Concert Reviews Archives

On the “Water” with Brad Paisley & Kane Brown

August 13, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Nicole Sellati

Brad Paisley gave Jones Beach another unforgettable night out on the water and for some fans, in the water. The venue started to fill in quickly once Kane Brown took the stage singing “Found You” and by the end of his 45-minute set there wasn’t an empty seat in the house. Brown thanked the crowd for coming out and said, “This is my third time playing here and I’ll tell you there’s no better place to be on a Friday than Jones Beach baby, Come on!”.

Brown continued to get the crowd fired up by going old school. “Guys I’m gonna try to get y’all singing a little more alright, we gotta get Brad Paisley ready to come out here so I’m going to take you back to my middle school days!”. He started off singing the hit song “Billionaire” by Bruno Mars, getting everyone up off their feet to sing along. Then Brown transitioned to “Ms. Jackson” by OutKast and brought it home with The Fray’s “Over My Head”. To no surprise, the crowd loved the old school renditions and sang back every word. Along with the covers, Brown sang his hits like “Heaven”, “Used to Love You Sober”, “Learning”, and his new single “Lose It”. Last but not least he closed his set singing a solo version of his duet with Lauren Alaina called “What If’s”, leaving the crowd not only wanting more but pumped for who was coming up next.

Next up was the headliner himself, Brad Paisley. As the music started, the band began to take their spots leaving Paisley to make a solo entrance at the top of the stage singing “Mud On the Tires”. There was no stopping him, he played straight through his songs “Ticks”, “The World”, “Perfect Storm”, “Water”, “Last Time for Everything”, and “Old Alabama”. Paisley’s guitar solos were unbelievable, creating the perfect transition into each song he played. At one point during the show, someone from his team gave him a bottle of beer in which he showed off his skills and shredded the guitar with it. The country legend was not one to disappoint when it came down to putting the best show on for his fans. He had a ton of energy on stage and tried to get as close to the crowd as possible.

When it came time for Paisley to talk to the crowd he put on his best New York accent and said, “It’s great to be here tonight, here in Long Island it’s a great place, it’s a really nice place you got here.” He then went on to praise the concert goers in the pit saying, “By the way thank you for the people in the front row standing in 5 inches of water right now I appreciate you!”. As the night went on he continued to play his hits like “This is Country Music”, “Love and War”, and “American Saturday Night”. He also brought Kane Brown back to the stage to help him perform his song “I’m Still a Guy”. The two singers together brought a little comedy to the show by going through a fan’s phone in the middle of the song. Even with Brown off stage Paisley continued to interact with the crowd telling jokes.

For some lucky fans, Friday was a night to never forget. Paisley had not one but two proposals happen on his watch. One which was on stage with him before the song “She’s Everything”. He also made the night of a lucky little girl by giving her one of his guitars. After he gave her the guitar he said, “Learn how to play it little girl”, telling the crowd, “That is how you make a Taylor Swift right there!”. Along with making the little girl’s night, he brought out some men and women from the military on stage to thank them and offer them some drinks from his on-stage bar. With the night coming to the end he thanked the crowd again saying, “We’ve had the best time, we love playing up here and we hope you had fun!”, closing out the night with his song “Alcohol”.

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Jason Aldean, Luke Combs & Lauren Alaina Play Sold-Out MSG Show

August 13, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

Jason Aldean, the ACM Entertainer of the Year for three years running brought his High Noon Neon Tour to a sold out Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. This is the second time the country megastar has headlined the iconic venue, each time bringing energy, and screaming fans together to sing along to his massive catalog of hits.

His tourmates, Lauren Alaina and Luke Combs had the privilege of playing to packed crowds, whereas some tours the fans tailgate and trickle in slowly until the headliner, these fans were in their seats at 7:30 on the dot. Alaina has celebrated a ton of success over the last year with her sophomore album producing her very first number one single, a duet on country radio with Kane Brown which also hit the top spot and being named ACM New Female Vocalist of the Year. Her 30-minute set was filled with emotion as she clearly understood the importance of being able to sing her music to a crowd at Madison Square Garden.

