Fairfax and Charlottesville Review

FTHIV already posted an EXCELLENT review of the Charlottesville show. . .if you haven't read it yet, do so as he posts the setlists for Justin Moore and EC.

The sets were identical from night to night but FTHIV didn't have Kip Moore's setlist so here it is:

Crazy One More Time
Down South
Reckless
Beer Money
Hey Pretty Girl
Fly Again
Somethin' 'Bout a Truck

I tend to review shows a little more critically than some, but I mean no offense and I don't mean to sound harsh (if I come off that way. . .just a disclaimer).

Kip Moore: I'd never seen Kip before. Friday night I was in love with nearly everything he did. Truly blown away by his presence. He commanded attention from the stage without having to ask for it. He is an opening act that will be headlining sooner than later. He had to ask the crowd to stand several times...bordering on begging, "come on people, this is Friday night and you're at an Eric Church show!!! Get off your asses!!" It was good to see/hear. His voice was excellent and he really played to the crowd well. On 2 occasions he went into the crowd to sing. If you are seated stage left and in the first few rows (to the right of the stage) make sure you're there on time because he might be singing in your lap! In any event, bring your camera, as you're sure to grab some great shots!

Saturday night I was mildly disappointed. . .everything was identical (except for the engagement described in the aforementioned post). Literally. He said the same thing between songs--his stories were the same--even down to the verbiage, "I sat on the hood of my truck with a Bud in my left hand and a smoke in my right. . ." It felt scripted. I was sad because he put on one helluva show--but night two felt canned. Either way it was a solid 7 of 10.

Justin Moore: I hadn't seen this Moore play either. How is this guy not headlining already? His voice is incredibly strong and his stage presence is nearly flawless. While the stories were similar and in similar places, it was slightly different--different enough to feel a little more off the cuff--slightly less rehearsed. His song selection was great but everyone had "one more song" they really wanted to hear. I suppose that's the blessing and curse of his music--as it's all excellent, he could have just about played his entire catalogue. A 12 song set that went by way to fast. 10 of 10 for me. I'd buy a ticket to see him any day. From the opening lick of Guns to his disappearance off of the back of the stage it was a truly awesome set. He did an amazing job of getting the crowd pumped up.

The set change Friday night was fairly quick--by the time they got all of the front line off of the stage the lights went down and EC arrived. Saturday night was a different story entirely: there appeared to be a technical difficulty with the stage left guitar and the change took an additional 20 minutes. Not a huge deal, but noticeable.

EC: I attend about 2 live shows a month and I can say without exception I've never seen any performer pour as much energy and emotion into a show as EC does. I hated country music until I listened to EC. I'm big on lyrics and hooks. I always felt like country was just missing something. EC destroyed that image of the genre--and the first time my girlfriend dragged me kicking and screaming to see him play live I was hooked. Absolutely hooked.

This is a complete show. I caught the BS&B tour in Greensboro (Feb-2012) so I had already seen the set (with a few changes--no Carolina on this tour--and the acoustic set is different). The addition on Saturday night of Kenny Loggins' Danny's Song as an intro to "love your love the most" and the "Born to Run" tribute in the middle of Springsteen, and the short "A Country Boy Can Survive" were just jaw-droppingly awesome.

I have a lot of respect for what EC does, but also how he does it. He appears to genuinely appreciate the crowd--and he respects the music. I imagine him to be a bit of a perfectionist. Every note was exceptional. His backing band is simply flawless--in particular the gentleman playing acoustic guitar/banjo/mandolin stage right of EC. Each time I see them I am blown away by his backing band.

There was one sound issue prevalent on Friday night--either an amp (main amp) going bad/underpowered or a battery in a wireless mic. There was some significant distortion/cracking towards the end of the set. It only popped up once on Saturday night, so I can only assume the tech crew was aware of the issue and worked to fix it.

Bottom line--even if you've seen this tour--see it again. It's truly a party.

One note that had nothing to do with the music--an extremely drunk individual three rows in front of me was making out with his girlfriend during both opening acts and throughout the first third of EC's set--literally every moment of the songs--he paused for a moment and I thought it was over--but apparently that was just so he could relieve himself. . .on the seats in front of him--the floor--and the people in front of him. I've seen a lot of things, but I've never seen someone pee on another human. That was a first. Fortunately security was all over it and removed the couple. The seats stayed empty and someone commented that the folks had been granted entry into the pit--I can't be upset with them having access to that area--that's a helluva way to have to "earn" pit seats. If you were there and in that area, i'd love to know more about what happened.

I took around 400 pictures across the two nights, and several 1080p videos. I have no idea how to post them, but they are all on my facebook page if you are interested--my name is gordon mcgirt--message me and I'll add you. Several of them are quite good.

I hope you are able to check this tour out--it is well worth it--but let's be honest, if you are on these boards, you probably already have your tickets.

Thanks for reading and thanks to FTHIV for the previous review!

Gordon