Knoxville, TN - Thompson-Boling Arena
April 16th, 2024
Knoxville, TN
Thompson-Boling Arena
Preface: What an experience! This show was riddled with ignorance on my part and amazingness on the part of Tyler Childers and the Food Stamps
Show Notes: Well, turns out you should figure out how far the venue is from your house! What Daniel thought was a 3 hour drive was actually a 4 and a half hour drive! To make things even better, Daniel put oil in his car and thought he needed a full quart but apparently didn’t. This was noticed as he was seen blowing massive clouds of white smoke out the back end of his car!
Once all this settled out Daniel and his brother, Ryan, left in Ryan’s car; even later than ever expected. But things from there were smooth sailing!
Once arriving in Knoxville Daniel and Ryan hurried to the merch booth to cop a poster and then headed to their seats. Having misjudged the ride by an hour and a half and having to swap cars out at the last second they missed all of 49 Winchester - which was a total bummer as both of them wanted to see them!
As soon as they got to their seats the Tyler Childers’ Mule Pull Tour intro began. Some would call it perfect timing! Once the intro was finished the Tyler Childers and the Food Stamps came out on the stage and brought out every ounce of energy.
Percheron Mules into Tulsa Turnaround into Born Again into Redneck Romeo….? That’s right! Redneck Romeo was played for the first time in forever!
Tyler took the time between Born Again and Redneck Romeo to speak about how Knoxville was where he’d decided to get sober. This was a very raw moment where you could see Tyler was getting very emotional. You could hear him getting choked up when speaking about how time is the most important thing you get back when you become sober.
We’re not sure if that’s why he decided to add Redneck Romeo to the setlist, or if he just had a wild hair that night, but either way we were blessed to see such a rare song played.
The rest of the setlist was what we’d become accustomed to over the last handful of shows. Fan favorites and absolute jams! These setlists seemingly never go out of style and the guys seemed to have figured out a way to make it as enjoyable for old heads as they do for newcomers.
A beautiful night in Knoxville, TN
Venue Notes: To be honest we didn’t get to really explore the venue given how late we got there. We will say what we did see was ample amounts of merch booths, concessions, and bathrooms. All of those typically lead us to saying great things, so while we can’t say definitively we can say it had all the makings of being an amazing venue.
Inside the seating area itself is amazing. Even more so as a big sports fan like Daniel is. The history of Tennessee basketball can be felt all around.
Parking Notes: We’re not sure if it’s because we were late, lucky, or if it’s just how it happens, but we parked in a parking deck that was literally attached to the football and basketball stadium.
It almost seemed too good to be true how close we were to the entrance. And it was FREE! Our favorite cost!
Travel Notes: This one sucked. Not going to lie. We had no time to stop for anything but gas and snacks, Ryan’s car doesn’t have AC, and Daniel has terrible allergies that the mountains surely didn’t help!
We’re sure this would have been much more enjoyable otherwise though and the next time Tyler and the boys are there we’ll be sure to get in a lot more stops for you all.