The American Idol runner-up has grown into a beautiful, strong young woman who is now writing music that had fans swaying their cell phone lights to in New York City. Her set included her solo version of her duet with Kane Brown “What If’s”, “Next Boyfriend” and her number one single “Road Less Traveled”. Clearly emotional from the overwhelming response from the crowd, Alaina stated “I wrote a song about being a three-year-old little girl having a big dream, it’s my favorite song I’ve ever written and getting to play it for you guys here tonight is a dream come true,” before she played her inspiring song “Three”. Closing her set by putting a New York Rangers jersey on over her sparkly dress, Alaina felt love from the crowd the moment she stepped on the stage until she stepped off.

Another rising country artist was next up on The High Noon Neon Tour, Luke Combs took the stage and filled his 45-minute set with not only his biggest hits from his debut album but memorable covers as well. Our team was blown away by his incredible fan base, especially in the heart of New York City. Opening his set with “Beer Never Broke My Heart” and “She Got the Best of Me” his raspy voice pleading through the latter, only to bounce back with 90’s country swag on Brooks and Dunn covers of “Honkey Tonk Highway” and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”. “One Number Away”, Combs’ third number one single on the Billboard Chart was met with screams and at one point, it was hard to still hear the singer over the audience’s participation. Closing with “Hurricane” his obvious charisma and ability to write and perform already fan favorites prove he is primed and ready for absolute superstardom.

As if fans weren’t treated enough to a night of incredible music already, at 9:30PM Aldean’s band stood center stage on a platform as a neon sign rose into the air. Seconds later the Entertainer of the Year himself sprung up from beneath the stage, kicking off the set appropriately with “Gettin’ Warmed Up”. For fans who have been to any one of Aldean’s shows, they know he isn’t a talker, he isn’t going to sit on a stool and tell you about the first time he heard a demo of a song, but what you can expect is back to back high-energy songs for just under two hours. Aldean does a great job of picking songs from all of his albums, going back and forth between his very first albums with songs like “Amarillo Sky” and “The Truth” to bringing the audience into his current world of “Rearview Town” and “You Make It Easy”.

Playing to the enormous sold-out crowd of twenty thousand fans, he spent his time at three different mic stands, playing his guitar and staring out into a sea of people on their feet, singing along. Stopping only a few times between songs, he congratulated a couple who got engaged during “You Make It Easy” inviting them to the front of the stage and joking that he thinks the ballad should be their wedding song. “Somebody gets engaged you’ve gotta celebrate that don’t ya,” he said as he raised his red Solo Cup in the air. “Here’s to you guys, may you have a long and blissful marriage and here’s to you Madison Square Garden, thank you for being here tonight.” The sentiment was enough to encourage fans to cheers their beer with the people next to them and on to the next song.

It wouldn’t be a true Aldean show if he didn’t play “Big Green Tractor”, “She’s Country” or “Crazy Town” which he saved for the end of the night, bringing just as much energy and intensity to those huge hits as he did when he first stepped on stage proving the award of Entertainer of the Year is well deserved sitting on his shelf at home.

The High Noon Neon Tour is just getting started. Click here for the full list of tour dates.

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Chris Young Entertains Nash FM 94.7 Winners at Stage 17

August 8, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Nicole Piering

To cap off a whirlwind Tuesday in New York City that started with a 3 am wake-up call for Good Morning America, Chris Young played an intimate show at Nash FM 94.7 Hackensack Meridian Health Stage 17, just after an interview with NYCountry Swag. Backed by two guitarists and strumming his own acoustic, Young charmed fans during his six-song set that included some of his classic and future hits. He also took time to chat with Nash DJs Katie Neal and Jesse Addy, telling stories about summers as a teenager, recording with Cassadee Pope and Vince Gill, and his arena tour, which hits Long Island in December.

Playing the “Up Close and Country” stage atop New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Young recounted his last visit to the famous arena, taking his mom to see Billy Joel. He also took a page from Joel’s book for the acoustic show, recalling how the Piano Man announced, “I’m not gonna play anything new, I’m just going to play stuff you guys know.” Young promised the same, “So that’s what we’re going to do today, play stuff that you guys put on the radio.” He then played some of his earliest hits, including “Getting You Home” and “The Man I Want to Be.”

