“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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