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Eric Church took the stage over the weekend despite sustaining an injury days earlier.
Church, 48, broke his foot two days before his performance in Jacksonville, Florida, he told her audience at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on Friday (April 10). During the second-to-last stop on his headlining 2026 “Free the Machine Tour” stops, the country superstar told the audience he “made it 44 tour dates unscathed.”
However, “48 hours ago — I wish I could give you a better story — I jumped out of bed. I forgot about a suitcase at the end of the bed. I kicked the sh*t out of that suitcase, and I broke my left foot,” Church said in fan-recorded videos circulating on social media. “Tonight, what I lack in mobility, I’m going to make up in passion.”
Church continued to poke fun at his medical boot throughout the show, including lyric swaps during his rendition of “These Boots,” from his 2006 album (he jokingly sang, “These boots have had to dance with the devil/ And nearly had to kick that suitcase across the road,” in clips shared by concertgoers). Some concert attendees who shared performance clips on TikTok and other social media platforms said Church’s concert was “incredible,” just like any other. The Evangeline vs. The Machine artist reportedly played a two-and-a-half-hour show with his broken foot.
The “Free the Machine Tour” featured Church playing his latest studio album front-to-back, plus reimagined performances of songs spanning his career. Earlier this year, the North Carolina-born hitmaker relived performances at a “cutting-edge venue” in Nashville, Tennessee, bringing it to the IMAX screen in a concert film. The final show on his tour took place on Saturday evening (April 11) in Tampa, Florida. Church’s next performance date is set for Wednesday (April 15) at The Fisher Center in Nashville, Tennessee, where he’ll play at A Country Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson’s, benefitting the Michael J. Fox Foundation. After that, he’ll perform at Shorty Turns 40: Trombone Shorty’s 40th Birthday Concert on Saturday, April 25 in New Orleans, Louisiana.