While introducing the latter, Young admitted that the song had slipped from his set-list, but returned at the request of an unusual person, The Rock. “So I didn’t play this song for a long time, and there’s all different kinds of reasons that you end up putting something back in your set. This was a multi-week #1, and we had it out of the show, I really don’t know why, but when the Rock tweets at you, you kinda gotta put the song back in the set, and he did so…”

One of the highlights of the show was its impromptu vibe, as Young turned to his guitarists, asking what song they should play next, and Ryan Haas chose “You,” while Kevin Collier and the Rock had similar tastes, choosing “The Man I Want to Be.” Young also played “You” and “Aw Naw,” much to the excitement of the lucky fans in the audience.

While tuning his guitar to introduce his penultimate song, Young recalled a hilarious story of playing at a funeral convention as an up and coming artist. He admitted that he opened for an Elvis impersonator and played in front of a casket that cost $100,000. He then began to play one song, while his guitarist played another, adding to the spontaneous hilarity of the night. They were quickly back in tune with each other, playing Young’s current single, “Hangin’ On,” which is the follow up to his 10th #1, “Losing Sleep.”

Young ended the evening with a song that “changed his life,” “I’m Coming Over.” Before launching into it, he thanked and praised Nash FM 94.7, and the great city in which it resides. “This is one of my favorite cities on the face of the planet,” Young said of New York City. “I love getting the chance to come up here, especially when we get the chance to do so many cool things in the span of like two days.”

Judging from the reaction from the fans in the audience and on Facebook Live, New York City loves having Chris Young here as much as he enjoys being here. If you didn’t have a chance to attend last night’s intimate show, you’re in luck because you can watch a replay of it below.

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The Summer Plays On Tour Heads to Long Island

August 6, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

Jones Beach concerts are a staple for Long Islanders and New York City patrons alike each summer, setting up tents and BBQing while chugging beers and dancing along to music blaring out of the speakers of their tailgates. Although Saturday morning brought heavy rain, the clouds cleared away just in time for the afternoon tailgaters to head to the parking lots and set up their spots. By the time the Summer Plays On Tour kicked off the sun was shining brightly over the sparkling waterfront venue.

Russell Dickerson took the stage for his 30-minute opening set, which included the biggest hits from his debut album, Yours including “Billions”, “Float” and “Every Little Thing”. The energy he brings to every single performance is unmatched, he spins and jumps around the stage as if the music can not be contained inside his body. Making this night extra special, Dickerson had 80 friends and family who all live in the NY area attending that night, showing their pride in the rising star. “It’s my absolute pleasure to be kicking this thing off here tonight,” he says of the Summer Plays On Tour. He closed his set thanking the country music fans for making “Yours,” his very first number one at country radio before singing the love song, allowing the audience to take the lead at the end.

Next up, Darius Rucker who is no stranger to the Jones Beach stage played all of his biggest songs as the sun set over the venue. Kicking things off with “Homegrown Honey”, “Radio” and “Alright” Rucker knows how to create a set that features some of the best songs from his earlier records as well as highlighting his most recent hits like “If I Told You”. He told the audience “Everyone in my camp says I have to sing this song on tour, I think it might be the next single so let me know what y’all think of this one” before singing “Hands On Me” off his latest album, When Was the Last Time.

Fans know that when they are attending a Darius Rucker concert they are bound to be hit with some of the classic Hootie and The Blowfish singles that catapulted him to stardom in the 90’s. On this particular night, Rucker sang “Let Her Cry” and “I Only Wanna Be With You” and each time he sings those oldies, the crowd goes absolutely wild. “This guy is my very best friend in the business,” Rucker said as he introduced front man for Lady Antebellum to the stage to sing their cover of Drivin’ N’ Cryin’s “Straight to Hell” which also features Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean. The hilarious western video played in the background while the two buddies sang the heck out of the song. Closing his set with “Wagon Wheel” the crowd erupted into a giant sing-a-long swaying to the smash hit.

