For the second consecutive night, rising folk and country singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Tyler Childers performed to a sold-out crowd at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. With support from Ohio-born opener Elle King, Tyler was accompanied by his long-time band The Food Stamps to provide a rich sound to his body of work, only performing three covers throughout the NYC finale.
Opener Elle King, clad in a white cowgirl hat, strutted her stuff and flexed her powerful voice and country sass until the curtains closed to set the stage for the headlining act. When the curtains revealed the stage, Tyler Childers sat alone center stage with an acoustic guitar in hand. Without waiting for the rowdy audience to settle down completely, Tyler dug into a pair of originals as “Shake the Frost” melted into “Lady May”.
Between songs, the songwriter mentioned, “It feels like just yesterday that we were here.” Though TC has never played at Radio City, he has headlined more spacious concert halls since his NYC headlining debut at Brooklyn Bowl in the fall of 2018.
The Food Stamps joined in to fill out the crowded stage—complete with brass, string, and background vocal sections on respective risers—as Tyler ignored the garrulous audience yelling requests and accelerated into “Whitehouse Road”. The visual displays featured desolate highways devoid of color to accompany the fan-favorite tune, guitar solos, and horn flourishes.
The 25-ish-piece band drove onward to perform the first three tracks off his most recent studio album, Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven? A divine organ introduced a re-energized rendition of Hank Williams’ “Old Country Church” before TC dropped his guitar to belt out “Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?” His bandmate took lead vocals on “Two Coats” which gave Childers time to focus on his newly reequipped guitar.
The title track from 2019’s Country Squire paved the way for a brazen, brassy cover of Charlie Daniels’ “Trudy”. (“Cut you down in a New York minute!”) After the second verse, the multi-faceted band traded solos from trumpet to trombone to saxophone before the organ and fretless bass closed out the song. Staying on the same album, Tyler Childers continued into “All Your’n” stopping to introduce his small army of musicians in his traditional quick-lipped, jocular, spectacular, one-liner, rapid-fire, barrage of zingers.
Tyler picked up his guitar once more to rip through “Purgatory” before trading it for a fiddle for the traditional “Cluck Ol’ Hen”. As many in the audience wondered what Tyler Childers can’t do, he dropped the fiddle to belt out his newest single “In Your Love” off his upcoming album Rustin’ In The Rain.
As he has been doing lately, Childers’ powerful vocals orbited S.G. Goodman’s “Space and Time”, soaring through the poignant cover. During a brief pause, Tyler acknowledged his fellow Kentucky-born singer S.G. Goodman’s writing and the timeless feeling evoked by the song. S.G. Goodman—who performed less than forty miles away just two days prior—will join TC’s tour for a weeklong leg from August 13th–19th and again later in September for two nights at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
Slowing it down to give the pedal steel room to roam, “Honky Tonk Flame” soon quickened its tempo for a rousing execution of “House Fire”. The lyrics, fiddle, and upbeat, driving drum line were paired with fiery displays to capture a desperate, hellbent feeling. James Barker stood up from his spot at the pedal steel to ignite a smokin’ guitar solo.
Finishing out the extended set just as he started, Tyler reverted into the second half of Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven? for a piano-laden take on “Way of the Triune God”. To follow, the organ introduced “Angel Band” as the entire supporting cast returned to the stage once more.
A penultimate “Jubilee” raised the spirits before closing out the show in the same way as the album with “Heart You’ve Been Tendin’”. Unlike the album, a choir of voices and a flurry of bows completed the sound in orchestral fashion that seemed appropriate for Radio City Music Hall’s spacious stage and acoustics.
The man is an unstoppable force crafting meaningful lyrics that are loaded with intent and the repercussions of hard and fast living. Surrounded by an orchestral sound and a solid core, Tyler Childers’ Send the Hounds Tour is an arrangement that resembles a massive church band rather than a rock and roll act, but lurking behind the angelic sound is a tinge of shadowed darkness, diabolic solos, and stories of drug addiction along the road to redemption and—just maybe—even salvation.
For his full tour, click here.
Tyler Childers – “Whitehouse Road” – 8/3/23
[Video: Drinking Muddy Whiskey]
Tyler Childers – “Space And Time” (S.G. Goodman) – 8/3/23
[Video: Dakota Sponsler]
Tyler Childers – “Space And Time” (S.G. Goodman) – 8/3/23
[Video: Drinking Muddy Whiskey]
Setlist: Tyler Childers | Radio City Music Hall | New York, NY | 8/3/23
Solo Acoustic:
Shake the Frost, Lady May
Full Band:
Whitehouse Road, Old Country Church (Hank Williams), Two Coats, Country Squire, Trudy (Charlie Daniels Band), All Your’n, Purgatory, Cluck Ol Hen (traditional), In Your Love, Space and Time (S.G. Goodman), Honky Tonk Flame, House Fire, Way of the Triune God, Angel Band, Jubilee, Heart You’ve Been Tendin’
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