Lake Tahoe, NV (7/15&16/26) – Multi-award-winning country music superstar Eric Church took the stage for two back-to-back nights at Caesars Republic Lake Tahoe on July 15th and 16th, 2026.
Much like Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado, Lake Tahoe has become a “destination trip” for concert fans across the country. What the Lake Tahoe Amphitheatre lacks in the stellar acoustics of Red Rocks, it more than makes up for in beauty.
Lake Tahoe, known for its sparkling clear emerald water and towering ski slopes, Lake Tahoe Amphitheatre at Caesars Republic is located mere steps away from the spectacularly beautiful beaches of the glistening Tahoe water.
Country music singer-songwriter Ernest served as direct support for both nights ahead of Church, and performed his duties flawlessly. Ernest wove in his original tunes such as ‘Flower Shops’ with amazing tributes to the likes of Merle Haggard, George Jones, Willie Nelson, and Toby Keith.
After a rousing performance of ‘Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue’, which had the crowd amped up and boisterously singing along, he had his “US Marine” fiddle player perform the National Anthem. As you can imagine this had the entire amphitheater on their feet. With hats clutched over their hearts, it wasn’t long before the 8,000 fans in attendance were singing in unison.
Ernest was able to seamlessly transition from cover songs to his original compositions from his recently released ‘Deep Blue’ album. With incredibly strong vocals mixed with the musical prowess of the band, Ernest put on a solid performance both nights.
Needless to say, at the conclusion of Ernest’s 60-minute set, the crowd was on fire and amped up for Eric Church.
Please allow me to apologize in advance as this is not my typical show review, and the photos are from a crappy iPhone 15, as I attended as simply a fan. Although I’ve been a fan of Eric Church since I first heard ‘The Hard Way’ so many years ago, to be completely honest with you, I’ve been struggling with some things bit lately and almost didn’t attend at all.
Since we were all attending Church, I feel it’s important to first meet some of the choir, the Church Choir….
First off, we have Savannah, who at 18 years old, is attending her 10thEric Church show. Her very first concert being a tour stop for ‘The Outsiders’ somewhere around 2015. Then we have Rison, who has only been listening to EC for about a year, because that’s who Savannah likes. Then, there’s Melonie who has seen Church perform countless times. She also keeps track of each and every song performed and saves the setlist in her phone. She was quick to let me know that on the first night Eric performed 18 songs.
We also have Mike that traveled from Detroit, Michigan which is not an easy feat. We also have two best friends, a lawyer and paralegal team from West Virginia that also made the arduous journey. Next up is the commercial fisherman from the coast of Oregon, Kelly from Ontario, Canada, the t-shirt/hat maker from Riverside that drove eight hours, and a group of best friends that drove up from the Bay Area.My favorite though, and likely Eric’s too, were the many young kids riding the rail, boisterously singing along, word for word, to every single song.
So many different people from various walks of life, each stemming from separate corners of the world. Each one of us has come together collectively to bask in the glow of our love of Eric Church’s music. A long spanning career full of hit songs. As a matter of fact, Church’s first album was released on this day, 20 years ago.
Being that Eric Church is known for doing things his own way, I’d be willing to bet that each and every one of us was wondering which Eric Church were we going to get. Would we get ‘Chief’, ‘The Outsider’, or would we get the ‘Sinner Like Me”? The short answer is that over the 90-minute sets, we got a glimpse of each one.
EC seemed genuinely happy to be there with us……. That’s how it seemed, he was WITH us. Not simply performing for us. He went asfar as telling us that Lake Tahoe is one of his favorite places to be. He also let us know how grateful he was to be able to have his family with him, and for the opportunity to spend the day on the water and playing some golf.
In this new age of doubt, brought on by AI and backing tracks, there was absolutely zero doubt that EC was there WITH us. He was incredibly animated, telling stories, cracking jokes, and even messing up a time or two. There was an obvious incorrect guitar not that he called himself out on. Then after a brief and heartfelt introduction to a song, he was informed by his guitar player that that isn’t the song we’re doing next. Which was clearly evident once Eric consulted the setlist at his feet, as he laughed it off saying we’ll come back to that.
Eric Church promised us on the first night that he would be changing up the setlist for each of the two Lake Tahoe performances. A promise that he delivered on one hundred percent. Where the night one saw a rousing rendition of Queens ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ as a segue to ‘Pledge Allegiance to The Hag’. Night two brought us ‘Like a Wrecking Ball’. A song that has been rarely played live lately, but Eric said was requested in the meet and greet the night before. He also let us know that his 11 year old son was astonished to see the song on the setlist, asking his dad, “are you really gonna play that?” To which EC exclaimed, “in one form or another.”
Both nights saw EC perform fan favorite ‘Springsteen’, but on night two it seemed just a bit more special. As under a slowly sinking sliver of a crescent moon, with the chilly air coming off the water, Church said “this song was made for nights just like tonight”. He sandwiched a bit of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born to Run’ between verses of ‘Springsteen’ which seemed to make the song even that much more special.
Where night one’s show ending seemed rather abrupt due to the venue’s stringent curfew, night two’s closing was very cool. The fact that it was clearly evident that EC basically called an audible was epic. Although we could see EC whisper to his stage manager, then to backup singer Joanna Cotton, not even the band knew exactly what was going on. They kind of lingered around side-stage, in the event they were once again needed.
Church then brought the powerhouse vocalist Joanna Cotton front and center for a stripped down, acoustic collaboration of the final three songs of the night. Which were ‘Darkest Hour’, ‘Like Jesus Does’, to absolute thunderous applause. Then after telling his crew on side stage, “one more’, the pair belted out ‘McArthur’. The latter being a song Eric recorded with Hardy, Tim McGraw, and Morgan Wallen. This was just the second time that Church had performed ‘McArthur’ live. And the crowd, the crowd LOVED it.
I recently read something that said, “people laugh when someone cries at a concert. But they’re not crying because they see a celebrity. They’re crying because they’re finally standing in front of the person who unknowingly helped them survive some of the darkest days of their life. That’s gratitude, not obsession.”
A fact that absolutely rings true of an Eric Church performance. I’m not too proud to admit that I may have had tears in my eyes when EC performed ‘Put That in Your Country Song’. I know, an odd song to get choked up about, but I recently lost my brother, a combat veteran with two tours in Iraq. So when he sang the lines “Sing about the man coming back from war. 23 going on 54. He lost a friend, his sight, his hands, Baby girl he’ll never see again”, it just simply hit me.
Where some may have come to simply enjoy the music, others came to forget life for a minute. Then there are those that may have come to celebrate being alive, or perhaps, to celebrate a life in particular
You may be asking, what’s it like at an Eric Church show? I can’t speak for every show, but over these two nights at Lake Tahoe it was much like a tent revival. The word “spiritual” comes to the forefront of my mind. While some may attend a “service”, this was much more than that. This was CHURCH!
Do not altar photos
Copyright: Chris Couture Photography