Headlining the night, Lady Antebellum took the stage and the trio has never sounded better. Their harmonies shined on their classic songs such as “Dancing Away With My Heart”, “Our Kind Of Love” and “I Run To You” while they kept the energy up by performing “You Look Good” and “Downtown”. Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, and Dave Haywood come together each tour as the quintessential hitmakers, bringing their live show to the next level each year. The fans know and love their music and always show up to sing along.

The biggest highlight of the night was when Hilary Scott acknowledged a cardboard cut-out of our buddy, Nick McElhatton, who is serving our country right now. Scott asked to get a camera on the group stating “He is obviously protecting our freedom, keeping us safe in the greatest country in the world and I want to dedicate this next song to this man, this is “American Honey”. Watch the emotional moment above.

Darius Rucker and Russell Dickerson joined Lady Antebellum for an encore that was one for the books, performing Hootie and the Blowfish “Hold My Hand” then Dickerson highlighted his talent while singing Deana Carter’s “Strawberry Wine” as a duet with Scott. After their song Kelley and Rucker even commented “`Don’t be comin’ up here tryin’ show off” Kelley laughed as Rucker said, “Who do you think you are young man” truly impressing not only the crowd but his tourmates as well. They closed with Lady Antebellum’s “Love Don’t Live Here” and had 15,000 people on their feet, thankful for a night of incredible country music. For the rest of the Summer Plays On Tour dates click here.

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Zac Brown Band Showcases True Artistry at CitiField

July 30, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

As the sun set on CitiField on Saturday night, the outfield was transformed into a sea of country music fans, holding up their beer and swaying along to Zac Brown Band. One thing the audience can expect from the band is to never hear the same set twice, you can attend their show each night of the tour and hear a different set of cover songs every single night. As for their first of two shows at CitiField, the band covered Dave Matthews, Stevie Wonder, and Metallica, proving and showcasing their versatility and true musicianship. “I’m in a New York State of Mind,” Brown states before covering Billy Joel’s “For the Longest Time” acapella which his sensational band. Check out our exclusive video from the epic moment here.

Whether they were playing one of their smash hits like “Toes” or “Knee Deep” or slowing things down and performing “Sweet Annie” or “Free” Zac Brown Band knows that their loyal New York City fans look forward to their CitiField weekend each summer. The Down the Rabbit Hole Tour featured singer-songwriter Caroline Jones who played our sold-out Country Night with Jackie Lee last summer as an opener along with pop-rock sensations One Republic. Jones returned back to the stage and lent her beautiful voice to Zac Brown Band’s “Tomorrow Never Comes”.

Highlights from the night were violinist/fiddler Jimmy De Martini taking center stage to perform Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”. Between the fast-paced song and the energy from the packed crowd clapping along, it was one of the best moments of the evening. Another epic moment was when the first notes of “Colder Weather” blared throughout the stadium, the lights dimmed to a starry blue and thousands of cell phone lights lit up CitiField. Zac Brown Band has proved that they are not only some of the best at creating radio-friendly hits but display pure magic when it comes to delivering the best live show. The cohesiveness of each of the instrumentalists blend perfectly with their harmonies, covering not only their greatest hits but hits from every other genre. The Down The Rabbit Hole tour continues throughout the summer, grab your tickets here.

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Charles Esten Pays Homage to ‘Nashville’ in NYC

July 26, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Nicole Sellati

Photo Credit: Nicole Sellati

To no surprise, there was not an empty seat at City Winery NYC last night. The talented, Charles Esten sold out the show with all his beloved “Nashies” to sing the songs of his Nashville character, Deacon Claybourne along with some of his own original tracks. Being that we were in a winery, Esten started off the night with a drinking game. The rule was simple, every time he mentions Rayna James the audience drinks…which happened a lot. Leaving him joking in the end, “I should have had you slow down, because tomorrow you are going to be drinking even more than tonight!”

Esten started the night off talking about the first song he sang on Nashville, called “Side Show”. After the first song he brought out his friend Colin Linden, telling the audience, “There would be no Nashville without this guy, there certainly would be no Deacon without this guy. When you see Deacon Claybourne singing that is me singing, but when you hear the guitar playing that is the great Colin Linden.” Once Linden was on stage Esten began telling the audience about the next song being his very first performance on Nashville in the Bluebird Café called “Back Home”.

