By Adam Lucas

BROOKLYN—Think about your first concert.

You can picture it, can’t you? You can see the lights and the shiny guitars and hear your very favorite song that the band played and remember the people dancing in the aisles and maybe someone on stage even said a bad word but in that context it didn’t seem so bad so tell me more about this world where the rules don’t apply. Sometime during that night, you thought, “These are my people,” and that’s why you’re still going to shows today, because it was just the coolest.

Every night on the Free the Machine tour is someone’s first show. They’ve been there every night of both weekends of the tour so far. Kids on their dad’s shoulders or wearing their favorite cowboy boots or pulling on a tour t-shirt that is just a couple sizes too big. But they are there, and that’s what matters, because they’ll get to tell their friends at school on Monday that they went to the concert this weekend, and it rocked, and Eric Church is the coolest.

Saturday was the first show for several future Church Choir members. There was Shea Weiss, who was in the upper level over two hours before Church took the stage. It was his birthday, and he had on a white t-shirt his mom had made him that read, “Take Me To Church,” and he was wearing a cowboy hat and aviators. His favorite song is “Clap Hands” but his mom doesn’t let him sing the whole thing in the car, because there is one line he’s not allowed to say just yet.

Your day will come, Shea. Your day will come.

Saturday at the Barclays Center was not an easy show. It was the third of three straight performances, a long Northeast swing with some difficult load-in and load-outs and long bus trips. The set lists have been lengthy and demanding. You can even add some physical challenges to the list, because midway through Saturday night’s show, Chief cut his right hand on his guitar and visibly winced.

His solution? He soaked it in his drink and kept going. It ain’t always glamorous up there on stage, folks.

Don’t misunderstand. There are much, much harder things to do than be a rock star. But when tens of thousands of people have paid hard-earned money and it’s your job to entertain them, to make sure they go home feeling that was the best show they’ve ever seen, it’s mentally and—in this case—physically taxing. (The weekend isn’t over just yet—make sure to watch Jimmy Fallon on Sunday night for a very special performance.)

And Church also knows he’s got the responsibility of making sure it’s a memorable show for every first-timer out there. So he pointed to a kid on his dad’s shoulders waving an American flag during “Springsteen” and said, “That’s my guy right there.” Everyone in that family will be telling that story for years.

Just like Josephine. She’s five years old and was at the front of Saturday night’s pit for her very first concert. She had a sign that read, “I’m the biggest baddest Jo in these boots.” It is, of course, a play on the line from “These Boots.” It is one of her two favorite songs in the Church catalog, along with (Eric, avert your eyes) “Love Your Love the Most.”

It was getting late. Church had been watching her from the stage and knew he might not be able to wait until the end of the set to play her request. “I was watching her dad three songs ago trying to keep her awake,” he said. “And I thought, ‘We better play this one sooner rather than later.’”

Josephine is quite literally being raised on Eric Church. She went to one of his concerts while she was still in the womb. Her father, Michael, has been a Church Choir member since 2014 and explained his daughter’s birthday by saying, “ ‘Stick That In Your Country Song’ came out one day after she was born. We listened to it in the hospital.”

Jo’s mom, Morgan, rolled her eyes just a little bit. “You listened to it in the hospital,” she said. “I was doing some other things.”

Josephine is living the perfect young Eric Church fan life. Her dad has been to 20 shows and knows every word. Her mom is a choreographer who likes the music, but also appreciates the artistry.

“This is such a challenging time in our country,” she said from her spot in the pit. “And to watch Eric be able to bring all these different people together for a show like this and unite them for a couple hours is really special. Dolly Parton is Dolly Parton, and there’s only one Dolly, and I understand that. But I think Eric has the same ability she does to bring people together in that way.”

Part of the way he brings them together is by focusing on one of them at a time. That’s why he stood on stage and found the opening notes of “These Boots.” Then he remembered something very important.

“Do you have a boot?” he asked Josephine. She proudly held up a tiny one with flowers on it.

“Of course you do!” he said, taking it from her and tucking it into his guitar strap so he could hold it while he played her song. “Josephine,” he said, “this one is for you.”

And for every other kid getting their first exposure to something that might be a lifelong part of who they are.

It was just what everyone’s first concert should be. It was the coolest.