Eric Church Says Kenny Chesney Called Him “F****** Nuts” For Opening A Show With ‘Springsteen’

It’s no stretch to say that Eric Church has never done things conventionally throughout his career. From threatening to walk away from his label if they didn’t release his 2010 single, “Smoke a Little Smoke” and surprise-dropping his Grammy-nominated album, Mr. Misunderstood, directly to his fan club before the general public and press to cancelling his 2022 San Antonio show to watch the Duke-UNC Final Four matchup, there’s no doubt that the “Springsteen” singer has done things his own way.

Over the weekend, Church kicked off his highly anticipated Free The Machine Tour in Pittsburgh and Columbus to great success. Per usual, he took the time to deliver some standout moments, most notably his reflection on the state of the country following the murder of Charlie Kirk on September 10th.

Delivering an impomtu performance of his 2019 single, “Monsters,” Church touched on the fact that there’s a constant battle between good and evil in the world:

“It was a tough week for America. And I was thinking about a song, and it wasn’t something I was gonna play tonight, but I remember very vividly my three-year-old son. He came to me when he was three.

He was like, ‘Hey, there’s a monster underneath my bed.’ We went in; we prayed. And I said, ‘There’s no monster there.’ But I remember walking out of his room and thinking, ‘Man, if we only had to worry about the monsters underneath the bed.

It’s the other monsters in the world [that we have to worry about]. I didn’t plan to do this tonight. I don’t know how this is gonna go. We’ve never done it this stripped down, but we’re gonna give it a try. This is ‘Monsters.’” 

Thankfully, he also provided some lighter moments throughout the set (something I think we all need right now). In a surprise move, he played “Springsteen” nearly midway through the show, a rarity given that the 8x platinum smash hit typically serves as either a concert closer or part of the encore.

Introducing the song, Church shared a hilarious story with Kenny Chesney when he was touring with the “Summertime” singer back in 2013 on the No Shoes Nation Tour.

As you can imagine, that was pretty early in Church’s career purely from a popularity standpoint. Though Chief had released to incredible commerical and critical success and its singles, “Springsteen” and “Drink In My Hand” went #1, he wasn’t quite at the same level of stardom he’s at today. At that point, those were likely the two songs most casual fans knew.

In typical Church fashion, he decided to start his set at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh not with a safe, upbeat opener like his previous  Top 20 hit, “How ‘Bout You” or even the aforementioned “Smoke A Little Smoke.” Instead, he decided to start the show off with none other than “Springsteen:”

“I remember the first time I went out and opened for Kenny Chesney at Heinz Field… I walked out there, and I’m full of myself, right? We just had this big ‘Chief’ album, and I’m like, ‘You know what I’m gonna start with? I’m gonna start with ‘Springsteen.’ It was the biggest hit we had.”

When he told Chesney about his plan, the soon-to-be Country Music Hall of Famer was absolutely baffled. Laughing at the notion, he proceeded to ask Church if he was crazy:

And I remember, I was talking to Kenny Chesney and he goes, ‘What are you opening with tonight?’ I said, ‘Springsteen…’ And he goes, ‘Are you f****** nuts?’ Yes [I am]… certifiably.”

Is it crazy? Yes. Is it a little risky to start an opening set with your biggest hit that might be the only song casual country fans know? Also, yes. However, if there’s one thing we clearly know about Church, he doesn’t really care about the norms of the pretty much anything revolving the genre. It’s what makes him who he is, and I, for one, wouldn’t want it any other way.

Watch him tell the story here:

@concertsin4k you won’t believe why Kenny Chesney called Eric Church “f*ckin’ nuts” — I loved his story breaks at opening night of his Free the Machine Tour!! @Eric Church @Kenny Chesney #ericchurch #freethemachinetour #ericchurchmusic #ericchurchconcert #countrymusic ♬ original sound – ConcertsIn4K

Eric Church Tour Dates

Sept. 18 || Philadelphia, Penn. || Wells Fargo Center || Elle King
Sept. 19 || Boston, Mass. || TD Garden || Elle King
Sept. 20 || Brooklyn, N.Y. || Barclays Center || Elle King
Sept. 25 || Green Bay, Wisc. || Resch Center || Marcus King Band
Sept. 26 || Milwaukee, Wisc. || Fiserv Forum || Marcus King Band
Sept. 27 || Des Moines, Iowa || Wells Fargo Arena || Marcus King Band

Oct. 2 || Detroit, Mich. || Little Caesars Arena || Marcus King Band
Oct. 3 || Lexington, Ky. || Rupp Arena || Marcus King Band
Oct. 9 || Indianapolis, Ind. || Gainbridge Fieldhouse || Marcus King Band
Oct. 10 || Grand Rapids, Mich. || Van Andel Arena || Marcus King Band
Oct. 11 || Cleveland, Ohio || Rocket Arena || Marcus King Band
Oct. 23 || Salt Lake City, Utah || Delta Center || Charles Wesley Godwin
Oct. 24 || Boise, Idaho || ExtraMile Arena || Charles Wesley Godwin
Oct. 25 || Spokane, Wash. || Spokane Arena || Charles Wesley Godwin

Nov. 6 || Vancouver, B.C. || Rogers Arena || Charles Wesley Godwin
Nov. 7 || Portland, Ore. || Moda Center || Charles Wesley Godwin
Nov. 8 || Seattle, Wash. || Climate Pledge Arena || Charles Wesley Godwin
Nov. 13 || Sacramento, Calif. || Golden 1 Center || Charles Wesley Godwin
Nov. 14 || Fresno, Calif. || SaveMart Center || Charles Wesley Godwin
Nov. 15 || Inglewood, Calif. || Intuit Dome || Charles Wesley GodwinThe post Eric Church Says Kenny Chesney Called Him “F****** Nuts” For Opening A Show With ‘Springsteen’ first appeared on Whiskey Riff.