As the night went on, Esten continued to tell stories and joke around, even praising the crowd, “By the way, God Bless you guys, you are as quiet when you are listening as at The Bluebird. That is the kind of musical respect that does not happen everywhere,” He sang some of his favorite songs throughout the night like “No One Will Ever Love You”, “Hymn for Her”, “Like New” and “Sanctuary”.

Esten closed his set with “Good Rain or Jesus”, but came back out shortly after the audience started chanting his name. For the encore, he sang the fan favorite “He Ain’t Me” and of course the song everyone in the room was waiting for “A Life That’s Good”. This song became a part of the show Nashville and its true essence. Before leaving the stage Esten said, “Thank you not just for tonight but for all six years, for giving your hearts to this show.”

After six seasons the series finale of Nashville on CMT airs tonight at 9/8 c.

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The Bandwagon Tour Rolls Into Jones Beach Theater

July 23, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

“We’ve been wanting to tour with Miranda Lambert for a very long time and we’ve been planning this tour for years and years and thanks to you we are here!” Little Big Town said during their set on Thursday night at Long Island’s Northwell Health Jones Beach Theater. The Bandwagon Tour kicked off just last week and tourmates Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town along with openers Tenille Townes and the Turnpike Troubadours took the oceanfront stage to entertain a packed crowd.

It’s no secret that the New York Country Swag team are huge fans of Canada native, Tenille Townes and we were thrilled to catch her live set for the first time. Standing on the stage just her and her guitar, Townes filled the theater with her remarkable voice and haunting lyrics from her debut EP the Living Room Worktapes. She told the audience that this was a dream come true to be on The Bandwagon Tour with Lambert and Little Big Town. Next up were the Turnpike Troubadours who brought a different vibe to the venue during their 25-minute set. Their traditional country sound and fiddle-heavy songs had the crowd clapping along to their boot stompin’ hits.

Little Big Town were the first of the two headliners for the show, singing their biggest hits from the past two decades including “Pontoon”, “Front Porch”, “Happy People” and “Tornado”. “What a gorgeous place to spend the night,” Kimberly Schlapman exclaimed. “We’ve heard all about you but this is our first time here and we are so happy to finally be here.” The picturesque venue of the sun setting and the smell of the ocean breeze lent well to the bands current single “Summer Fever” and one of our favorite album cuts from The Breaker, “Lost in California”.

As the Bandwagon Tour continued, Lambert took the stage lighting a fire under the crowd by opening with one of her very first singles “Kerosene” then sliding right into songs from her latest album The Weight of These Wings including “Highway Vagabond”, “We Should Be Friends” and “Vice”. She didn’t leave out the classics, knowing her loyal fans would want to hear “Gunpowder and Lead” and of course “Mama’s Broken Heart”. “I’m making my goal every time I walk on this stage to make you feel something before you leave here,” she said to the audience. “Sometimes in country music, feeling something means feeling sad and I do, so I wrote about it. Sing along if you know it; This one’s called ‘Tin Man’.” Lambert sang the emotional ballad with help from her biggest fans.

As the venue went dark, fans heard familiar notes of “Hell on Heels” as The Pistol Annies logo appeared on the giant screen, and for the first time in a few years, Angeleena Presley and Ashley Monroe joined Lambert on stage for a full-fledged reunion. As the ladies clicked onto the stage in their high heels, the screams were deafening. “Surprise, Jones Beach” Lambert smiled and the trio sang their biggest hit as well as “Takin’ Pills”.

The highlight of the night was when Little Big Town came back to the stage to join Lambert for a full 40 minutes to sing some of their smash singles as well as country music’s most popular songs. The biggest audience sing-a-long happened during Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” where Lambert stood front and center to trade off lines with Karen Fairchild. The group also sang the Dixie Chicks’ “Goodbye Earl” and closed the show with Bill Wither’s “Lean On Me”. It was an epic night of incredible harmonies and some of country music’s best songs. Check out the remaining tour dates below and make sure to get in early to catch opening act, Tenille Townes!

