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Post by K. on Oct 17, 2014 7:21:02 GMT -5
Going to the show tonight at Madison Square Garden. Opening acts are Dwight Yoakam and Brandy Clark. Very excited!
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Post by K. on Oct 19, 2014 7:07:51 GMT -5
Well, I had a ton of fun. Brandy Clark started out. I have her album 12 Stories, which I love. She is such an amazing songwriter, and has such a relaxing voice. Unfortunately, due to mic or enunciation issues I could only understand about 1 word in 3 from her, but I didn't mind much. We also had weird seats, in this kind of recess with a low overhang above us and a wall on one side cutting off part of the view of the stage, so it's possible the acoustics were to blame for the problem.
Dwight Yoakam was next. Kind of a weird pairing for an Eric Church concert, but it did mean that it was a very diverse audience (aka old). A lot of people were clearly there just for him, and left shortly after he finished. He played a full set. I respect Yoakam's contributions to music over the course of his four decade career, but I personally just found him set boring and was eager for it to be over. He enunciated even worse than Brandy -- I understood maybe 1 in 20 words he said. And he mostly stayed still at the mic except for a few guitar breaks where he'd kind of shimmy around for a minute. All of his songs sounded the same. I like older country artists like Dolly Parton, Glen Campbell, etc., but just couldn't get into his stuff.
Ok, on to Church. This guy is just awesome. It was interesting to compare him to Luke Bryan, who I also like and saw in concert last month. While Luke and so many other country stars are "bros" who like rocking out, this guy is a f**king rock star. He's got such intensity on the stage, and is just so damn cool 100% of the time. His music is also so far ahead of his contemporaries it's not even funny. "Springsteen" is one of my favorite songs of this decade, if not ever. I don't have any particular connection or affinity for Bruce, but it doesn't matter. The song captures palpably this universal sense of nostalgia -- if you're a little older like me I think it's impossible not to feel affected by it. I don't know I've ever gotten emotional at a concert before, but I did feel a little bit emotional listening to that song.
He played for a very long time. 25 songs before the encore. With Brandy and Dwight, it was essentially a 4.5 hour show. Benefit of going to Madison Square Garden is the artists always want to soak it in, so you get better sets from them. :) I've highlighted my favorites.
1. The Outsiders 2. Creepin' 3. Guys Like Me 4. Carolina 5. I'm Getting' Stoned 6. Talladega 7. Pledge Allegiance to the Hag 8. Drink in My Hand 9. The Hard Way 10. Jack Daniels 11. Cold One 12. That's Damn Rock & Roll 13. Give Me Back My Hometown 14. Homeboy 15. Dark Side 16. Devil, Devil 17. Country Music Jesus 18. Smoke a Little Smoke 19. Sinners Like Me 20. Over When It's Over 21. Wrecking Ball 22. Roller Coaster Ride 23. Lotta Boot Left to Fill 24. These Boots 25. Born in the USA/Springsteen
26. Lightning
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