After witnessing the three-hour, two-set marathon show at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center merely weeks ago, Rolling Stone professed, “Eric Church sets the bar.” The exchange in energy with the audience and passion that fuels the man behind the CMA’s Album of the Year is an earned one after years of putting his fans first. Whether it is the dozens in attendance at his first performance in Bethel, New York or the 15,842 in attendance for last month’s breezy night in Brooklyn, it is that unrivaled dedication to surpassing their expectations that is driving another mission: ensuring fans’ hard-earned money is spent fairly on face-value tickets at each and every stop on his 60-plus city Holdin’ My Own Tour.
As originally reported on yesterday (Feb. 20) by The Associated Press, throughout the Holdin’ My Own Tour, Eric and his team have systematically cancelled and released tickets back to the public that they identified as scalper tickets. Already on the tour, Eric’s management team used a proprietary program to release thousands of tickets back to the public and fans in markets like Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Toronto, Vancouver and Boston. On Feb. 21 at noon local time, cancelled tickets for remaining markets will be released to the public via the venues’ official ticketing websites. In addition, tickets for Canadian dates were released Thursday, Feb. 9, and tickets for the Tacoma, Portland and Cincinnati shows will be released Monday, Feb. 27 at noon local time.
“It’s not easy. It’s time consuming and labor intensive to comb through nearly 1 million tickets,” says Fielding Logan, one of Church’s managers at Q Prime South. “Yet, Eric is leading the charge, and our team is combatting these vultures, one cancellation at a time. Battling scalper efforts isn’t just identifying those individuals looming on street corners soliciting or hawking tickets anymore. It’s halting digital multi-million dollar enterprises that are sophisticated and aimed at taking advantage of the fan for profit.”
The efforts are resulting in an impassioned crowd, enthralled by the experience of seeing Church live for an unprecedented 38-song show. Tulsa World’s Jerry Wofford noted after witnessing the Holdin’ My Own Tour rock an at-capacity crowd at BOK Center, “What was remarkable to see was how Church made an arena feel tiny for a night. He built a genuine connection to the audience song after song.”
The Kansas City Star’s Timothy Finn raved, “[Church] knows how to stoke a crowd and keep it on the verge of frenzy… a man who has fashioned and earned his own reputation as a top-rate performer who can fill and rock an arena for more than three hours.”
When Church surprise-released 2015’s Mr. Misunderstood, he did so by direct mailing more than 80,000 fans the music first. After taking 2016 off, outside of a few festival appearances, the demand for Church’s tour was palpable with scalpers recognizing the opportunity to take advantage of his fans. In return, Church cautions: “You come at us, we’re going to go after you in return. You come after our fans? Well, let’s just say we see you, we know how you are, and we’re coming for you with 10x the vengeance.”
Remaining 2017 Holdin’ My Own Tour dates are as follows:
Thursday, February 23: Indianapolis, Ind. Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Friday, February 24: Cleveland, Ohio. Quicken Loans Arena
Saturday, February 25: Auburn Hills, Mich. The Palace of Auburn Hills
Tuesday, February 28: London, ONT Budweiser Gardens
Thursday, March 2: Toronto, ONT Air Canada Centre
Friday, March 3: Ottawa, ONT Canadian Tire Centre
Saturday, March 4: Montreal, QUE Bell Centre
Tuesday, March 7: Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre
Thursday, March 9: Saskatoon, SK SaskTel Centre
Friday, March 10: Edmonton, AB Northlands Coliseum
Saturday, March 11: Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome
Tuesday, March 14: Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
Thursday, March 16: Portland, Ore. Moda Center
Friday, March 17: Spokane, Wash. Spokane Arena
Saturday, March 18: Tacoma, Wash. Tacoma Dome
Wednesday, March 22: Bozeman, Mont. Brick Breeden Fieldhouse
Friday, March 24:Boise, Idaho. Taco Bell Arena
Saturday, March 25: Salt Lake City, Utah. Vivint Smart Home Arena
Tuesday, March 28: Phoenix, Ariz. Talking Stick Resort Arena
Thursday, March 30: Sacramento, Calif. Golden 1 Center
Friday, March 31: Los Angeles, Calif. STAPLES Center
Tuesday, April 4: Casper, Wyo. Casper Events Center
Wednesday, April 5: Denver, Colo. Pepsi Center
Friday, April 7: Wichita, Kan. INTRUST Bank Arena
Saturday, April 8: Omaha, Neb. CenturyLink Center Omaha
Wednesday, April 12: Moline, Ill. iWireless Center
Thursday, April 13: Rosemont, Ill. Allstate Arena
Friday, April 14: Milwaukee, Wis. BMO Harris Bradley Center
Thursday, April 20: Buffalo, N.Y. KeyBank Center
Friday, April 21: Pittsburgh, Pa. PPG Paints Arena
Saturday, April 22: Cincinnati, Ohio. U.S. Bank Arena
Thursday, April 27: Uncasville, Conn. Mohegan Sun Arena
Friday, April 28: Uncasville, Conn. Mohegan Sun Arena
Saturday, April 29: Manchester, N.H. SNHU Arena
Thursday, May 4: Tampa, Fla. Amalie Arena
Friday, May 5: Jacksonville, Fla. Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
Saturday, May 6: Greenville, S.C. Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Thursday, May 11: Grand Rapids, Mich. Van Andel Arena
Friday, May 12: Peoria, Ill. Peoria Civic Center
Saturday, May 13: St. Louis, Mo. Scottrade Center
Thursday, May 18: Reading, Pa. Santander Arena
Friday, May 19: Washington, D.C. Verizon Center
Saturday, May 20: Greensboro, N.C. Greensboro Coliseum Complex
Thursday, May 25: Louisville, Ky. KFC Yum! Arena
Friday, May 26: Nashville, Tenn. Bridgestone Arena
Saturday, May 27: Nashville, Tenn. Bridgestone Arena
Visit ericchurch.com/events to purchase your tickets for the Holdin’ My Own Tour.
