By Adam Lucas

VANCOUVER—A couple of weeks ago, Eric Church was perusing his upcoming tour schedule. After a Halloween interlude, he knew he was bound for the West Coast, including some destinations where he’s been a less frequent visitor.

Seattle hasn’t seen a Church show since the fall of 2021, but that’s essentially just yesterday compared to Fresno, where he hasn’t performed since January of 2015.

But there was one destination he knew would be special. “Vancouver,” he said, “will bring it.”

Church has enough history here to feel confident in the area’s inhabitants. “Flying in today, I was thinking about ten years ago when I had an off day here,” he told the crowd on Thursday night. “I spent the off day on Victoria Island playing golf at Victoria Golf Club. And when I was jogging, I fell in love with Vancouver. Then in 2021 I was the only person to perform in this arena after COVID. This is a city I love. People I love. So tonight we are going to give you a show!”

Here's the thing: Canada loves Eric Church. Toronto was one of the rowdiest shows on the Outsiders Revival tour in 2023, and Vancouver replicated that performance (the tour will go back to Toronto in February) in 2025.

It’s a challenge to take this production to a completely different country. Most of the crew flew to Seattle and then crossed the United States-Canada border via bus. That meant stage manager Sambo Coats had to inventory every piece of gear they carry with manufacturer, weight, serial number, model number, country of origin and approximate value to replace it. Steady rain during load-in and a lack of dock space made the mechanics of the move difficult.

“What you do,” said Coats, “is you embrace the suck and send it. It’s basically like moving our own little city across the border.”

The reward was one of the biggest crowds of the tour so far, both in crowd size and merchandise sales. Maybe it’s hard to get here, but it’s so worth it.

And Church clearly loves it. “I know we are a little late,” he told the crowd as the clock ticked well past 11 p.m., “but I don’t give a shit.” He turned the optional audible part of the set list late in the show into a six-song medley that included “These Boots,” “Pledge Allegiance to the Hag,” “How ‘Bout You,” “Carolina,” “Love Your Love the Most” and “Talladega.” Some of those songs are now almost two decades old, and it was clear from the way everyone was still standing and singing that this was a group that has been there since the beginning.

“Tell your boss you were at Church until midnight,” he told the crowd. “And if they have a problem, they can call me.”

Talladega became one of the highlights of the night. Almost 3,000 miles from the song’s namesake, Church turned over the chorus to a standing, swaying crowd that felt the message every bit as much as they do in the deep South.

It was a reminder that it was about passion much more than geography. A pair of nine-year-olds, Makenzie and Rhea, had driven almost an hour each way on a school night with Rhea’s mom, Bri, from Abbotsford. They had upper deck tickets but lucked into pit upgrades when a member of the crew spotted them. That enabled the giddy girls to spend most of the evening making heart hands at Church.

Their reward? He handed his Ray-Bans to Makenzie near the end of the show. “This,” Bri said after the concert, when the shock of the entire experience still hadn’t worn off, “is a core memory for all of us.”

And for Chief, too, who will continue to make this area an important part of every tour. After all, he predicted they would bring it and they more than fulfilled his proclamation.

It was a night for the longtime fans, the still being indoctrinated fans—who might have gone home with some sunglasses as a souvenir—and even those who hadn’t quite learned to walk yet. A father and mother brought their seven and a half month-old baby to the pre-show meet and greet. “Is she going to the show?” Church asked. “Yep,” the parents replied.

As Church relayed the story, there was nothing he could do except shrug. “Damn,” he said. “Canada does it right.”