Eric Church proves he can be a Country Music Jesus while channeling Springsteen in Phoenix

If we truly need a Country Music Jesus, as Eric Church sang in the anthem he’d chosen to open his sold-out performance in Phoenix on Saturday, Sept. 16, preachin’ from the book of Johnny Cash, to come and save us all, it’s pretty clear that Church would like to throw his hat into the ring.

The man has always been a self-styled country maverick.

That much was clear from the time he arrived on the scene with an album called “Sinners Like Me” that found him solemnly pledging allegiance to the Hag with Merle Haggard at his side on a record that celebrated his small-town loyalties without getting bogged down in small-town resentment.

He brought his performance at Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre to a crowd-pleasing finish with “Pledge Allegiance to the Hag" as a massive American flag unfurled behind him after sharing a heartfelt story he admitted he’s been telling every night.

“I have a picture on my bus of Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard,” he began.

“It was given to me by Kris. It was the last time Merle was on stage. And I’m the only other person, other than Kris, who has that picture in the world. So every night, before I come out on this stage, I spend a little time with that picture and I think about what this is, what that is, what all of this is.”

Eric Church's 2023 setlist: Every song he played at his Phoenix concert

The man who gave us 'Springsteen' has found his E Street Band at last

Like any self-respecting country maverick, though, he’d never let himself be tied down to a single genre.

By the time he followed “Country Music Jesus” with “Heart on Fire,” there was no denying that the man who took a song called “Springsteen” to the top of Billboard’s country chart had gone out and assembled his own E Street Band, a 13-piece ensemble with a three-man horn squad and three women adding very soulful backing vocals to the mix.

On “Bad Mother Trucker,” it felt like he was channeling the Rolling Stones in all their gospel-rocking glory, which gave way to “Hangin’ Around,” a song that topped a driving Motown beat with some serious soul clapping as the horn section moved to the front of the stage.

Church was throwing the metal salute on the suitably insistent “That’s Damn Rock & Roll” while “Desperate Man” staked its claim as his “Sympathy for the Devil" and "Cold One" offset stinging slide guitar lines with a wailing trombone solo.

Church welcomed Jelly Roll back to the stage in Phoenix concert

Before the set was through, he'd even reinvented “Sailin’ Shoes” by Little Feat as a slow-burning blues after telling the crowd “I was born in 1977, a child of the ‘70s.”

After stripping it down to two acoustics, keys and two guys playing shakers for an understated “Some of It,” he welcomed Jelly Roll back to the stage.

The country-rap sensation, who preceded the headliner’s set with a stellar performance of his own, joined Church on a spirited version of “Homeboy,” taking the spotlight for much of the song.

As he was leaving the stage, Church said, “I love that guy.” And really, so did everyone.

Setlist featured 'Talladega,' 'Smoke a Little Smoke' and other hit songs

Along the way, Church touched on such obvious highlights as "Drink in My Hand," which found him raising a glass to the audience, "Hell of a View" and a raucous rendition of "Smoke a Little Smoke."

He also treated fans to "Talladega," a song Church said they've haven't been playing on this tour, as a special request for a fan who said he'd never seen Church live before.

"I said, 'I'm not playing that song,'" Church recalled. "And they gave me this look like, 'What is wrong with you?'"

Church's encore followed a new song 'On the Road' with 'Springsteen'

After ending the set with “Pledge Allegiance to the Hag,” Church returned to the stage to launch the encore with an understated new one, “On the Road.”

“I was thinking back on the journey we’ve been on,” he said. “It’s almost 20 years and we’ve done a lot of stuff. All my memories, even my kids, they were raised on the road. They were raised on a tour bus. That’s what was normal for us.”

It was the perfect way to start the encore, complete with a heartbreaking reference to the mass shooting at a country concert in Las Vegas (“I seen the devil stop a show in Vegas”).

But it’s doubtful anyone was disappointed when he followed through with “Springsteen,” his spot-on tribute to music’s uncanny ability to transport listeners back to a specific moment in their lives.

