Eric Church packs Show Me Center on Blood, Sweat and Beers tour

A near-record crowd of more than 7,060 people packed the Show Me Center on Friday night to see country up-and-comers Eric Church and Brantley Gilbert.

While their singles are climbing up the country charts, Church and Gilbert came with a rock 'n' roll attitude.

Both wore black baseball caps instead of cowboy hats. Gilbert's drummer sported a red Mohawk.

"It's not cookie-cutter country. They make their own rules. They have their own style," said Tyson Powell of Marion, Ill.

Extra ushers and security staff were on hand to help handle what Show Me Center marketing director Josh Hanlon described as a party crowd.

To accommodate the fans coming out for the Blood, Sweat and Beers Tour, the Show Me Center had more than 100 kegs of beer, enough for about 13,500 cups, on hand to quench concertgoers' thirst. Crowds waited for beer in lines that wrapped halfway around the building at times.

Church encouraged fans to raise their cups as he sang on a stage with silver kegs incorporated into the design. Fans around the arena stayed on their feet throughout the entire show, which included several pyrotechnic displays.

"I don't care what other concerts you've been to. You've never been to one like this," Church told fans.

Fans said they felt like they could relate to the music Church and Gilbert write.

"If you look around, this is a country crowd. They sing about country life," said Elyse Fuehne of Carterville, Ill.

Before playing his song, "Kick it in the Sticks," Gilbert told fans to "let your redneck show."

Friday night's show was the second-highest grossing based on ticket sales since the Show Me Center opened in 1987. The venue's highest grossing show to date was Toby Keith with Rascal Flatts in March 2003.

Only 10 other events have drawn crowds of more than 7,000 people to the Show Me Center.

Hanlon said the timing of the concert couldn't be better, with Eric Church having the No. 1 single "Drink in My Hand" on the Billboard Country Music Chart this week. The concert being on a Friday, when many people don't have to work the next day, helps too, he said.

"When you take somebody, like Eric Church, that's really hot in the country genre and put him with Brantley Gilbert, who is an up-and-coming star and has written songs for other people, it's so much of a party atmosphere," Hanlon said.

Gilbert wrote two Jason Aldean hits, "Dirt Road Anthem" and "My Kind of Party." Aldean performed at the Show Me Center last year.

Church performed on tour last year with both Aldean and Toby Keith. The Blood, Sweat and Beers Tour is Church's first arena headlining tour. It accompanies the release of his third studio album, "Chief," which was recently certified gold.

mmiller@semissourian.com

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