Ready for Church, country music fans? Rupp Arena kicks off first big concert since COVID

If you measure his sentiments alongside his actions, Eric Church has a very simple, but enduring message for fans in 2021: Let’s all get along.

Admittedly, that might not have been the initial feeling many attached to a song the veteran country music renegade, who opens a 55-city tour this weekend at Rupp Arena, sent to the airwaves as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the concert industry during the summer of 2020.

The title kind of says its all - “Stick That in Your Country Song.” Ironically, it is one of only two tunes featured on Church’s recent triple-album project “Heart & Soul” that he didn’t write. Still, its reactionary vibe falls right in line with a country artist who has long favored his own instincts over industry protocol. After all, this is the performer who was fired from an opening act slot on after going over his allotted stage time at a Madison Square Garden concert in 2006 (he was replaced by a 16-year-old up-and-comer by the name of Taylor Swift).

What topics did Church want to stick into “Stick That in Your Country Song” to irk the Nashville mainstream? Oh, just references to poverty in Detroit, social unrest in Baltimore, disabled war veterans and underpaid teachers – your standard country music subject matter.

But Church really has been one for unity of late, especially when it comes to reaching outside country borders. In February, he sang the National Anthem at Super Bowl LV as part of a duet. His partner wasn’t another Nashville star, but R&B sensation Jazmine Sullivan.

“Listen, we want a Caucasian country artist and we want an African-American female R&B artist,’” Church recalled being told by Super Bowl organizers in an April story for Billboard magazine. “I just liked what they were trying to do.”

But it was with a photo attached to the Billboard article that Church took a stand that a dozen country songs couldn’t (and almost assuredly wouldn’t) reflect. It depicted the reigning Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year, shades and all, getting his second COVID-19 vaccination.

“I just want to play shows,” said Church in what has become a frequently quoted remark from the Billboard story. “Politics’ job is to divide. That’s how you win elections. Those things that unite us are music and sports - the times when, whether you’re a Democrat or Republican or whatever, you throw your arm around the person next to you.”

Church will likely get to see a lot of arms embracing – after they have been vaccinated, he hopes – in the coming months. After kicking off at Rupp, his in-the-round “Gather Again Tour” will travel through the winter and spring with a Feb. 4 return stop in Kentucky at Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center. It will conclude on May 20 at Madison Square Garden where Church will have all the stage time he desires (his shows frequently dispense with opening acts so they can hit the three-hour mark) without having to answer to the demands of another artist.

Church’s rise through the country music ranks has been an unlikely one. A North Carolina native, his songs are often narrative-heavy works that eschew the requisite Nashville themes of beer drinking and beach combing to approach the music of such veteran rock song stylists as Bruce Springsteen and Bob Seger. Indeed, Church scored a major 2012 hit titled “Springsteen” (a song that wasn’t about The Boss, but used his songs as references in outlining the saga of a teen romance) while some of his breakthrough career exposure came from serving as show-opener for Seger shortly after the Rascal Flatts dismissal.

“Early in our career, Bob Seger took us out for 15 or 20 dates,” Church told me in an interview prior to a 2015 Rupp concert. “We were brand-new. Nobody knew who we were, and frankly, Bob Seger didn’t need any help selling tickets. So we did him no good. But he took us on tour because he liked the music. Now, we’re at a point where we can do all the tickets we want to do.”

All of this takes us to the here and now with Church serving as the biggest concert event to play Rupp since the pandemic hit. The show has already sold more than 15,000 seats. Event organizers are not requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test for fans attending the show. If there is any notification of a change, ticket holders will be notified immediately through an email to the original purchaser of the ticket. Kentucky does not have an indoor mask mandate in place but health officials and Rupp are encouraging even vaccinated people to wear masks indoors in crowds.

He has a lot of commercial and critical artillery behind him for the performance, too. In terms of music, he has the 24 songs from “Heart & Soul” (a triple album released as three separate recordings in April) to draw from, including the anthemic “Hell of a View.” It became Church’s 10th No. 1 country hit last spring.

The Rupp return also coincides with award season. Church has been nominated for five CMA Awards. He will be facing some serious Kentucky competition, however. In each category – Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Single of the Year – Church will be up against Lexington-born, Johnson County-raised country-soul giant Chris Stapleton. The CMA Awards ceremony will air live from Nashville on Nov. 10 on ABC.

It’s all part of a healthy return to life in a COVID-19 world - one that, for all its divisions, has brought Church personal and professional solace.

“I make music,” Church said in the Billboard piece. “I play music. I’m a dad and a husband,” he says. “I like that part of my life.”

Eric Church

When: 8 p.m. Sept. 17

Where: Rupp Arena, 430 W. Vine

Tickets: $32-$169 through Ticketmaster (ticketmaster.com).

COVID: At this time, event organizers for the Eric Church Gather Again Tour are not requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test for fans attending the show. Masks are not required but are encouraged for all.

Security: Rupp Arena has a bag policy in place allowing clear totes or plastic bags, or small clutches that are not clear.

Rideshare: The new Uber/Lyft drop off and pick up area is in the back of Rupp Arena, off High Street and Manchester.

Bonus concert pick: Bruce Hornsby

After a pair of COVID-19 caused reschedules, Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers will return to the Lexington Opera House, 401 W. Short on Sept. 21 (7:30 p.m., $55.50-$65.50). Hornsby’s career stems back to a string of late ‘80s hits (“The Way It Is,” “Mandolin Rain”), but his shows have long been scholarly but playful experiments that reshape the melodic structure of songs old and new. That results in performances operating in jazz, country and a variety of progressive and improvisational settings. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster (ticketmaster.com).