Eric Church Takes On The Machine During Night One Of Three Red Rocks Shows

The machine would have hated what happened at Red Rocks last night.

Eric Church was at the iconic venue in Colorado last night for the first in a three night run of shows, each one different than the other. Last night’s show, billed as Eric Church vs. The Machine, featured not only Eric and his band, along with longtime duet partner and background vocalist Joanna Cotten, but a full orchestra, horn section and choir. Altogether there were 21 people on stage behind Eric, ready to take on the “machine” of the music business head on.

And that’s exactly what they did.

The machine would never open a show by playing their new album front to back without stopping. But that’s exactly what Eric Church did when he took the stage with “Hands of Time,” the leadoff track from his latest album Evangeline vs. The Machine, and the music didn’t stop until the final notes of his Tom Waits cover “Clap Hands.” And despite the fact that the album was just released two months ago, the crowd knew every word. Score one for Eric against the machine.

@whiskeyriff

@Eric Church #whiskeyriff #redrocks #handsoftime

♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff

The machine would also never play a show that left out some of their biggest hits. There was no “Drink In My Hand,” no “Talladega,” no “Record Year,” and not even “These Boots,” despite the requests from the guy next to me after every song. Instead, Church dug down deep into his catalog for songs like “Creepin’,” “Knives of New Orleans,” and “Mistress Named Music.” Nobody in the sold out crowd seemed to mind though. Eric was the leader of the choir, and all 10,000 people there where more than happy to follow him wherever he wanted to go.

He did play a few of his big hits – but even those weren’t the way the machine would have told him to play them. The orchestra and choir remained on stage as he kicked things up with “Desperate Man,” appropriately marveled at the setting during “Hell Of A View,” and even remixed “Smoke A Little Smoke” with the Al Green classic “Take Me To The River.”

@whiskeyriff

@Eric Church #whiskeyriff #redrocks #ericchrurch #smokealittlesmoke #takemetotheriver

♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff

The knockout blow to the machine, though, came after Church wrapped up the main portion of his set with a performance of “Springsteen,” which featured a saxophone solo and ended with Eric taking off his glasses to soak in the majestic view in front of him.

For an encore, Church kicked things off with an acoustic version of “Lynyrd Skynyrd Jones,” from his 2021 album Heart & Soul. He admitted that the idea to play that one came to him that afternoon, and seemed relieved after he got through it. He then kept things stripped back, bringing the band back onto the stage for a laid back version of “Holdin’ My Own.”

As Eric explained to the crowd, it was his first time playing Red Rocks since 2016, when his youngest son was still a baby, and he wanted to play that song on night one with his family there. And by the end of the song, he removed his signature sunglasses to wipe the tears from his eyes.

He then wrapped things up, not with a bang, but with a knockout blow to the machine, ending the night with “A Man Who Was Gonna Die Young,” just him and his guitar.

The machine never stood a chance.

During one of the rare moments that he addressed the crowd, Church explained that Red Rocks was his favorite venue in the world to play, and he wanted to capture the moment in music:

“This place has seen the greatest music from the greatest artists of all time. And music still means everything to me. It’s not in the background. That it what tonight’s about. I haven’t been here in 9 years, so it’s going to be all about the music and all about the journey.”

And what a journey it was. It seems like most of the crowd made the journey to Colorado with him from all over the country. At one point, during “Darkest Hour,” there was even a flag from his home state of North Carolina being held up a few rows in front of me in the crowd.

I also can’t talk about the night without mentioning opener Stephen Wilson Jr. The crowd may have been there to see Eric Church, but by the end of his set the stands at Red Rocks were filled with fans of one of country music’s most underrated new artists.

Church still has two more shows at Red Rocks this week. Tonight’s show will feature Church and his regular band, while tomorrow is just him and his guitar.

But last night was all about taking on the machine, that soulless entity that puts constraints on artists and their music.

And it was clear last night at Red Rocks that the machine never stood a chance.

 The post Eric Church Takes On The Machine During Night One Of Three Red Rocks Shows first appeared on Whiskey Riff.