Eric Church is serious, y’all.
In 2014, Church respectfully gathered 13,000+ into Wells Fargo Arena. Thursday evening, he completely sold the building out with fans surrounding him on all sides. Church has continued to be one of the biggest stars in country music and he continues to do it with that kind of charm that makes you feel like you could go out and have a beer with him and it’d be like being with your best buddy.
When Church was last in Des Moines, he was joined by country music legend Dwight Yoakam. It’s hard to go backward with an opening act, so this time around on his 2017 “Holdin’ My Own Tour,” Church had no opener and carried the load of the whole show himself with two full sets, split by one intermission.
Church took the stage after playing Jeff Buckley’s cover of the late Leonard Cohen classic, “Hallelujah” with a single spotlight on a microphone stand. It was poignant, yet slightly somber start to Church’s 3+ hour marathon that was about to begin.
Taking the stage in his trademark black leather jacket and aviators, Church took a bit to really get the crowd into a proper frenzy as he opened with “Mistress Named Music.” For “Country Music Jesus,” Church invited a choir from North High School to sing backup vocals. While a great honor and undoubtedly exciting for the students, you could say they were on stage for a “hot minute” as they sang one chorus, then were just as quickly ushered off stage.
The pace of the show picked up as Church played his hit, “Drink In My Hand” to a raucous singalong from the crowd. Other songs like “Pledge Allegiance to the Hag” and the first set’s closer, “Smoke a Little Smoke” kept the concert upbeat and fun.
Church really seemed to start having fun during the night’s second set. Shedding his leather jacket, Church seemed much more enthusiastic and eager to roam the large stage that surrounded a general admission pit that oddly received little love from the singer for much of the night.
Church kept the banter to a minimum for much of the night save for the occasional “how we doin?'” and “y’all still with me?” One of the show’s moments of levity came during Church’s anthem, “Jack Daniels” when he and a cameraman went into the stage’s underbelly and poured a few shots of the Tennessee whiskey for a few of his waiting crew members. Church himself got to take a pull from the bottle.
Eric Church still seems like he’d be right at home in a Nashville honky-tonk as much as he is in an arena like Wells Fargo Arena. The 2017 “Holdin’ My Own Tour” is a pretty no-frills tour that focuses on the music and Eric Church’s powerful persona. If you go to an Eric Church show and you’re not having a good time, you’re just not trying hard enough.
SETLIST
Set One
Mistress Named Music
Country Music Jesus
The Outsiders
Knives of New Orleans
Drink in My Hand
Carolina
How ‘Bout You
Livin’ Part of Life
Cold One
Round Here Buzz
Mr. Misunderstood
Talladega
Like a Wrecking Ball
Pledge Allegiance to the Hag
Smoke a Little Smoke
Set Two
Ain’t Killed Me Yet
Guys Like Me
Lotta Boot Left to Fill
Record Year
Homeboy
Chattanooga Lucy
Two Pink Lines
Kill a Word
The Ballad Of Curtis Loew
Broke Record
Chevy Van
Give Me Back My Hometown
Jack Daniels
Before She Does
Mixed Drinks About Feelings
Creepin’
Three Year Old
Keep On
These Boots
Springsteen
Encore:
Holdin’ My Own
