Chief Season

It never stops.

That’s one of the very best things about spending time in the Eric Church universe, where something is always happening. Maybe there are residency shows at Chief’s or a new song to release or a quick benefit concert for 80,000 people to plan or 100 homes to build in Western North Carolina. But it is never boring.

There is absolutely no off-season. This is unfamiliar to those of us who spend a lot of time in the sports world, where it’s either in season or out of season, and there is a substantial difference in intensity and the pace of life.

It is always Chief season. Wednesday night was a reminder of that. It was cold and rainy all day in Nashville. The weather was more “Lightning” than “Springsteen.” You understand.

Stores have up their Christmas decorations. There were as many scarves as sequins on Broadway, and in the middle of the week, it was too early for the bachelorettes to be in town and too late for last weekend’s crowd to still be lingering.

Across the street from Chief’s, the sounds of a below-average cover of “Drink In My Hand” were blasting through the open windows. It felt like it might be that kind of night, just a normal November Wednesday.

But Eric Church knows no offseason. And by the time he took the stage at the Neon Steeple around 45 minutes after that cover blared across the street, the sold out crowd was ready for peak, in-season Church.

Over seven months after it opened, this is still a pilgrimage destination. It’s why diehards like Kim Gammon made the trip from Virginia for her 21st Church show. She only had one ticket but had the faint flicker of hope that she might find another one for her son, Jordan Mitchell, to attend his very first Eric Church concert.

Let’s be clear: this almost never happens. Tickets to this show are golden. It takes a Choir membership and extreme luck in the ticket lottery and dates that fit with your schedule and, well, open seats just don’t happen. Ever.

But Kim, who had been at Chief’s all day asking everyone she saw about extras, didn’t know how to give up. She asked Chief’s employee Candace if for any reason a ticketholder hadn’t shown up. Again: this never happens.

Except for today. A fan from North Carolina, TJ, had a plus-one who couldn’t attend. Candace said she’d call Kim if he turned back up and was still missing a guest. Later in the day, Kim got the call: TJ was back, and he needed someone to use his now-available ticket. Jordan would be attending his very first Eric Church show.

Kim did what anyone would do in that situation: hugged Candace, hugged TJ, and shrieked. She understood the meaning of this moment. She has multiple tattoos that feature Church lyrics, plus a tattoo of Church’s face. This is serious.

“I could write a book on what he means to me,” she said. “His music speaks to my soul on another level that words can’t describe. His shows take me to another world that I never want to leave.”

Wednesday night, for the first time, she got to experience one of those shows with Jordan. And it was a memorable one. This wasn’t a Wednesday crowd. This was a group of singers. Not sinners—well, given the circumstances, probably that also—but singers. By the time they were singing “I pledge allegiance to the Hag” with Church, it could have been the middle of July outside.

The beauty of going to an Eric Church show: even almost two dozen shows into the residency, he’s still making tweaks. Wednesday night included just the second time he’s played “Darkest Hour” at Chief’s, and it received a lengthy standing ovation from the crowd.

A more subtle change happened on stage, where for the first time he played an Olson Guitar. That’s the preferred model of James Taylor, and the two artists discussed the instruments during preparations for the Concert for Carolina. Two weeks after that landmark event, Church was playing an Olson onstage at Chief’s.

Learn more about the unique guitars Church uses at Chief’s.

That’s the type of unpredictability that makes every show worthwhile, no matter how many you’ve seen before. It’s why Kim Gammon had spent weeks trying to score an extra ticket.

And after the over two-hour performance, what did she think?

“I am speechless,” she said. “It was a spiritual experience, to say the least.”

Of course it was. It’s Chief season.