd like a born performer. It is clear this guy loves what he does.

Church worked the St. Louis crowd with ease, mentioning past trips to The Pageant and his memories of the city. Before singing his hit single, “Love Your Love the Most” — a song that mentions his love for barbeque— Church said he had eaten at Pappy’s for the first time that day. “And it kicked my ass,” Church said, to the delight of 10,000 fans.

His set list included two covers: Hank Williams’ “Country Boy Can Survive” and The Band’s “Up on Cripple Creek.” More prominently, it included lesser-known Church songs that his fans would enjoy, like “Creepin’,” “Keep On” and “Jack Daniels.” Nearly every hit from his gold-certified album “Chief” found its way to the Chaifetz Arena speakers.

Church is an award-winning songwriter and has written or co-written every song on all of his albums. He is a perfect example of up-and-coming country artists, and his music may likely represent the future of the genre.

Both of St. Louis’ major country radio stations had booths at the concert, and people from around the community were in attendance. One Chaifetz Arena employee joked about the number of pickup trucks in the Olive Compton Garage on Friday afternoon— the show certainly attracted a huge outside audience.

And while it might be expected that Church would draw from a country crowd, it also made for the most moving part of the concert. During his encore, Church sang his anthem song “These Boots,” while thousands of people took off their boots and held them high in the air.

Church has always said that his boots are part of who he is. They inspire him to write songs. And seeing thousands of boots swaying in the crowd was certainly a sight to see.

(Check out The University News’ full interview with Eric Church at unewsonline.com.)

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