Guide to Eric Church's Free The Machine Tour at Barclays Center

Join the Church Choir and see the country-rock star perform his latest album, Evangeline vs. The Machine, for one night only in Brooklyn this September.

Caroline CaoAugust 19, 2025, 04:00

In your darkest hour, Eric Church will do everything he can to bring the light. The 2020 CMA Entertainer of the Year is bringing the sounds of his native North Carolina to NYC. Come rock with Eric Church at his Free The Machine Tour at the Barclays Center on September 20, 2025 — but first, read below to learn more about the country-rock innovator and his tour stop in Brooklyn.

Get tickets to Eric Church in concert now.

What album is Eric Church touring?

The Free the Machine Tour highlights Eric Church’s eighth studio album, Evangeline vs. The Machine, whose single “Hands of Time” broke Church's personal record for first-week impact with 135 stations. One of its Billboard-charting songs, “Darkest Hour,” was repurposed for Hurricane Helene relief.

Church spoke to Variety about the “machine” as a “mechanism” that can either suppress or sharpen creativity, his album exploring the "dichotomy between creativity and the machine that that creativity has to live and breathe in."

On the Free the Machine Tour, Church also plays fan-favorite hits from previous albums like “Springsteen” and “Smoke a Little Smoke.”

Where in NYC is Eric Church performing?

Eric Church is performing at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. It is a smoke- and vape-free venue, and bags larger than 10" x 6" x 2" are not permitted. Outside food and beverages are also prohibited, so apologies to those who want to enter the venue with a literal “Drink in My Hand.”

ADA-accessible seating, elevators, and hearing-assistive services are available. Please visit the Barclays Center website for more information.

As a precaution against scalpers, Church is reserving pit tickets for premium Church Choir members.

What is the runtime of Eric Church's Free the Machine Tour?

The concert is estimated to run for 2 hours with no intermission.

What is the age recommendation for Eric Church's Free the Machine Tour?

Eric Church’s country blues knows no generational boundaries: Free the Machine is an all-ages show. Adults may remember Church's early music from as far back as 2005, and they can introduce younger, budding country music fans to the musician at this tour.

What is Eric Church’s music genre?

Although Eric Church has bristled on the idea of fitting into a genre, he generally blends country twang and rock sensibilities, sometimes with dashes of gospel. His lyricism runs the gamut from being whiskey-soaked to nostalgic and yearning.

What can I expect at Eric Church’s Free the Machine Tour show?

Eric Church concerts can raise hell with foot-stomping and hooting, but Church has decided on a different path for Free the Machine: “big to small.” In an interview with Country Now, Eric Church teased a grand orchestra introduction that gradually gives way to just his band, ending with an intimate acoustic segment from there.

Who else will be performing at Eric Church’s Free the Machine Tour?

Grammy Award nominee Elle King is Church's guest for the Brooklyn stop of the Free the Machine Tour. The alt-country star is the first female artist to score radio No. 1 singles in four different categories: Adult Pop Songs, Adult Alternative Songs, Alternative Songs, and the Country Airplay chart. The mainstream hit “Ex's & Oh's,” from King's album Love Stuff, earned her two Grammy nominations and was certified 4x platinum.

Has Eric Church performed live in NYC before?

Along with other NYC venues, Eric Church has headlined Madison Square Garden in multiple years, most recently in May 2022 for The Gather Again Tour.

Earlier in his career, in 2010, he even dropped by Joe's Pub at the Off-Broadway institution The Public Theater for the CMA Songwriters Series, rousing the crowd to clap and sing along to “Smoke a Little Smoke.”

How to get Eric Church tickets at Barclays Center

Sing along with the Church Choir. Buy tickets via New York Theatre Guide to see Eric Church at Barclays Center and get intoxicated by his country-rock hits.