After Voice Issues, Sturgill Simpson Turns Atlanta Show into Karaoke Night

Friday night was like any regular Friday night at the Saving Country Music headquarters when not out among the proletariat taking in a show: watch some Shark Tank, make up a huge platter of hamburgers like Wimpy from Popeye, and gorge myself to the point of passing out in pool of gluttony and self-loathing. Hey, being a writer is a lonely, lonely life.
Then all of a sudden my inbox starts blowing up like Booger Red had just died.
“Dude, what’s up with your boy in Atlanta?”
“My boy?” I answer.
The context here is that the last time Sturgill Simpson played Atlanta, it kind of turned into a bad situation. At the Terminal West show on October 10th, 2014, Sturgill was sick, the sound sucked on stage, and his dog had just died. Sturgill uncharacteristically let the culmination of all of these events get to him, and after about seven songs performed through grumbles, he left the stage, promising to make it up to Sherman’s tinder box in the future.
The show Friday night (10-23) at the beloved Tabernacle in Atlanta was Sturgill’s chance to make it up. And lo and behold he was sick again.
Sturgill Simpson was sick to the point where he could barely sing. Immediately upon taking the stage, he apologized to the crowd, said he was suffering from severe allergies and would make it up to them at a makeup show on December 7th. And then Sturgill decided to do something unprecedented in country music, and I’m not talking about pontificating on hallucinogenic drug trips in song.
Sturgill Simpson decided to turn Atlanta’s Tabernacle into the hottest Karaoke bar in town that night.
After trying to sing the first song, Sturgill began to invite folks from the crowd up on the stage to sing the songs for him. As you can imagine, this plan garnered mixed reviews. Some thought it was awesome, and a unique experience they will never forget, and appreciated that Sturgill at least tried to do something entertaining as opposed to canceling last minute. And others, including fans who had attended the previous Atlanta show, and some of which had traveled from out of town, were less forgiving.
Here’s where I do the stupid thing of embedding Tweets to show the varying opinions on what happened Friday night:
A rare one from @sturgillsimpson on Sturgill Karaoke Night at @tabernacleatl – a gloriously weird one. https://t.co/fY9aUjfwwb
Jay Cooper (@jayacoop) October 24, 2015
Sturgill simpson blaming allergies for an abbreviated show in Atlanta. 2 years in a row. Yep my last time trying. M A Fitzgerald (@afitz66) October 24, 2015
Tonight was further proof there is no one in the music industry like Sturgill Simpson. He is The Man. #sturgillsimpson
Victor (@Sandman1035) October 24, 2015
Another rip off from Sturgill Simspon! 2 years in a row- remember Terminal West @SturgillSimpson?? #letdown Jill Harris (@JillHarris31) October 24, 2015
So there you go. If you were in the crowd in Atlanta, how you took it seems to be dependent on your state of mind, if it was your second strike with Sturgill or the first, or perhaps the level of psilocybin mushrooms in your system. Either way, the dude has promised to make it up on December 7th, so bit your quitchen I guess. Turns out musicians are humans too, even the illustrious Sturgill who otherwise can leap tall buildings and shoot laser beams out of his eyeballs on opposition to the forces of “Bro-Country.” It does suck that Atlanta has received a double dose of the bad news though. Two tough shows in as many years, and they both happen in The Big Peach. It’s the pits.
Here’s Sturgill’s official statement:
Due to vocal problems stemming from allergies, Sturgill’s performance tomorrow night, October 24 at the Tabernacle in Atlanta has been rescheduled and tonight’s performance will be replayed. Both performances will be rescheduled on December 7 & 8. Fans with tickets to the October 23 performance will be honored on December 7 while patrons holding tickets to the cancelled October 24 show will be honored on December 8. Anyone wishing to receive a refund for the October 23 & 24 shows can receive a full refund at the point of purchase at any time between now and December 5.
We deeply regret any inconvenience this may cause. Best efforts were made for both shows to take place as scheduled. Tonight, under the heading of the show must go on, Sturgill and the band gave it a go but it became apparent after taking the stage that he would be unable to sing in a manner that the fans deserved. Instead of pulling the plug and sending everyone home, Sturgill announced to the crowd what was happening and that they were going to get a different show than they had come for but that everyone in attendance would be entitled to a make up show on December 7. To reiterate, anyone who purchased a ticket to either the October 23 or 24 show is entitled to a full refund at point of purchase prior to December 5, or they will be able to attend the make-up shows on December 7 & 8. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for your support as well as your kind understanding.
