Outsiders Revival Tour Comes to an End for Eric Church and Whiskey Myers

MidFL Credit Union Amp, Tampa, FL 30SEP2023

A 35-date tour in the dead of summer is hell for any band. For Southerners and country music mega stars Whiskey Myers and Eric Church though, it’s just another day at the office. Cutting their teeth in their respective Texan and North Carolina backgrounds though, these groups are all too familiar with the heat and humidity that comes from a late September set at the Amp in Tampa. 

Whiskey Myers has well over a decade in the music industry. Over that time, they have toured the nation from coast to coast, and made a massive impact on not only country music but on television as well, with a feature on the monumental show Yellowstone.

Taking the stage with it set to look like an old club, they were flanked by handing sheet metal and air vent-mounted stage lights. The curiously familiar stage was a lot like the backroad bars and clubs that made them famous. In a six-piece band like this, their double drummer outfit is excellent and provides for some great moments.

Quickly growing from half to 90% full, the venue loved what they were hearing. This is a band with not only tremendous stage presence but a fantastic sound. While the opening two songs were a bit spikey, their “Glitter Ain’t Gold” song is one that just connects with the soul.

With a jazz and blues-inspired jam rhythm to it, guitarists John Jeffers and Cody Tate traded riffs through their 10-song set. Lead singer Cody Cannon initially had a rough noise as if he missed soundcheck, but by the second song he had found the note, and their closure with a cover of CCR’s “Fortunate Son” would have El Duderinohimself singing along as he did a J.

With a small tour to end the year on the books for them, this was one hell of an ending set for the final stop on this tour.

Coming to see someone like Eric Chruch isn’t just a concert. It’s a damn experience. First off, I have never seen a “little person” steamrolling a blunt as he made his way across the stage and guided 20+ stagehands as he moved around.

Looking to the crowd, at no other show that I have covered have I ever seen so many people wearing the shirt of the band they came to see. With a slogan simply put as “Eric F*cking Church” emblazoned across the chest, his shows are more like going to a Bucs game with how diehard his fans are.

Opening with “Country Music Jesus,” the crowd popped like they were watching the end of his set, and not the beginning. With the FL state flag flying high above the stage, the crowd knew it was the end of the show, andwanted to send him off right. 

Up second was “Heart On Fire,” and while the women in the audience certainly seemed ablaze with love for him, as their screams rang off the rafters.

Almost in response to this, the air suddenly filled with the scent of the guys lighting up the mids, and getting the amphitheater a bit smokey. This scent seemed to kick the backing band into full swing. The three horn section and three backup vocalist ladies (some of the best in the business IMO) came to life for “Bad Mother Trucker.”

Feeling like the early 1990s CMT music videos were back on, for a moment I wondered when I would see a lady rocking big hair and bangs with high-waisted acid-wash jeans. 

A few songs later, as “Mr Misunderstood” ended it appeared as though a decent-sized fight broke out across the Amp. As Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and the in-house security responded, the band played on.

It looked like at least 5 people were involved, and shortly following the incident at least 20 people quickly left the area, seemingly for the night. Joined a few songs later by up-and-coming sensation Maggie Rose, they sang “That’s Damn Rock & Roll” and “Mixed Drinks About Feelings” together.

Continuing through the rest of his 27-song total set, he did a Little Feet and Bo George shout-out for his cover of “Sailin’ Shoes. 

Coming back at the end of the 22-song main set, he made the fans work for the encore. Screaming at the tops of their lungs, he came back out a few minutes later.

As a treat, he also announced this was the retirement of the opening for “Springsteen.” A part of this encore was a solo acoustic medley of Love Your Love the Most / Carolina / These Boots / Sinners Like Me. Going closer to midnight than 11, he ended with “Those I’ve Loved.”

This was one hell of a tour ending. The setlist was like nothing else on the tour too. Then again, as he said, Tampa and the nearby Dallas Bull helped give him his start touring, so he gave them back some long-overdue love.