Undercover Chief: Watch Eric Church Go Incognito at His Own Concert

Currently traveling the country for his Free The Machine Tour, Eric Church recently stopped in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a concert. Taking over the Van Andel Arena, thousands of fans traveled to the city for a chance to see Church in person. Spending hundreds of dollars to see him perform, some even got the opportunity to spend time with the country star during his meet and greet. But just before the show was about to start, the singer decided to walk among his fans in the crowd. And shockingly, not a single person recognized him. 

As fans packed the arena for Church, he found himself presented with a bet. Apparently, the singer was offered $100 if he could make it around the concourse of his concert without being noticed. Taking the bet, Church walked around his concert without the use of any prosthetics or disguises. He simply wore a hat and even a shirt with his face on it. And to show just how oblivious fans were – he filmed the entire thing. 

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When discussing the bet, Church was somewhat shocked that fans didn’t notice him walking among them. “Today at 7:00 I put on eyeglasses. I put on my own shirt, had my face on it. I put on a Chief hat. And I made one lap around the concourse. Not one d**n one of you sons of b***hes recognized me. But I won my bet. I was walking around going, ‘Chief, let’s go Chief.’ Nobody.”

[RELATED: Eric Church Brings His Live Experience to IMAX With ‘Evangeline vs. The Machine’]

The Reason Behind Eric Church And His Sunglasses

Surprisingly, one person did notice the singer, but for the thousands of others Church walked by – they learned about the close call on social media. Although Church didn’t wear a disguise, he did explore the area without his signature sunglasses.

For any fan of Church, they know the singer loves to wear sunglasses on stage. It has become part of his persona. Yet, the hitmaker explained that his decision to wear the glasses had nothing to do with style. “I wear contacts, and I’m 6’3”, so on these little stages they have these par can lights. I’ve always had a condition with my eyes where they don’t lubricate real well. It’s not a big deal… until you put a contact in and stand in front of par can lights. So every night, I was losing a contact, I was losing both contacts.”

With Church trying to find a solution, a member of his band offered up an idea. “I was blind half the show. This went on for a while. Finally, one of my band members said, ‘Hey, have you thought about wearing shades tonight?’” 

That simple suggestion not only solved his problem – it sparked the creation of what would become Church’s unmistakable signature look.

(Photo by: Rosalind O’Connor/NBC via Getty Images)