Part 6: How can you get better than perfect?

I want to write this all down, because I want to remember this moment.

I want to remember this for a really long time.

In Wichita, the song Record Year was perfect. I think I wrote that every single note and every single word was perfect in a previous blog post.

Perfect! I mean, how can you get better than perfect?

It turns out that perfection is subjective, and there’s a lot of room open for interpretation.

I retract my previous blog post, and I’m going to issue a correction here. Record Year in Wichita was excellent.

Record Year in Saint Louis? It was probably the best moment of my life.

During the song, WHICH I LOVE, people in the pit area handed him a pile of records. Eric Church took the time to look at each record, and autograph it.

HE AUTOGRAPHED RECORDS DURING THE SONG RECORD YEAR. 

When he was signing them, he flipped over to the next record in the pile in his hands, and the camera zoomed in on it. It was Caught in the Act, which was recorded at Red Rocks.

The smirk on his face was priceless. That smirk. That smirk! I’m not sure which I like more, that smirk or that howl that he does.

Oh my God.

Anyway, he lingered on that record for a while.

The crowd went nuts.

While he was singing the records, the band kept time by playing a little melody. I can’t say what it was, but as I pointed out to my Mom, they probably didn’t know what they were playing, either.

The band was making it up as they went, until he finished signing autographs.

He paused at the front of the stage and looked around. The band stopped playing. All you could hear was the sound of 20,000 people going crazy.

Crazy, as in, oh my God, we can't believe we're actually witnessing this greatness in person.

And then he started singing. The band wasn't playing. He just belted out the words to Record Year.

Quarter notes and Hank's half time
Are poundin' on this heart of mine
Song to song, I pass my time
With these speakers on ten
Your good and gone keeps me up all night
Along with Songs In The Key Of Life
I'm either gonna get over you
Or I'm gonna blow out my ears
Yeah, you're out there now
Doin' God knows how, and I'm stuck here
Havin' a record year

I'm havin' a record year

A record year

He gave the audience exactly what we wanted. We wanted more Record Year, so he repeated the chorus for us.

You guys, that song was over. The fact that he kept singing it to us was a personal gift he gave to each fan in that building, all wrapped up in shiny cute gift wrap with a big, fat bow on top.

Signed: ERIC *&^$#&* CHURCH

The crowd was singing to him. Look at his face!

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY DOG. (I accidentally typed ‘dog’ instead of ‘dog’ but it’s funny, so I’m going to keep it).

The crowd was into Record Year. Actually, the crowd was into every single song that he sang.

It was something that I can honestly say I’ve never seen before.

After Record Year, the band stopped and EC stood on stage with a microphone in his hand. He said something like, “Saint Louis, I knew you had it in you.”

From that moment on, it was on. The concert changed after that. It was rowdy, it was loud. He gave the crowd energy, which gave us energy, and he fed off of that. He ate it up like it was Jack D in his Coke.

When the house lights came on, I made it a point to look around at the audience. 

There was an old guy, maybe in his 60s, sitting to the bottom and left of me. I've never seen a man his age dance like that. His lips moved and said every word to every song. 

There was a family with a boy below me and to the right of me. They were signing and dancing, too.

Everywhere I looked for every song, everyone was dancing, from the people with nosebleed seats to the people right in front of the stage. 

This is the difference between singers and performers.

Oh my God, EC. You are excellent at your job. You found your calling in life.

  

I’ve never seen a moment that amazing at a concert.

Oh my God, EC. You just upgraded that song from perfect to angelic. 

HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?

Bad ass.