Mr. Misunderstood Live: All Hail Chief Church

The "Chief" backed by a choir. (c) PipPepPop

     Most artists do not play a double set on their tour. Eric Church is not like most artists and Holdin' My Own is not like most tours. Church is a tough guy and a gracious performer. He invites the audience in for a party, even taking a camera under the stage to pour shots of Jack Daniels for the crew when singing an ode to the famous whiskey. My only complaint about the show up front is that time is "just a suggestion" as my mom once remarked about a late-starting event. Church was once thrown off the Rascal Flatts tour for playing a too-long opening set. They gave the spot to Taylor Swift and the rest is history. The show was scheduled to start at 8 P.M. at The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the world's most inconvenient arena.  At about 8:30 P.M., Church came to the stage. He still beat some of my friends to the show. (They appeared a few songs in, apparently held up on a long beer line.) The show ended after 11:30 P.M., and for those who know the NYC subway late night schedule, it took me a long time to get to the train station and catch the last train home of the night.

(c) PipPepPop

As a performer, Eric Church is not much of a talker. He hides behind a pair of defining aviator sunglasses,his expression always looking tough. When he does talk, he makes it count. He spoke of travelling and life on the road like he was talking to a friend. I felt like we were in an intimate venue a she casually walked the stage, singing into a microphone with a guitar dangling down his back. He played hits from his 2015 album Mr. Misunderstood with it's blusey radio hits Kill a Word and Record Year, and the title track, a rocking  tune about making dreams and finding his place in the world.

 When you think about me, do you think about seventeen?

Do you think about my old jeep, and about the stars in the sky?

It's funny how a memory sounds like a melody;

Like a soundtrack to a July Saturday night... 

Springsteen. 

     My favorite part of the concert was when Church began his 2012 stadium anthem, Springsteen.  This song is a tribute to the great king of Jersey rock and songs about dreamers. Church goes into the traditional Bruce Springsteen-like "Oh" chanting during the song. In this live version, he also went into a verse of Born to Run, forever enmeshing the two songs in my brain. It's a nostalgia tune for an old flame, and it has the heart of the Boss. As the stadium swelled, I cheered, I sang, and near-wept at the perfection of the performance.