Eric Church had no idea when he walked off the stage at CMA Fest that not everyone was pleased with his performance. The singer faced backlash later that he didn’t play some of his biggest hits, including fan-favorite, “Springsteen.” Instead, Church performed a cover of Big Feat’s “Sailin’ Shoes” during his abbreviated set, and performed new versions of both “Drink In My Hand” and “Bad Mother Trucker.”
Church had the headlining slot on Saturday, June 10, with fans taking to social media after his performance to share their disappointment. While they might have been surprised by his unexpected performance, no one was more surprised than Church that they didn’t think he had given his best.
“I was shocked because I played the show that I went out there to play,” Church told Rolling Stone. “We had a time slot and I went out there to play that slot and try to show a little bit, a peek, as to what I was working on for this tour. I’m not going to [reveal] everything, but I’m going to give a little peek of what this could be.”
While Church doesn’t take responsibility for the entirety of the things fans were upset about, he does say some of it was, unapologetically, his doing.
“There were a couple of production things that I was not responsible for — when the lights went up [at the end of the set], that wasn’t me,” Church said. “But for what I went to do, it was fast and hard. And the shows are that way.”
Church only played seven songs while performing at CMA Fest, all songs he intentionally chose to perform for the massive crowd, especially since his CMA Fest performance came right before he launched his The Outsiders Revival Tour. The North Carolina native hoped his CMA Fest performance would be the perfect segue to heading out on the road, and give fans a tease of what they could expect if they saw him on the road.
“All the songs are different,” Church explained. “All the songs were changed. It was punchy. I didn’t play ‘Springsteen,’ because I have a new version of ‘Springsteen.’ You’ve got to come to a show and see it.”
The father of two spent part of 2021 and 2022 on his Gather Again Tour, although the tour’s title might have been a slight misnomer. The pandemic meant all artists, including Church, had to change what the experience was like for their fans, making The Outsiders Revival Tour the chance to play some of his recent hits, at least the way he wants them to be played.
“The last tour was maybe my least favorite, because of Covid weirdness every night,” said the singer. “I never got to lean into the Desperate Man album and Heart & Soul. This time, we changed that. Most of [the set] is those two albums.
“If you’re coming to hear ‘Talladega’ and ‘Record Year,’ you ain’t gonna hear them,” he added. “There are a ton of songs people are leaving going, ‘He didn’t play his hits.’ And, no, we didn’t.”
Church’s life and career is currently being celebrated in a new exhibit, Eric Church: Country Heart, Restless Soul, open now at the Country Music Hall of Fame,
“This is an unbelievable honor for me,” Church said of his exhibit, at a reception celebrating its opening. “The people that I’ve loved and respect are here, and they’ve been very instrumental to me being here. I will say that there is something to doing it your own way, and you can still get to where you want to go if you do it that way.”
Church is joined on his The Outsiders Revival Tour by a rotating list of opening acts, including Ashley McBryde, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Parker McCollum, Travis Tritt, Midland and more. Find music and tour dates at EricChurch.com.