Eric Church Responds To Stagecoach Backlash
Eric Church headlined the main stage of Stagecoach on Friday (April 26th) and fans have mixed feelings about it.
Church surprised fans and went a more gospel route with his performance rather than playing the hits. Stagecoach goers had mixed reviews about the religious experience as they we’re expecting Church to play his songs rather than covers.
“This was the most difficult set I have ever attempted” Church said about his 2024 Stagecoach performance.
Church focused his set mostly on gospel classics like “Hallelujah,” “Take Me to the River,” and “Stand By Me” with the accompaniment of a 16 person choir.
Nearing the end of his set he threw in a handful of his originals such as “Country Music Jesus” and “Springsteen.”. Many fans did not make it to the end of his set as they were upset with most of it being covers.
People travel from all around the world to come to Stagecoach and see the hits from their favorite country artists. When Eric Church took his set in a different direction, many fans headed for the exit.
Many videos are circulating online of fans heading out part way thru Church’s set.
@tinaawilke Eric Church cant read the room…#stagecoach #ericchurchmusic
Eric Church has since responded to the backlash from his Stagecoach performance.
Church released a statement about his performance in a press release saying: “I’ve always found that taking it back to where it started, back to chasing who Bob Seger loves, who Springsteen loves, who Willie Nelson loves, you chase it back to the origin. The origin of all that is still the purest form of it. And we don’t do that as much anymore. It felt good at this moment to go back, take a choir and do that.”
“For me, it’s always been something with records, with performances, I’ve always been the one that’s like, ‘Let’s do something really, really strange and weird and take a chance.’ Sometimes it doesn’t work, but it’s okay if you’re living on that edge, because that edge, that cutting edge, is where all the new guys are going to gravitate to anyway. So if you can always challenge yourself that way, it always cuts sharper than any other edge,” Church said.
See a clip from Eric Church’s Stagecoach performance below…
@jgonella can someone just tell me why he thought this was the place for this #stagecoach #ericchurch #stagecoach2024 #fyp #gospelmusic