Photos and Review by Brady Cooling
Tyler Childers and the Food Stamps rode their Mule Pull Tour into the Viejas Arena in San Diego, CA for a packed evening of country music and revival. In a night that very much represented Appalachia weather, near Tyler’s home in Kentucky, it was met by hail and rain throughout the Friday evening. Nonetheless, the music and good times were flowing inside the venue for the entire duration of the show.
San Diego last had Tyler and his band’s talents at the Observatory North Park all the way back in 2019. A difference in the years also meant a giant step up from a 1,100 person venue all the way to 12,000. Childers can still make any size venue feel very intimate and much like his roots back in Appalachia playing all sorts of smaller sized rooms and occasions.
Although the venues may have gotten larger, the tours longer, and even his raucous band growing larger; Tyler Childers still represents one of the greatest American songwriters and artists of this decade. The true power of his music and his band backing speak so many themes of love, heartbreak, addiction, hope and roots. From the first note, Tyler had the entire crowd singing each lyric and dancing along. Their stage setup looked similar to the neon lights you may find in Nashville or Memphis and some of the tiny color TV’s and windows that displayed images and themes to go along with each song too.
The Food Stamps opened with the familiar beat of “Country Squire” one of the most popular tunes from his Country Squire album of the same name from 2019. Some classic covers from Hank Williams’ legendary track, “Old Country Church” and even The Charlie Daniels Band’s “Trudy” from the first half of the set. “Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven” and “In Your Love” rounded out the first portion of music as newer songs and ones that really show how versatile Tyler truly is. Going from a true gospel revival song; into one about gay coal miners and the belief of “Love is Love” which is something that isn’t as popular in the world of country music unfortunately. But Tyler epitomizes so much as a person and performer who’s proud to be from Kentucky.
Tyler Childers flipped the script from his last few shows in Europe and started the show with the full band rather than starting solo with an acoustic set, and saved that bit of solo goodness for the middle of this set as a treat for all. This middle set included favorites such as “Lady May”, “Nose on the Grindstone” and “Follow You to Virgie.”
He is master at introducing his band with very much an old-timey voice or even something similar to a boxing match. Additionally, Tyler is great banter and storyteller. My personal favorite of this show was him reminiscing about their first time in San Diego. They played the tiny and legendary Casbah, and decided to camp at the nearby KOA. Since he said it’s San Diego, it never rains or anything (yeah right) he opted out of putting his rain flap on his tent.
After a few minutes of trying to sleep he got up and walked away, and when he came back it started to pour and the whole tent was full of a few inches of water. He spent the night cold and eventually hopped into their then managers tent to try to sleep it off. Certainly a night he hasn’t forgotten!
His longtime drummer and friend Rodney Elkins celebrated a birthday onstage which brought out a cake and the whole stadium singing along to wish the man behind the beats a special day. Another round of band introductions led to the exceptional “Tulsa Turnaround” by Kenny Rogers a longtime feature on Tyler’s setlist of late. “House Fire” emerged as the whole stage and cabin setting caught ablaze and was lit full blast. One of my personal highlights was the usage of the disco ball for “Universal Sound” that beamed across the whole venue.
Ending the night and nearly two hours of music was “Heart You’ve Been Tendin’” as we were all left in a sense of a new awakening and spiritual feeling after this show. Tyler Childers and his fantastic Food Stamps band continue to show that they keep making albums to showcase his musical heroes and a force in the world of Americana and Country music alike. An artist who isn’t afraid to make music that can evoke feelings of discomfort or question; and isn’t scared to show where he is from in ole Kentucky and the Appalachian Mountains. We only hope they come back to San Diego sooner next time!