And hey, some very lucky bastards got to sing with Sturgill. I’m still cheesed by Shark Tank viewing got interrupted though. How you going to make that up Sturg? HUH?
READ: A Cosmic Connection: Sturgill Simpson Chooses to Celebrate Americana Wins with Fans
October 24, 2015 @ 10:48 am
Hey, if the man was sick, he was sick. At least he tried to entertain the crowd.
October 24, 2015 @ 10:49 am
I was there and had an entertaining time. Sturgill’s presence on stage was fun to watch. He was playing and it looked like he was having fun though he felt like shit.
October 24, 2015 @ 10:50 am
It is unfortunate, especially in the same town two times, but I don’t think the average listener really understands the rigors of touring and how it can affect something as delicate as the human voice. It’s not like a guitar that can be repaired, tuned, and ready to rock that day. It is part of a biological balance where a lot of elements can affect it. I am sure there are plenty of weekend warrior bar band guys here thinking “Pssht, it wouldn’t stop me!” But.. these boys tour a lot, maybe too much at times. It is a different ball game. Bigger stars cancel entire shows for smaller reasons all the time.
I think he did what he had to, I would have had a blast. And, heck, less Sturgill vocal time leaves a bigger window for Sturgill guitar solo time, potentially.. and I love to watch that guy play. Anyway, just my $.02, and your mileage may vary
October 24, 2015 @ 12:43 pm
I’m completely with you. It was a double dose of bad luck for the city, but it seems like he did everything he can to correct it and make it up to ticketholders as well as giving them a unique and entertaining experience despite being sick.
People would complain just as much if her performed sick and the show suffered as a result.
.
I mean, we’re not talking Toby Keith here who was too drunk to perform. The man got sick and he’s promised to rectify the experience.
October 24, 2015 @ 1:07 pm
It’s a tough one, for sure, and impossible to please everybody. With venue contracts it is next to impossible to give options that can go both ways, so he had to make a call. And he probably honestly thought he might be able to swing it. Tough break either way.
October 24, 2015 @ 10:58 am
I was there last night. I was disappointed. He should have cancelled the show. We didn’t pay to see a glorified karaoke show. He was just trying to save his voice for the Ryman next week. I still like him, I just wish he would have handled it better.
October 24, 2015 @ 12:22 pm
What, was someone holding a gun to your head making you stay? Sounds to me like he did reschedule, but decided, “fuck it, we’re all here anyway. Let’s have some fun!”
World’s greatest karaoke plus rescheduled show sounds like 2 for price of 1 to me. I get that it’s annoying, but do you get that he’s only human and did his best? At least he didn’t just pull a rascall flatts and really piss everyone off.
#couldalwaysbeworse
October 24, 2015 @ 12:28 pm
No sir. No one had a gun to my head. I drove 4 hours to hear him, not some random drunk people. Plus, the make up date is a Monday night. Not the most ideal night for a concert. I understand he is human, but he could have saved a lot of people time and money by cancelling it.
October 24, 2015 @ 12:31 pm
I get that. I’d be annoyed as shit, too. In fact, concerts during the week several hours away are the only reason I haven’t seen him live yet. But still-he did at least try.
October 24, 2015 @ 12:52 pm
I think a lot of it depends how quickly they could have informed you and other people the show was going to be canceled. If Sturgill only got sick a couple hours before the show, they likely would not have had the time to inform everyone and even then more people would be complaining that they drove a couple hours only to have to turn around. It’s a no-win situation for a lot of these artists.
There is also the fact that this isnt Tim McGraw or Dierks Bentley. Sturgill and his tour probably don’t have the ability to quickly pivot and let everyone know including the venue and all the paying fans and local media that the show is cancelled. McGraw or Bentley get sick and they have massive labels and management teams that can quickly get the word out, I highly doubt that is the case with someone like Sturgill Simpson.
October 26, 2015 @ 8:45 am
Yeah, I will say one thing that was annoying was that I didn’t get notified that the Saturday show was cancelled until 3:30 Saturday, and I’d been on the road for five hours already.
Still hope Sturgill feels better soon.
October 25, 2015 @ 4:19 am
I don’t know why you keep saying that. There is nothing I know about him that would make me think that he would ever short change one audience for another a week later. You’re basically calling the guy’s character into question.
October 24, 2015 @ 11:02 am
That girl can sing good 🙂
I’m not sure how I’d feel if I was there but it seems Sturgill’s doing what he can to make it right. Refund, or get another show, take your pick.