“Funny how a melody sounds like a memory,” he sang. “Like a soundtrack to a July Saturday night.”

There isn’t really much he could’ve done to follow that (although I would’ve loved to hear “Jack Daniels”), ending the night on a note of nostalgia that felt meaningful in ways nostalgia rarely does.

And this is how you get to be a Country Music Jesus.

Who is opening for Eric Church on 2023 tour?

Paul Cauthen swaggered his way with conviction through an opening set whose highlights ranged the swampy “Caught Me at a Good Time” to the howling chorus of a new tune called “Angels and Heathens.”

He and his bandmates effortlessly lived up to the promise of a second song titled “Country as (Expletive),” the singer’s booming baritone, which has earned him the nickname Big Velvet, rarely straying from a register that made it feel like he was out to channel Johnny Cash while rocking a look that was probably closer in spirit to Hank Williams, Jr.

It was cool to see an independent band from Texas with no charting country singles to their credit get a shot at playing to a crowd as big as Church's and they definitely rose to occasion, working the riff to the Champs “Tequila” into “25 Tequilas” as the singer did his best to rhyme the title line with “That'll leave you with amnesia.”

We're thinking Jelly Roll could sell out this venue on his own

Cauthen was followed by Jelly Roll, an enigmatic force of nature who explained his unusual head-on collision of sounds as a perfectly natural extension of having been raised by a mom who loved her country music, a sister who was all about the rock ‘n’ roll and a weed-smoking brother who introduced the impressionable young Jelly Roll to gangsta rap.

This is how he introduced his medley of Eazy-E’s “Boyz-n-the-Hood,” DMX’s “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem,” Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” OutKast’s “Ms. Jackson” and Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend.”

There’s also a heavily spiritual side to the Jelly Roll experience. He’s a bit of a gospel-tent revivalist who speaks freely of his darkest hours as a pathway to enlightenment, telling the crowd he’s all about “real music for people with problems.”

The crowd was in his corner from the time he took the stage with “Hate Goes On,” urging them to “put your middle fingers up” and touching off a chant of “We don’t give a (expletive).”

He dusted off both of his chart-topping singles, “Son of a Sinner” and “Need a Favor,” leading the fans in a rousing singalong to "I only talk to God when I need a favor and I only pray when I ain't got a prayer" before thanking them all for making that the biggest song of his career.

"I don't know how it happened," he said to wild applause. "But I want y'all to know that because of y'all, you took the most uneducated, fat-ass, white trash guy in America and you made him a celebrity. I could never thank y'all enough. I could not be less qualified."

Then he signed off with a song that felt like it could be an even bigger hit if given half a chance, the deeply soulful close, Otis Redding-flavored ballad, “Save Me.”

Eric Church's 2023 tour setlist: Every song he played in Phoenix

Here’s a look at every song Church played at Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre in Phoenix.

• "Country Music Jesus"

• "Heart on Fire"

• "Bad Mother Trucker"

• "Hangin' Around"

• "How 'Bout You"

• "Drink in My Hand"

• "Hell of a View"

• "Mr. Misunderstood"

• "Talladega"

• "Creepin'"

• "That's Damn Rock & Roll"

• "Round Here Buzz"

• "Desperate Man"

• "Some of It"

• "Homeboy" (with Jelly Roll)

• "Smoke a Little Smoke"

• "Give Me Back My Hometown"

• "Sailin' Shoes" (Little Feat cover)

• "Cold One"

• "Pledge Allegiance to the Hag"

Encore:

• "On the Road" (new song)

• "Springsteen"

Jelly Roll 2023 tour setlist: Every song he played in Phoenix

• "Hate Goes On"

• "Halfway to Hell"

• "Creature"

• "Son of a Sinner"

• "Boys in the Hood" / "Ruff Ryders' Anthem" / "Lose Yourself" / "Ms. Jackson" / "Just a Friend"

• "Smoking Section"

• "She"

• "Bottle and Mary Jane"

• "Need a Favor"

• "Save Me"

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-4495. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @EdMasley.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Eric Church channels Springsteen as tour with Jelly Roll hits Phoenix