Eric Church Goes (Mostly) Solo, Acoustic in Calgary Due to Snow [WATCH]
Fans with tickets to Eric Church's Saturday night (March 11) concert in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, can thank snowy weather for a special experience. Concertgoers were treated to an unplanned, mostly solo and acoustic show from the country star because of the snow piled up on the show venue's roof.
Because of the weight of the snow on the roof of Calgary's Scotiabank Saddledome, Church's usual Holdin' My Own Tour stage setup would have put too much weight on the arena's roof, which is shaped like a hyperbolic paraboloid (i.e., a saddle). Therefore, the Calgary Herald reports, rather than cancel or postpone the concert, Church decided to scale back his production elements and perform a stripped-down set.
The Herald's review of Church's show explains that throughout his three-hour set, the artist performed (mostly) alone onstage, under a single spotlight. Videos on YouTube show Church's band joining him for songs such as "Cold One" and "Record Year," but readers can press play below to watch him tackle "These Boots" solo.
“I got a question," Church asked the sold-out Saddledome crowd during his show. "If you’re in Calgary and it snows a lot … why would you want to build a roof like a saddle?”
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Saturday night's show in Calgary was not Church's first foray into solo acoustic sets: In August of 2016, he performed alone at Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre for two nights, and he also played two sold-out acoustic shows at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater at the end of July in 2015. In January of 2015, when his band and crew fell ill before a show in Salt Lake City, Utah, Church played acoustically rather than canceling the gig.
“I’m going to start doing a little bit of that here and there when the situation calls for it,” the artist said in May of 2015.
Church's Holdin' My Own Tour -- each night of which features two sets from Church and no opening act -- is scheduled to run through late May.
Watch Eric Church Sing "These Boots" in Calgary
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