October 24, 2015 @ 11:03 am
Trigger, Sturgill put me on stage. I just got through telling my girl that I needed a good gig soon or else. It fell into place and I couldn’t have a better opinion about the man and the band.
October 24, 2015 @ 11:08 am
Awesome. Anyone get it on video? Some folks are saying they have the audio of the show recorded.
October 24, 2015 @ 1:38 pm
My producer, Aaron Hill of The Law band got the sound from the board. We’re gonna link it up to a better video than the ones on Facebook. Here’s one for you until then:
https://www.facebook.com/rachel.rowland.56/videos/752550138183469/
October 24, 2015 @ 1:51 pm
I’m very interested to see, but link doesn’t work
October 24, 2015 @ 1:58 pm
I was there and heard you Wade. It was a good time, not a great show obviously but we did get to see a lot of Sturgill’s personality which was fun and entertaining. He gutted it out and still gave it his best go on Listening to the Rain. All in all not bad, and I get a free show out of it.
Rest and get well soon Sturgill!
October 25, 2015 @ 9:09 am
The powers that be have asked me not use the board audio. Here is a cell phone video instead.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v252ed57en1j1cw/AACyinGvl_1ysJWpCjYjv-Tna?dl=0
October 24, 2015 @ 11:25 am
I wonder: is there anything that could derail the Sturgill Simpson hype-train?
October 24, 2015 @ 12:24 pm
Nope. Sturgill’s the shit, man!
October 25, 2015 @ 5:14 pm
No idea what that means, but both his albums are great and we saw him at The Shed in Maryville, TN and it was best concert I have seen in a long time. His guitar player is a virtuoso and Sturgill seems like a down to earth real guy.
Care to elaborate or are you just playing a grumpy contrarian on the interweb?
Who pray tell SHOULD we be listening to?
October 28, 2015 @ 12:29 pm
That’s what I thought.
October 28, 2015 @ 3:31 pm
Sorry for the delayed response I’m only a part time troll. It just seems to me that he really had no choice but finish the show…just like when he cancelled the Atlanta show last time. Everyone was like “it’s awesome that he’s offering a make-up show.” Of course…why wouldn’t he? I don’t think canceling Atlanta was an option. So why the praise. I like his record and enthusiastically support what he’s doing. Just calling them like I see them.
October 24, 2015 @ 11:27 am
I was there and thought it said a lot about him to try and entertain and still do the makeup show. He could’ve tried to put on a half ass performance but instead made it a unique night with the promise of another show in the future. He looked like hell but he actually looked like he was enjoying himself and it showed a unique side of his
October 25, 2015 @ 5:44 am
Agree 100%. Id venture to guess no act of his stature, or bigger, has ever done that
October 24, 2015 @ 11:34 am
It’s all a ploy by Music Row with the hopes of poisoning any chance of the inhabitants of their Bro-Country hotbed of Georgia being exposed to meaningful country music.
October 24, 2015 @ 1:57 pm
illuminati confirmed
October 24, 2015 @ 11:59 am
Ten years from now when Sturgill is accepting his second of back to back entertainer of the year awards at the CMAs. Everyone and their mother will be claiming to have sang with Sturgill last night.
October 24, 2015 @ 12:03 pm
I live just sw of Atlanta and I’m allergic to the place, too…
🙂
October 24, 2015 @ 6:09 pm
so are the braves.
October 24, 2015 @ 12:35 pm
He could have just pulled a Tim McGraw and autotuned the entire thing so none of it was off key.
Or just be Jason Aldean, who has no vocal ability with or without a cold.
October 24, 2015 @ 12:42 pm
I hate social media. I really do. It’s cool that Sturgill tried to do something other than canceling at the last minute, but Trigger your embedding of tweets just reminded me why I stay away from as much social media as I can. I don’t know what’s worse the cluster**** that is Facebook’s layout or the absolute narcissism inherent in pretty much every Twitter/Instagram user. Yuck.
October 24, 2015 @ 1:03 pm
I hate it too, and there’s some sites on the internet that predicate pretty much all of their content on stuff people say on social network, which rarely is either informative or enlightening. That’s why I prefaced the tweets with, “Here”™s where I do the stupid thing of embedding Tweets to show the varying opinions on what happened Friday night:”.
In this case I thought it was a fair way to represent that some people enjoyed the night, and some didn’t. Since I wasn’t there, I couldn’t rely on my own accounts or opinions, and so this was one of the rare instances that I thought social network opinions were helpful in painting an accurate picture.
