Country Star’s Chaotic Iowa Concert Almost Didn’t Happen

All of the odds were against this one country star, but she still managed to put on a fantastic show.

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The Delaware County Fair celebrated summer in the typical Iowa way...with some deep-fried food and stellar country music. Fair officials brought Carly Pearce in for a show on Friday, July 14th.

There was a hot second when the status of the singer's concert was in the air. That day the weather was not cooperating, and they had to push back the start of the show due to the rain. Unfortunately, her opener didn't go on, but the show turned out to be way better than anticipated.

Luckily the show did go on. If the concert did get cancelled, then we wouldn't have had some hilarious and moving moments.

Singing While Sick

The odds were already against Pearce before she even stepped out onto the stage. After performing a song or two, the Grammy Award winner

"We're so happy to be here," Pearce said with some rasp in her voice. "I have to be completely honest with you I'm pretty sick, but it's going to be fine. And I feel like y'all are the crowd that will really help me sing some of these songs, so I'm going to count on you tonight, Iowa."

Leading up to that announcement, you could hardly tell that the 'I Hope You're Happy Now' singer was under the weather. However, once she started speaking to the crowd, you could hear the cracks in her voice.

"If you see me shooting whiskey back here for the entire show, that is what's happening..." Pearce laughed with the crowd.

A Hilariously Timed Fall

Due to the rain that swept through Manchester that afternoon, the entire track and stage were a bit slippery. Towards the beginning of the show, Carly sang her hit song 'Next Girl' off of her critically acclaimed album 29.

Just as she was getting to the final chorus, every performer's worst fear happened...

Carly Pearce fell...hard...right on her butt.

She wrapped up the bridge when she biffed it on stage. Pearce stumbled back to her feet and sang the final chorus. With the steadiness of a baby deer, she rose up and sang out,

"Oh, and I bet you probably met him at a bar, let him walk you to your car..."

You could see her smile and almost roll her eyes when she sang out the next line of the song...

"I bet he said he never falls this hard, yeah, I remember that part..."

You can see video from the flop down below!

Iowa Roots

A concert tradition is that the lead singer/performer sort of introduces the bandmembers to the crowd. It's one of my favorite parts of a show, because we can get to know the talented musicians who usually don't get too long in the spotlight.

One of Pearce's bandmembers is John who used to go by the name Size Sexy. He plays the fiddle, and he just so happens to also be from Iowa City. John started out his musical career right in Eastern Iowa!

When a young fan under the age of five handed her an alcohol nip at the show, Pearce turned to John and you could see him mouth the words, "That's Iowa!"

Unreleased Song

Another great thing about live shows, is that the artists sometimes test out new material. At Carly Pearce's July 14th show, she performed an unreleased song called 'Trust Issues.'

The three-time CMA Award winner confided in this kind Iowa crowd that after the success of 29 she really struggled to draw inspiration for some new music. Her beloved album is obviously inspired by her divorce, and some struggles she was going through in her life.

"This season of my life I wasn't going through a divorce, life was pretty normal," Pearce explained. "...so it felt really intense to try to come up with something next."

This song came to be after a writer's trip to Florida, and is all about trying to learn to love again after some heartbreak.

An Emotional Finale

To finish up her show at the Delaware County Fair, the Kentucky native pulled out two of her biggest hits; 'Hard to Love' and 'What He Didn't Do.'

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