Eric Church ‘Shocked’ With Unhappy Fans After CMA Fest

When Eric Church performed his set at CMA Fest in June, many fans were unhappy with the performance and voiced their thoughts on social media.

Eric has now reacted to the backlash of his performance, telling Rolling Stone that he is shocked at the fan reaction. Church said, "I was shocked because I played the show that I went out there to play." He noted that he stayed within the time limit given to him by the festival, and that he was giving a preview of what his tour would be like.  That seemed to not go over well with the audience, who were surprised by his re-arranged versions of "Drink In My Hand" and "Cold One," and his cover of Little Feat's "Sailin' Shoes."

One fan tweeted after the set in June, "Eric Church ends very weird set and disappoints 50,000 fans. I don't know if he was pissed off at the CMA or what. Lights come on only 4 songs in, and it's done. Major disappointment at the CMAs."

Over the weekend, Church shocked some fans tailgating before the show in Pittsburgh and Toronto when he drove up in a black SUV and got out to shake hands, take pictures, and chat with the fans tailgating.

Eric's social media team posted a video of the moments he shocked fans on Instagram. In the video clip, Church is smiling, riding around the tailgate area before his concert, watching fans enter the venue. He suddenly stops, gets out of the SUV, and approaches fans. Many of them start to shout and shake his hand. The video then shows fans gathered around Church taking pictures and chatting.

Eric's team posted along with the video, "Toronto and Pittsburgh were (fire emoji) during week 3 of #TheOutsidersRevivalTour! Thanks for letting us crash your tailgate on Saturday. Cincinnati and St. Louis, the revival is coming for you next!"

Eric Church celebrates his 46th birthday today (5/3). Having just announced a partnership for a brand of whiskey, and with a summer tour coming in June, Eric is a busy guy. Musically, he's also working on new songs and ideas to please his rabid fanbase, the Church Choir. To his credit, whatever comes out, he gives his fan club members first access to it as he is not one to underappreciate the people who support him and brought him to where he is today.

As Church blows out 46 candles today, just a handful of years away from his big 5-0 birthday, we gathered what we believe are the 20 finest songs in his lengthy catalog.