Thursday, August 2 – The Wharf Amphitheater, Orange Beach, Alabama
Friday, August 3 – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa, Florida
Saturday, August 4 – Coral Sky Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach, Florida
Friday, August 10 – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands, Texas
Saturday, August 11 – Dos Equis Pavilion, Dallas, Texas
Thursday, August 16 – Darien Lake Amphitheater, Darien Center, New York
Friday, August 17 – KeyBank Pavilion, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Saturday, August 18 – BB&T Pavilion, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Thursday, August 23 – Budweiser Stage, Toronto, Ontario
Friday, August 24 –DTE Energy Music Center, Clarkston, Michigan
Saturday, August 25 – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Chicago, Illinois

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The Wild Feathers Album Celebration Showcase In NYC

July 13, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

Although The Wild Feathers may be new to country radio and country music fans, the band has been around since 2010, and just released their third studio album, Greetings From the Neon Frontier everywhere music is available. Last night, Ricky Young, Joel King, Taylor Burns, and Ben Dumas who make up the band, played a show at New York’s Rockwood Music Hall in celebration of their latest project, playing the album in its entirety in order. These modern-day cowboys took the stage with their guitars and represented not only country music but blending soul with pop-rock as well. Think The Eagles meets Green Day meets Brothers Osborne.

The band has three lead singers that alternate and share the spotlight for each song, which gives the album a versatile sound while keeping the bands vibe cohesive. Their singles “Big Sky” and “Stand By You” have been spinning on Sirius XM The Highway for a few months and the band played The Today Show yesterday morning with Kathie Lee and Hoda. You can check out their performance by clicking here.

During the show last night The Wild Feathers performed, showing off their incredible ability to captivate the crowd and convey their musical stylings. Head to our Instagram to check out exclusive videos of their set and listen to their full album below.

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Rascal Flatts Brings the ‘Back to Us Tour’ to Jones Beach

July 9, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

Each summer, country music fans from New York City and Long Island gather to enjoy their favorite music on the water at Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater. The Back to Us Tour was the first country show to make its way to the beloved venue Friday night featuring Carly Pearce, Dan + Shay and Rascal Flatts.

The pit section filled early, fans singing along to Carly Pearce’s set which was filled with songs from her debut album. “I feel like the luckiest girl in the entire world that I get to welcome y’all to the Back to Us Tour,” Pearce told the crowd. Her set included “Careless”, “If My Name Was Whiskey” and of course her first number one single “Every Little Thing”. She closed with her current radio single “Hide the Wine” after thanking country music fans and country radio for changing her life.

Next up on the Back to Us tour was Dan + Shay, a duo who is already having one heck of a summer. With their latest single “Tequila” going number one the week prior and the release of their incredible self-titled album just a few weeks ago, the boys were pumped to play for New York fans. Not only did they perform songs from their new album including “Alone Together” and “All to My Self” but they took fans back to their very first single “19 You and Me”. Their harmonies and energy had the entire theater on their feet, swaying to the music and singing along.

Just as the sun was setting and creating the most miraculous cotton candy colored sky, the duo stopped to chat with the crowd. “Huge shout out to our country radio family here, we’ve got something to celebrate here with you tonight Jones Beach, we have the number one song in the country right now!” they exclaimed. “Let’s sing it together”. Head to our Instagram to catch one of the best moments of the night when the audience sang along to “Tequila”. Continuing their incredible set, they covered Justin Timberlake’s smash “Can’t Stop The Feeling” which started a giant dance party in the venue.

Headliners Rascal Flatts have been touring together, as a band, for almost two decades, perfecting their live show and giving their longtime fans a show full of their hits and their incredible harmonies. They released their latest album Back to Us last year and are traveling the country this summer promoting the new music as well as playing classic hits from their previous records. Mixing classic Flatts songs like “Feels Like Today” with more current hits like “Yours If You Want It” the packed venue danced along, feeling nostalgic as well as invigorated from the trio’s set. “I look out at our crowds every night and I see everybody from all different walks of life, united under one thing and that is country music,” band member Jay Demarcus stated in between songs. “This is still the greatest country to live in on the face of the planet, so let’s have a party tonight, let’s escape for the next hour.”

