With an American Flag scarf given by a fan hanging loosely around his neck on night two-of-three as the band finished “Springsteen,” the sunglass-clad superstar had just downed an airplane bottle of Jack, and was clearly living in the moment as much as the audience as he grinned and acknowledged, “2012 broke out in here real quick.” It was a statement that both acknowledged the jubilance as well as the journey that Eric Church embarked on 20 years ago.
Earlier this week, arriving at the venue for the first time in nine years, Church joked with his crew, “I was a younger man the last time I walked this ramp.” Between reminiscing of his youngest son first attending in a Baby Bjorn and headphones to now standing side stage for “Holdin’ My Own,” Church’s teary eyes reflected the magnitude of the moment and mirrored its lyrics – “If the world comes knocking, Tell ‘em I'm not home, I'm finally holdin’ my own” – holding the crowd right along with him.
“The thing about these shows is you can’t really plan for or manufacture what happens. Either a night, a moment, a show or a melody captures it, or it doesn’t, and this week, every night – and I mean this – for me, it was magic,” Church shared after.
From staying up until 4:22 a.m. on night one and brilliantly deciding during the late-night celebration to add covers on night two like “Gimme Shelter” (during which longtime cohort Joanna Cotten mouthed to him sarcastically in between Merry Clayton’s chorus, “you son of a...”), to being so moved that he debuted a song, “New Old Me,” written that very afternoon on night three, his three-night stint was a creative filled sabbatical in Colorado.
Monday delivered a full-scale production, with a complete horns and strings sections plus a choir for Eric Church vs. The Machine. He played the entire Evangeline vs. The Machine album front to back – and then played 14 more songs. There were some favorites, including “Knives of New Orleans,” and there were some rarities, including “Lynyrd Skynyrd Jones” outside the state of Alabama for only the second time in the last three years.
“I’ll see you in another nine years,” Church told the crowd at the conclusion of the evening. Then he chuckled. “Nah, I’m just kidding,” he said. “Shit, I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
Photo Credit: Anthony D’Angio
Indeed, with his masterful road crew tearing down that extremely complicated set and loading in a completely new one over the course of just a couple hours, the stage was set for night two – Eric Church vs. The ECB – to make its own mark. It was quickly clear that he and the ECB weren’t just playing the songs that have defined the past two-decades – you could see them living those moments again, too. They started playing “Lotta Boot Left to Fill” in Denver at the Grizzly Rose in November of 2006. Tuesday night, it was back.
“Damn, we were punks,” Church laughed at the conclusion of the song. But he also knew that being a punk is occasionally what navigated him through a career that has never been stereotypical, and also a key reason why he was standing in the spotlight at a sold-out Red Rocks. “Sorry,” he told the crowd with a grin, “I’m enjoying that more than I should.”
Except for “Springsteen” – which still came with a different “Born To Run” intro, because Church just can’t help but push himself to deliver something new with each performance – each of the 23 songs was different on Tuesday, making for 45 different songs played over the first two nights alone.
And yet, there was still one more show to come, with Wednesday’s finale delivering an epic clash of Eric Church vs. The Guitar. The scene was set early, with a heavy rain setting in just before Church took the stage and making for an incredible setting as he opened with the instantly recognizable first few chords of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” immediately letting the crowd know they were in for one of those special nights that wouldn’t soon be forgotten.
The rain came and went initially, but then it unloaded around 11 p.m. It happened to coincide with Church breaking into a 12-song medley in the middle of “Record Year.” By the time he got to the sixth song of the medley, “Tiny Dancer,” it was pouring. In “Through My Ray-Bans,” there’s a line that says, “Tonight we don’t give a damn.” By the time Church and Cotten finished “Like Jesus Does,” it was a borderline monsoon, and this crowd decided they absolutely, positively did not give a damn.
The unscripted backdrop of the night enabled Church to give a performance that instantly goes into his career pantheon. You will never be able to make a list of best Eric Church shows without the Red Rocks rain show in 2025. Likewise, you may not be able to make a list of most memorable Red Rocks shows from any artist without including the Eric Church rain show of 2025. Late in the show, long past midnight and nearly 30 minutes after Church had finished the night’s planned set list and was completely improvising, every single seat was filled as the house lights turned on to illuminate the crowd singing along to “Talladega.” At 12:25 a.m. on a Wednesday, in miserable conditions, there wasn’t a visible empty seat anywhere.
In total, he played 32 songs plus that 12-song medley, putting the total at 44 for the nearly two and a half hours he was on stage (and nearly 100 over the three days). Across the unique trilogy of performances, members of the Church Choir also got a sneak peek at the format of his upcoming Free the Machine Tour that kicks off Sept. 12 in Pittsburgh, Pa., as Church will meld what fans saw across three nights at Red Rocks into one show with robust musical arrangements, original band rock outs and powerful stripped configurations of his catalog.
“You don’t want nights like these to end, and I think that’s what I chase,” adds the North Carolina native. “Everyone who comes to our shows knows what I mean and it’s why they chase it, too.”
Fans can relive all three nights by re-watching the trilogy of livestreams exclusively on Nugs, now through July 27.
For more information, visit EricChurch.com and follow on Facebook and Twitter/X @ericchurch and Instagram@ericchurchmusic.
Free the Machine Tour
Sept. 12 || Pittsburgh, Penn. || PPG Paints Arena || Elle King
Sept. 13 || Columbus, Ohio || Nationwide Arena || Elle King
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 Godwin