Beech Tree News Network

I went to Church on my birthday.  Okay, I went to see Eric Church at Bridgestone Arena on my birthday this past Saturday.  It was his second show at Bridgestone and the final show on his Holdin’ My Own tour.  The reason for that tour name? He played two sets with a short 20 minute break between the first and second.  He had no opening act.  How big were these shows? Friday’s show broke the attendance record for Bridgestone Arena.  Saturday night, we broke the record set the night before!

He started the Saturday show with a lone spotlight shining on a mic stand while the late Chris Cornell’s version of the late Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” played over the speaker.  His two sets were compromised of him playing 42 songs for a total of 4 hours.  He played all of his hits, plenty of deep tracks spanning his entire 11 year career, from his  2006 debut, Sinners Like Me, to his latest, 2015’s Mr. Misunderstood.  

He also paid tribute to the late Merle Haggard with his song “I Pledge Allegiance To The Hag”, as well as the late Gregg Allman, who passed away earlier that day, with one of my favorites “Midnight Rider”.  This was, and this isn’t hyperbole, one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.  Eric’s show was right up there with the John Fogerty show I saw at the Ryman years ago.  

Tickets were a gift from my sister and brother-in-law. Major props to them both for such an awesome birthday gift! This was only the second concert in which I had floor seats.  It was cool, figuratively and literally, because the Nashville Predators are playing in their first Stanley Cup Final(their first in their 18 year history).  Are you an Eric Church fan and wish you could see some of those performances? “Midnight Rider”, “Smoke A Little Smoke”, “Mistress Named Music”, “Kill A Word”, “Give Me Back My Hometown” are available from Saturday’s show.  There are also several available from Friday’s show.  I’ll certainly be watching these performances as well as some of the other performances from both Nashville shows and other recent shows.  It was a great show and a great birthday!