You Got The Soul And You Know How To Use It....

Brett Eldredge played to a very attentive audience at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, CA on June 18th, 2014. I had the joy of attending this fair for the first time and also by myself. It was a pretty big fair with a lot of rides and vendors. I did not get there early enough to get a wristband for early entry into the amphitheater so I waited in the general admission line for three hours. It was well worth it because I scored a seat up front!

Brett came out singing a new song called "Can't Behave". He went on to perform most of his songs from his debut album "Bring You Back". Eldredge's interaction with the crowd was amazing as he moved from one end of the stage to the other, pointing and smiling at people. 

His current single "Beat Of The Music" just recently hit #1 on the Mediabase country charts and it was such a treat to see everyone singing along with him to this smash hit! Here's a video of it:

I'm a huge fan of Brett's and one of my favorite songs off his debut album is "Gotta Get There" and had to get a video of that too:

While Brett played a lot of his own songs, he also played quite a few covers. He sang a Frank Sinatra cover (which I love) called "Fly Me To The Moon". 

After playing his song "Mean To Me", he broke it down into some of my favorite pop songs like Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are" and Coldplay's "Fix You". 

Brett played his first #1 single "Don't Ya", which always gets the audience into a frenzy. 

I left after that because I did not know that he was going to do an encore. I could hear him play some Brooks and Dunn, Travis Tritt and a few other cover songs. Brett gave California quite a show and I really talk him up because he is one of my favorites. His voice and his songs really have a lot of potential for a lasting career in country music! If you ever get a chance to see him live do it! 

View from the "cheap seats"

We went to Shoreline Amphitheater twice in the past couple of weeks and here's a recap of both of the shows. Both of these shows we sat in the 200's section opposed to the 100's sections up front and got great deals on tickets for both of these shows! $10 each for Toby Keith tickets and $20 each for Lady Antebellum tickets that we bought at the Toby Keith show. What a bargain!

The first show was on May 31st with Toby Keith, Colt Ford and Krystal Keith. Dave and I got there a little later and about halfway through Colt Ford's set. We missed Krystal Keith entirely. Colt Ford was pretty entertaining for the short amount of time we saw him but we were mainly there to see Toby.

Toby's show was packed full of his greatest hits like Red Solo Cup, Should've Been A Cowboy, and Beer For My Horses. We had a great time at this concert and very glad we went! 

Last night (June 15th) we saw Lady Antebellum, David Nail and Native Run. We got to the venue early enough to see all the acts. I was pretty impressed with Native Run. They are a duo that has a male and female counterpart and the female counterpart did most of the singing. I really enjoyed their set with original songs like one called "Good On You" and covers like "Waterfalls" by TLC. 

David Nail was up next and I was really excited to see him, it's been a while! He has one of the greatest voices in the country format and really love his music. He played a good mix of songs from his three albums including his hits "Red Light", "Whatever She's Got" and "Let It Rain". 

Here is a small snippet video of "Let It Rain"

Time for Lady Antebellum! They really know how to get the audience going with their uptempo songs like "Compass" and "Downtown". They played a good mix of their hit songs along with ones that were just album cuts. 

They even brought part of the show out to our part of the audience, love when artists do that! 

Lady A brought out special guests Native Run and David Nail back out to do a cover of "Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay"! 

We had such a great time at Shoreline for both of these shows and at a great price too! 

Joe and Joe At The Rodeo Club

On June 12th, 2014, country newcomer Joe Bachman and hit maker Joe Nichols played to a sold out audience at the Rodeo Club in San Jose, CA.

Joe Bachman took the stage first accompanied by a guitarist and keyboard player. I'm always excited to see new artists for the first time to see what they can bring to the country format.

Bachman brought a lot of energy to the audience in attendance at the Rodeo Club. It was refreshing to hear his style of music with piano accompaniment. He does not play the piano but his style of music kind of reminds me of Phil Vassar. 

He told us a story in the middle of the show that I want to share because it was very important to him. He said he was performing for our US troops in Key West, FL when Bin Laden was captured. He was told to make the announcement at this show and he also had troops watching from Cuba via the internet. Months later he was presented a flag from the troops in Cuba as a thank you gift for announcing that news. He then went into a song that he was asked to write for soldiers with PTSD called "Soldier's Memoir". 

Joe then lifted the heavy mood he created with that song by singing a cover of "Chicken Fried" that got the audience in a frenzy. In typical San Jose style the crowd belted every word and shocked Joe with their enthusiasm. He performed his current radio single out now called "Lookatchu" followed by another sing-a-long with "Wagon Wheel". I was very impressed with Joe Bachman and hope to see him again very soon! 

Next up was Joe Nichols! 

It was quite a treat to see Joe Nichols play a small venue like the Rodeo Club since he's played for thousands more in his time. He played many of his hit songs like "Brokenheartsville", "Sunny and 75" and "She Only Smokes When She Drinks". He also played many songs off his recent album "Crickets" that were very enjoyable.

 Joe never ceases to amaze me with his shows. He played a few covers including his countrified version of "Baby Got Back" that I find absolutely hilarious. He did a song called "Footlights" that is on the Merle Haggard tribute album that I also love. Years since his very first hit, Joe's still got it! Hoping his current single "Yeah" makes it to the top of the country charts!