A highlight of the night was when Dan + Shay and Carly Pearce came back to the stage to join Gary, Jay and Joe Don to perform “Hopin’ You Were Lookin'” from Back to Us as well as Maren Morris, Zedd and Grey’s smash crossover hit “The Middle” and then their throwback hit “Here’s To You”. Closing out the night with “Bless the Broken Road” and “Life is a Highway” the Back to Us Tour was certainly one to remember as the first country show of the summer at Jones Beach.

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Long Island’s The Fest Kicks Off The 4th of July

July 5, 2018/in Blog, Concert Reviews /by Christina Bosch

The perfect way to kick off the 4th of July holiday is seeing some of your favorite rising country acts after tailgating in the parking lot. The Fest which takes place each year at Bald Hill Amphitheater on the east end of Long Island is known for showcasing rising talent and for being one big party. If you arrived early you would see tents, corn hole games and a whole lot of American pride. Men and women alike were decked out in the American Flag, some with their faces painted, drinking beer and celebrating their freedom. With three seating options, the lawn section was filling up quickly as Emily Brooke took the stage to open the festivities.

Fans gathered close to the stage in the pit to see the duo from Texas and London, Brown & Gray, who sang each song from their brand new debut EP Salt in the Coffee. Kaci and Sam announced that their next single is “Home” before playing the first track from the EP, which highlights their perfect harmonies. They closed their set with their first single to country radio, the perfect summertime hit “Top Down” and mashed it up with Tom Petty’s “American Girl”, the perfecting ending to a set that fans were excited to see.

Next up in the lineup was Mitchell Tenpenny, an artist New York Country Swag has been following since last year when we hosted a Swag Session with him in Times Square. Tenpenny who’s gritty vocal and catchy lyrics have earned him a current spot on country radio attracted a ton of fans to watch his 40-minute set. Along with singing songs from his debut EP, he covered Billy Currington’s “Good Directions” and sang the song he wrote that Granger Smith cut, “If The Boot Fits” which he said completely changed his life. Closing out he played three of his biggest hits so far, “Alcohol You Later” which fans knew and sang along to, his current radio single “Drunk Me” and “Bitches” which he said is for all of the assholes, liars and cheaters that we all have dealt with in the past. With obvious charisma, we are so excited to watch Tenpenny’s career soar.

The next New York Country Swag favorite to take the stage was Russell Dickerson, bringing his high energy set, which we know well from our early Country Night events with Russell, to Long Island. The sun just started to set as Dickerson performed songs from his debut album for a packed crowd including “Would You Love Me”, “Every Little Thing” and “FLOAT”. Taking time to slow things down just a bit, Dickerson paused to recognize the reason we were all there celebrating. “Thank you to all of the men and women overseas, we send our love and support to our troops and our service men and women of this country, it’s why we get to celebrate the 4th of July,” he exclaimed. Immediately following you could hear “USA” chants throughout the entire open venue, proving country fans are absolutely proud of their country. He closed his 50-minute set with his current single “Blue Tacoma” and then, of course, his very first number one, the love song he wrote for his wife Kailey, “Yours”.

The Fest concluded with country superstar Dustin Lynch who took the stage around 9:30 PM, ready to close out the night of incredible acts and patriotism. Kicking things off with “Hell of a Night”, he also performed songs from his latest album including “I’d Be Jealous Too” and “Love Me Or Leave Me Alone”. During his first ever single “Cowboys and Angels” he changed the words to include “Long Island girls and guys like me” pausing to recall his 2012 single that got him started in this business and brought him to Long Island for the very first time, changing his life. “I wrote that song about my grandma and my grandad who have been married 63 years this summer and to see y’all sing and dance to this song is unbelievable,” he told the crowd. His most recent number one single, “Small Town Boy” was the perfect way to end a night of celebrating America and the country music that we all love leaving fans already excited for next years The Fest.

For more country music in New York, make sure you are following us on Instagram, @NYCountrySwag.

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