October 25, 2015 @ 4:29 am
And yet….
October 24, 2015 @ 2:41 pm
Dang! Was really looking forward to seeing him again tonight. I can wait til December to see a show like I saw in ‘Bama. Well, here are my other shows to choose from (I’m not kidding!):
-Taylor Swift
-Mark Knopfler
-Corey Smith
-Devil Makes Three
-Lone Bellow & Anderson East
Or
-The Comedy Get-Down w/ Cedric The Ent., DL Hughley, Eddie Griffin & George Lopez
Any advice??
October 25, 2015 @ 3:09 pm
Knopfler. Every time.
October 25, 2015 @ 4:06 pm
Lone bellow. Every time.
October 29, 2015 @ 11:29 am
Devil Makes Three every damn time.
October 24, 2015 @ 5:06 pm
Great post, Trigger! I was there last night and in the heat of the moment I tweeted some harsh words about Sturgill. I still don’t like the whole karaoke aspect of the night but Sturgill was in a huge bind. He had to do something. What made matters worse for me is that his band is so kick ass and Sturgill can kick it up on the guitar. I just wanted them to play. And then you got glimpses of Sturgill singing and I was thinking this doesn’t sound bad at all, just keep going. Don’t bring someone on stage that can’t sing and ruin it for me. I know, easier said than done. I also thought the rescheduled show was a great gesture but then you think about all the people that have to put so much into getting to show, most of all those that traveled from out of town and you think this isn’t the greatest solution. HOWEVER, now that I’m seeing that a refund is also being offered, I think Sturgill has done just about all he can do to resolve this matter. And I regret the stupid tweet I sent!
October 24, 2015 @ 6:36 pm
Hey David,
Thanks for the heads up last night and giving me the 411. I’m pretty sure you’re the first one that reached out, and then the flood gates opened.
I don’t think anyone should feel bad for being angry about what happened, just like I don’t think anyone should feel guilty if they enjoyed themselves. It’s one of those situations where it just sucks. If I had made the effort to be there, especially the second time to take in the full Sturgill experience and been sold short, I would be frustrated too. And makeup days on Mondays are tough. But my guess is Sturgill knows more than anyone that he owes it to Atlanta now.
October 25, 2015 @ 5:42 am
His exact quote was “come back December 7th and I’ll melt your face off”. Mi agree, that should be a cracker.
October 24, 2015 @ 5:19 pm
I’d be disappointed if I went and he couldn’t sing either, but he’s scheduled a makeup date and what else can a man do if he’s too sick to sing? People need to relax.
October 25, 2015 @ 5:39 am
I give the guy credit. Folks drove a long way to see a show. It’s better than sending everyone home. I heard you could tell he did not have his voice.
October 25, 2015 @ 5:15 pm
First song it was clear to us. Of course, we just saw him a month ago in full throat.
October 25, 2015 @ 8:30 am
I was at the show on Friday night. I made the almost three-hour drive from Montgomery. I was obviously disappointed in what happened and I only stayed for the first six songs. Many people started leaving about three songs into the set when it became apparent that Sturgill wasn’t going to sing. I will say that the fan who came on stage and performed Long White Line was really good.
I can’t make the December 7th show because I’ll be in California for work that week.
October 26, 2015 @ 7:10 am
I was supposed to go the Saturday show, and it got moved to Dec. 8th. I hate to say it, but I was almost relieved, because I was the Turnpike Troubadours show the night before. I have no doubt that Sturgill will bring is A game when he gets back to town. Since I live Atlanta, I don’t mind a good Tuesday night show, but I do feel for the people who might night be able to make it in from other cities because of the date change.
October 26, 2015 @ 7:55 am
I had a ticket to Saturday’s show and was forced to get a refund because of the Tuesday night rescheduling. People that drive 4 hours from out of town can’t get to a week night show, let alone that it is in one of the heaviest work weeks of the year for me and I can’t get off work that week. I bet a lot of refunds were issued for Saturday night.
October 26, 2015 @ 1:40 pm
Sturgill is playing a lot of shows. Relentless schedule.. Doesn’t surprise me this happened.
I saw him in Boston in Feb. He was sick. Great show though.
I saw him in NH during the summer, nite after Newport Folk.
He was great, but rough a bit.
He is going to need to take better care of his voice for the long hall.
Especially with his age.
Allergies suck.