Country music’s new king, for now at least, is Eric Church. Upon taking the stage before a capacity crowd of just as hade under 21,000, Eric sported a baseball hat and mirrored sunglasses that are now becoming his trademark look. This is the most packed I have seen a show at Darien Lake in at least 10 years! This was a makeup date for the county station WYRK that was held at Coca Cola Field on June 1st, 2012. Due to high winds and a storm that passed through right before Eric was about to take the stage, it was postponed due to the unsafe conditions. Of course fans were upset when the show was postponed (I guess most don’t pay attention to the news and haven’t seen what happened at Sugarland’s show last summer) but Church made sure that his fans in Western New York were not disappointed and made good on his promise to return.
If the crowd wasn’t on their feet already, the track “How ‘Bout That” put them there for sure. The backdrop was the title track to Eric’s last album titled “Chief.” Eric’s set contained what a good rock show should have; smoke, fireworks, and lots of women screaming adoration for him! When you have a song called “Jack Daniels,” then one must take a swig from the bottle as a toast to the crowd I would assume? The band did just that and went into the song and right into “Hungover and Hard Up.” Eric played some banjo on “Creepin,” his latest single off of “Chief,” and my personal favorite of the evening’s performance.
With the number one county song in the land, which is an ode to his childhood hero, “Springsteen” he got the biggest reaction and it was a great way to close a memorable set. Church and his band have played the area a lot since his start in 2005, and his love and admiration for the fans in WNY continues to grow with each and every performance!
Set List:
Country Music Jesus
Guys Like Me
Hell on the Heart
Pledge Allegiance to the Hag
How ‘Bout That
I’m Getting Stoned
Jack Daniels
Hungover and Hard Up
Creepin’
Keep On
Sinners Like Me
Love Your Love the Most
Drink in my Hand
Lotta Boot Left to Fill
Homeboy
Encore:
Smoke a Little Smoke
These Boots
Springsteen
We would like to thank Amanda French from EB Media for the photo pass for the show.
