Review: CMT on Tour '08 Rocks Middle Tennessee
Headliner Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum Play for Hometown Crowd
On Thursday, Nov. 13, the night after the 42nd annual Country Music Association Awards, CMA nominees Jason Aldean and openers Lady Antebellum, along with brand-new artist Eric Durrance, made a close-to-home concert stopover at Murphy Center—the venue where The Judds gave their final performance.
Located 25 miles from Nashville, Murfreesboro, Tenn., aside from being a part-time home to 23,000 college students, is close enough to Music City to attract members of the nearby music industry, including veteran producer Paul Worley and hit-songwriter/recording artist Victoria Shaw, both of whom were seated among the 3,300 in attendance.
New Country Singer Scores New Fans
Newcomer Durrance, in spite of being spankin' new to country radio and audiences, did a fine job of energizing the venue's full house of largely college-aged country fans. He delivered a solid set of music from his debut Wind Up Records release, Angels Fly Away.
Following his opening set, the Florida native quietly made his way to the arena's lower level to visit with CMT staff and friends, but was soon approached by concertgoers who wanted their photos taken with the artist. A smiling Durrance obliged all, albeit with an eye on the clock so he wouldn't distract from the upcoming Lady Antebellum set, and it's likely he made even more converts to his music by his genuine demeanor.
2008 CMA Winners Lady Antebellum Ignite Concertgoers
With some country fans still all a twitter, thanks to Durrance's unexpected crowd mingling, the lights went down and trio Lady Antebellum—lead-singers Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and multi-instrumentalist/harmony vocalist Dave Haywood—ignited the arena with songs from their self-titled debut release, including Love's Lookin' Good on You, I Run, Home Is Where the Heart Is, Things People Say and Slow Down Sister.
Interestingly but not surprisingly, the Murfreesboro crowd's male audience members, quite noticeably, snapped a bevy of photos whenever Scott took center stage, including during the act's Long Gone cut, which features the pretty vocalist and her powerful pipes. With great vocal genes from her Grammy-winning, country-artist mom, Scott has her own sound. But like her famous parent, Linda Davis, Scott's voice packs a punch and, thankfully, she's no vocal wallflower.
Male lead-singer Kelley, brother to pop music's Josh Kelley, provided an equally powerful and complementary vocal contrast to Scott—never mind that the 6-foot, 6-inch singer is fun to watch, too. Both singers bantered a bit with the crowd and were still visibly excited about the prior evening's CMA New Artist trophy win.
Lady A kept the crowd on its feet, especially during renditions of the act's latest hits such as Love Don't Live Here and Lookin' for Good Time, and then segued into its own renditions of AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night Long and Tom Petty's Free Fallin'. They left the stage with a promise from Kelley that, post-concert, the threesome would sign autographs "for every single one of you" who were willing to brave the long lines.
Jason Aldean Effortlessly Shows Why He's the CMT Tour Headliner
At about 9:15 p.m. the center's lights dimmed a final time, and then spotlights hit the "Jason Aldean" backdrop on the stage as a roar arose from anxious fans. A silhouetted Aldean, complete with straw hat, emerged and began what would ultimately be a "Sweet 16-song" set that lasted about 90 minutes and featured tracks from his first two platinum-selling CDs, Jason Aldean and Relentless, as well as She's Country, the debut single from his yet-to-be titled third CD that's slated for an April 2009 release.
Aldean, with his larger-than-life band that included two lead guitarists, a rhythm guitarist, a bassist and an attention-loving, thundering drumming, congratulated Lady A on their CMA win (never mentioning that he, too, was nominated in the same category). He also announced it was his first time to be in Murfreesboro, but he liked it well, especially since it was "close to home ... so there's no tellin' how long we might play."
Country Artist Boasts Big Country Hits, Big Sound
Aldean's voice is big, which is saying something, since his players have a penchant for Mesa Boogie speakers—at least 14 of them on this particular night. The singer's voice was steady and clear, easily heard above his band's guitarists and machine-gun drummer.
The Georgia-born singer, in fact, boasts some quite noteworthy vocal chops considering he sang nonstop for more than an hour-plus. His hits, of course, brought—and kept—country fans on their feet, including his first No. 1, Why, as well as the rousing fist-wavers Johnny Cash and Hicktown. Amarillo Sky and the driving title track from his sophomore album, Relentless, along with We Laughed Until We Cried, were fan favorites, too.
After about a dozen songs, Aldean parted with his acoustic guitar and performed two tunes, then grabbed his six-string to deliver a favorite track, Asphalt Cowboy, from his first disc. Sans the band, with only his voice and his guitar accompaniment on the lonesome song, it was a standout moment during a set of must-see performances by Aldean. For this reviewer, however, the one-song acoustic rendering was worth the full ticket price.
During his encore, Aldean treated the audience to versions of Sweet Child O' Mine, Guns N' Roses' classic, and Tom Petty's '80s hit, I Won't Back Down, as well as playing Black Sheep, a hit number by one of his earliest country-music influences, new-traditionalist John Anderson, whom Aldean proudly announced he'd performed with earlier this year on the Grand Ole Opry.
Conclusion
From new-kid-on-the-country-music-block Durrance to CMA winners Lady A and headliner Aldean, the country fans in attendance during the Nov. 13 CMT on Tour '08 stop delivered plenty of high-energy music.
In turn, attendees should have plenty to gush about at the water cooler come Friday morning, Nov. 14, if they make it work. Yes, it was that good, and in spite of its peppering of rock influences, make no mistake, it was a country-all-the-way lineup, albeit hard-driving country, that didn't disappoint.
Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum
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CMT Tour '08 poster
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