Eric Church is again taking strong action to ensure his fans come first. Last November, he revealed to the more than 80,000 members of the Church Choir that inspiration had struck and resulted in his new album Mr. Misunderstood, which he shared with them first and free of charge before putting it on sale. That insistence that his fans come first now has the man Stereoum dubbed “our greatest working rock star” standing up to scalpers in light of recent on-sales for his back-to-back intimate engagements at Red Rocks Amphitheater.
“I get asked all the time about my favorite venue, and I always answer the same way. Red Rocks. When people ask why, I just smile and say, ‘you must not have been there.’ It’s truly breathtaking,” the ACM Entertainer of the Year nominee shares. “I’m honored to have two shows there.”
Upon their normal review of the orders for the two nights, Church and his team discovered that a total of 2,700 tickets were purchased by known scalpers, including more than 750 tickets purchased by a Texas-based scalper ring, all of which were cancelled. “I do want to add a quick word about the scalpers,” Church insists. “I have never seen more relentless, nefarious and frankly disgusting efforts to defraud the fans and the general public. Six words for you thugs: You Will Not Win. I Will.”
Q Prime South’s Fielding Logan has long spearheaded Church’s war on scalpers noting, “On an ongoing basis, our team will continue to examine ticket orders and cancel tickets purchased by scalpers.”
So when the more than 19,000 concert attendees arrive in Morrison, Colorado and see “sold out” across its iconic marquee for two nights, the Church Choir can feel confident that the Chief is doing everything he can to help the fans in the fight against scalpers.
About Eric Church
The two-time Country Music Association and four-time Academy of Country Music Award winner cemented his reputation as a maverick by releasing his 2015 album Mr. Misunderstood as a surprise, delivering it to fans before announcing its existence and putting it on sale. He is rising up the country charts with “Record Year,” the second single, which Rolling Stone dubbed “the most moving moment” on the widely lauded album.
The North Carolina native’s previous album, The Outsiders debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart and Top Country Albums Chart with the highest debut and sales of any release in the format that year, making Church 2014’s top-selling country music artist. The album garnered GRAMMY, CMA and ACM Album of the Year nominations and featured his No. 1 hits “Give Me Back My Hometown” and “Talladega,” as well as multiple nominee “Like A Wrecking Ball.” The Outsiders was the follow-up to Church’s Platinum-certified CHIEF, named the 2012 Album of the Year by both CMA and ACM, and GRAMMY-nominated for Best Country Album. The LP featured five Top 20 singles: “Homeboy” (certified Platinum for sales in excess of 1 million); the Top 10 “Like Jesus Does” and the Top 5 “Creepin’” (both certified Gold for sales in excess of 500,000); and two No. 1 hits “Drink in My Hand” (certified Platinum) and “Springsteen” (certified Double Platinum for sales in excess of 2 million singles). Church’s 2006 debut album, Sinners Like Me, and his sophomore album, Carolina, (2009) are both RIAA Gold certified.
Church heads into this year’s ACM Awards with a commanding six nominations, including Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Album (for Mr. Misunderstood), Video (for “Mr. Misunderstood) and both Vocal Event and Song of the Year (for “Raise ‘Em Up” with Keith Urban). He will perform during “The 51st Academy of Country Music Awards” when it airs live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Apr. 6, beginning at 8:00 PM ET, on the CBS Television Network.