Luke called his boy Eric Church to help cover his shifts basically and the Chief stepped up in a big way.
When Luke Bryan stopped his show in Rogers, Arkansas, because he was having issues, he and proceeded to refund everyone in attendance. Which also led to him having to cancel some other upcoming scheduled shows.
Church actually replaced Luke at all three of the festivals he was scheduled for, but getting his entire operation on the road in such short amount of time forced Church to come up with something kind of new.
So, he decided to hit the stage at the Country Stampede with just himself, his powerhouse backup singer Joanna Cotten (who has the voice of an angel), and his Gibson guitar. He promised the audience that he would give everything he had…given the circumstances.
“Luke’s a little under the weather. And he said, ‘Man, I need a favor. We’ve got these three festivals.’ And I’ve played these festivals. I grew up playing festivals.
And he said, ‘If I have to cancel, nobody’s gonna get to see a show those three nights. Will you go play the shows?’
I said, ‘Man, half my band’s out of the country.’ I said, ‘I can bring myself and a guitar.’…
Here’s the way this works. I’m gonna give you everything I have with all I have. You guys give it back to me all night and we’ve gonna have a hell of a night.”