Concert Review: Tyler Childers: On The Road
- Lucas Burton
- Jun 2
- 2 min read
Tyler Childers began the second leg of his On The Road tour last Thursday in Jacksonville, Florida.
Childers brought along one opener, S.G. Goodman. This was not the first time I had seen her live. Back in 2023, I saw her at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia as the opening act for Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. Her set wasn't that long, but it included a Waylon Jennings cover and a lot of promotion for her upcoming album, Planting by the Signs, releasing on June 20th of this year.
Childers walked on stage with the band and spoke briefly before opening with the unrecorded track, "Jersey Giant." Even though Childers himself hasn't recorded it, the track has been recorded by other artists like Elle King. It was a great experience to hear the writer perform his own take on his own song. I am with the majority of fans that thinks he needs to record it himself.
Many of the visuals on the video board were terrific. My favorite was the scene for "Bus Route" with a view inside the bus with Ray Dixon, the bus driver in the song turning around being angry. It even included "his paddle that he carved from pine" used to "blister punk kids alive" hanging above him as he drove.
The visual for "House Fire" was my second favorite as it showed the house catch on fire and slowly burn to a frame before it was completely gone.
The best part of the whole show was Tyler Childers himself, of course. The man can sing. He sounds just as clean and polished live as he does in a studio. He mostly strummed in the background when he played guitar, but I noticed a few times when Childers took a guitar solo.
Childers played the Can I Take My Hounds To Heaven? version of "Purgatory" before he ran out to a secondary stage to play an acoustic set. He played a few fan favorites like "Lady May," "Follow You to Virgie," and "Nose on The Grindstone."
Before he began, Childers talked about different unique ways to make it to the "B" stage, including a zipline. He exclaimed "That would be ridiculous!" I would go to another Tyler Childers concert just to see him on a zipline.
The best part of Childers performing was his facial expressions and eye movements. It makes Childers stand out in a good way. Many singers like to polish their movements and not be over the top. I think this is what makes Childers stand out as a performer the most.
Childers ended the night with "Universal Sound" and did not do an encore, which he was very upfront about before he finished the show, which is fine by me. Encores are very forced and not genuine anymore. After that it was time for Tyler and crew to hop on their "fart rockets and hit the highway."
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