After Eric Church‘s performance at CMA Fest in June, fans reacted with outrage online. Some fans complained that the country music star did not play many of his most popular hits and that his set was fairly short. Church recently shared his feelings on the harsh reactions he faced online.
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“I was shocked because I played the show that I went out there to play,” Church told Rolling Stone. “We had a timeslot 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,” Church continued. “And 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. But for what I went to do, it was fast and hard. And the shows are that way.”
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As for the song choice at the CMA Fest performance, Church stated that he wanted didn’t want to spoil any surprises that his headlining shows will contain. “All the songs are different,” he said. “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.”
He also discussed what to expect from his Outsiders Revival Tour. “The last tour was maybe my least favorite, because of Covid weirdness every night,” he added. “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,” Church continued. “If you’re coming to hear ‘Talladega’ and ‘Record Year,’ you ain’t gonna hear them. There are a ton of songs people are leaving going, ‘He didn’t play his hits.’ And, no, we didn’t.”
The “Heart On Fire” singer added, “This tour won’t be replicated. Once it’s done, we won’t do this again.”
(Photo Credit: Anthony D’Angi / Courtesy EB Media)
