Music Thread: A funny thing happened on the way to the Festival [Pete Bog]

I had the chance to attend the Stagecoach Festival a few weeks ago. Stagecoach is a three day Country Music extravaganza in windy and warm Coachella, California. Friday night’s headliner did something on the “Mane” Stage that was one of the most interesting live performances I have ever seen.

I have been a fan of Eric Church's music for several years. His style was mostly wide open Country Rock and the occasional ballad featuring intelligent lyrics and musical word play. He has been a big star for at least 15 years with a devoted fan base that raved about his high energy shows. I had never seen him perform a live show.

Over the last few years Mr. Church had begun the unfortunate progression that many music stars follow. He had gone from writing stories chronicling the lives of the people he grew up with to becoming a bit of a scold lecturing through his music about the evils of our society. I have listened to him less recently because of this transition, much as I don’t listen to the New Jersey sellout any longer.

I was hopeful that on Friday night I would hear the great music that had made him popular and limited bouts of trying to save my soul. What I got was an old school revival that was directed at my soul in an entirely different way. Mr. Church strolled onto the stage in front of an illuminated backdrop that looked like the stained glass windows of a cathedral . The only things on the stage were a stool and couple of guitars on a stand. A gospel choir filed in behind him.

He began to sing. His opening number was Leonard Cohen’s “ Hallelujah”. That was not what the crowd expected. With the choir fully engaged he segued into “This little light of Mine” that took me back to Sunday school. He plowed a deeper furrow into what was obviously the Gospel grounding of his musical development. He started weaving in snippets of covers of a variety of artists including Bob Seger, Kenny Loggins. Motown and rap made appearances. Over the next hour and 15 minutes he performed without a break between songs, playing guitar backed only by an organ. I had the sense that I had joined an artist on his musical biography and it was magical. He sang solo, with the choir both individually and as a group with a strong clear voice. The pacing was tight, the show obviously was well rehearsed. He finally brought the band out for what was effectively an encore, ironically enough of one of his biggest hits titled “Springsteen”.

Over the course of his performance the crowd began walking out. First in small groups, then a steady stream. They were disappointed by not hearing the hits, and I suspect for many what was clearly a religious theme. He has been skewered in the reviews for what was one of the best musical performances I have ever witnessed.

Eric Church speaks out on his polarizing Stagecoach 2024 set: 'It felt good'

Can you recall a concert that was as memorable as this was for entirely unexpected reasons?

posted by Open Blogger at 07:30 PM

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