Having consecutively sold out his past 11 shows, Eric Church added to the streak as he rolled into Rootstown, Ohio's Dusty Armadillo dance hall on March 29th. The Dusty's General Manager, Colleen Callahan told me the phone had been ringing off the hook for the past several days with fans that had been just a little too late in purchasing their $12 Golden Ticket to see this rapidly rising superstar. Colleen also told me this is only the second time in the Dusty's six year history of an artist selling out the 700 tickets available at each show, Neal McCoy having been the only other artist to do it. That's a pretty cool statistic considering the list of artists that have played there since the club opened it's doors in May of 2002. (Bucky Covington, Craig Morgan, Steve Holy, Joe Diffie among others.)
The Dusty's owner Shawn Martz has assembled a great staff, and has the club operating like a well oiled machine. All 700 guests are provided a safe, friendly and fun filled environment. It's no wonder why the club is always packed.
Country Radio's K105 program director, the one and only Dave Steele, who you'll usually find at the Dusty each and every Friday night during a live broadcast, introduced Eric to the crowd at sharply 10:00 PM. Having to NOT sit through a warm up band was a nice surprise, and with this crowd loving Eric the way they did it wasn't necessary in the least. His Choir Member Fan Club was there in full force with members having traveled from Mississippi, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan and I'm sure others I didn't get a chance to chat with. Many had attended the show the previous night in Columbus, Ohio making it a weekend long Eric-Fest.
His band took the stage first and gave the crowd a few licks from various rock tunes right before Eric made his appearance. Dressed in a nice fittin' pair of blue jeans, a form fitting black long-sleeved shirt and his famous pair of "These Boots," Eric arrived on the stage like fire being shot out of flamethrower performing a song I think was titled, "Ain't Killed Me Yet." The entire dance floor in front of the stage was jam-packed with fans squeezing in as close as they could get.
There's nothing fancy to Eric's shows yet. Like some of the most memorable legends (Waylon, Haggard, Cash and others), Eric lets the music and the lyrics speak to his fans. For the most part having lived what he writes, he feels the songs as he performs and what is most amazing is the way its relayed to and captured by the fans listening. "Two Pink Lines," "Can't Take It With You" and "Sinner's Like Me" were up next before Eric introduced his next song (being released to radio on April 14th and available at iTunes on April 22) "His Kind Of Money (My Kind Of Love)" is the first single from his sophomore album titled Carolina, due to be released sometime this fall. Eric said the song was written because of an experience he had during high school. He being in deep like of a girl who was in deep like with another guy's money.
As Eric and his band continued bringing the house down, we heard among others, "Pledge Allegiance To The Hag," "How 'Bout You" and a fan favorite sing-a-long, "Living Part Of Life." Eric also performed a new song called "Lotta Boot Left To Fill." It's an incredible piece he wrote as a respectful message to anyone even thinking about stepping into the boots of the great legends of Classic Country Music. It speaks volumes and I am so hoping it makes the new album. And speaking of the new album, Eric finished up with one more song from the disc, "Carolina." This one written to pay respect to his home state of North Carolina, and to let her know all the things he misses as he endures a life on the road pursuing his destiny of being a music man.
Eric left the stage briefly before coming back for a three song encore which included "Before She Does," "If You Wanna Get To Heaven (You've Got To Raise A Little Hell)" and the very first song that caught my attention of this incredibly gifted young song writer, "Lightning." Eric very rarely performs this song live, saving it for the rowdiest of crowds. Having seen him more times than I can count on both hands, it's only the second time I've had the pleasure of hearing it live. I think Eric was loving the Dusty crowd and I know for a fact, The Dusty Loves Eric.
Set List:
- Ain't Killed Me Yet
- Two Pink Lines
- Can't Take It With You
- Sinner's Like Me
- His Kind Of Money (My Kind Of Love)
- Pledge Allegiance To The Hag
- What I Almost Was
- No Longer Gone?
- Lotta Boot Left To Fill
- How 'Bout You
- Living Part Of Life
- These Boots
- Guys Like Me
- Carolina
- Encore:
- Before She Does
- If You Want To Get To Heaven (You've Got To Raise A Little Hell)
- Lightning
