Riser Tour In Mountain View, CA!!

On July 31st, 2014, Dierks Bentley brought his headlining Riser Tour to Shoreline Amphitheatre with special guests Chris Young, Chase Rice and Jon Pardi. As many of you know, Dierks is one of my favorite country artists and it was amazing to see him headline at a venue of this caliber.

Up first was California native Jon Pardi. It was my first time seeing Jon and within his twenty minute set he played songs from his debut album "Write You A Song".

Here is Jon singing his current radio single "What I Can't Put Down".

I really enjoyed Jon's music and hope to see him again soon! 

Chase Rice took the stage next and it was nice to see him again for the third time in a month! Haha! Chase got the audience up on their feet singing along. I didn't take any videos of Chase because I think I got enough last week and in Chicago! He started his set with a song I really like from his EP called "How She Rolls". Chase played a newer song from his new album coming out this month called "Gonna Wanna Tonight". I think someone went to Facebook headquarters before the show too! ;) 

Chris Young took the stage next and was so happy to see him again! He sang many of his hits that he's had in the last few years including "Voices", "You", and "Aw Naw". Here is a short video of him singing "Aw Naw"! 

Due to Chris' hand injury he could not play his guitar but he was running back and forth all over the stage during his upbeat songs. He sang a few songs from his recent album titled "AM" and love his current single out now called "Lonely Eyes". That one is sure to be another chart topper! I am so happy to finally see Chris having such success with his country music career! 

Time for Dierks Bentley! What can I say besides how ecstatic I was to see him play for an audience of over twenty thousand people. I've seen him play festivals where there have been more than that but to see this entire venue sold out just for Dierks was amazing. After playing a few songs he took some time to express his amazement of playing to all the people at Shoreline Amphitheatre. 

Dierks pulled a fan out of the crowd to shotgun a beer on stage with him! 

Dierks churned out hit after hit song that he's had over the years. Before playing "Every Mile A Memory", he again thanked the audience for coming out to this show and for many fans coming out to the Riser Tour this summer. He say's it's been one of the best summers of his life! 

During the middle of his set, Dierks and his band (minus Steve and Tim) went up to a small stage towards the back of the venue. He told the story of his first concert and how he didn't pay much attention because he was checking out this woman the whole time. He broke out singing "Living On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi in honor of his first concert. The audience did not disappoint in loudly singing along! It was a great moment. Dierks then played a song from his recent album "Riser" called "Pretty Girls". I really like that song! 

Before coming back to the main stage Dierks introduced his band and sent them back one at a time to the stage. On his way back to the stage he started playing "Come A Little Closer".

One of my favorite moments of the night was when Dierks sang "Drunk On A Plane"! His current single is one of my favorite songs and to see the entire audience singing along to it was amazing! Dierks couldn't believe it himself! 

Here is a video of "Drunk On A Plane" 

Shortly before the end of Dierks' set he was told that if he played any longer he would be fined $20,000! I'm not sure if this was true or not but he continued to play the show and joked that his supporting acts owed him some money to cover it! He brought Chris, Chase and Jon back out to sing "Sideways" with him. 

Dierks ended his show by singing his hit song "Home". He really made Shoreline Amphitheatre feel like home and really hope to see him play there again next summer! Being a diehard fan of his, this concert left me feeling very proud and happy for Dierks! 

"Ready Set Lets Roll"

On July 24th, 2014 Chase Rice played a free show sponsored by 106.7 KJUG in Exeter, CA. I joined friends Tiffany and Lizzi in the trip down which was about a three and a half hour drive from San Jose. The concert was setup in the city park and Chase played acoustically with his lead guitarist Brandon.

Chase played for about an hour and included mostly songs from his upcoming CD called "Ignite The Night" which you can now preorder on iTunes. 

Here are some videos I got:

"I Like Drinkin' (cause it's fun)"

One of my favorites from his EP called "How She Rolls"

Chase of course played his biggest hit as a songwriter that everyone knew the words to called "Cruise". 

He ended his set with his current radio single called "Ready Set Roll"

We had a great time seeing Chase perform despite the crowd shoving at the end when he was signing autographs from the stage since he did no meet and greet! We found Chase's guitar player Brandon and said hi and took pictures though. That was pretty cool! 

Seeing Chase again next week opening for Dierks Bentley in Mountain View, CA! 

The Windy City Is Smokin' Hot!

On July 13th, 2014, my parents and I headed down to Chicago for the last day of the Windy City Smokeout to see the Eli Young Band, Chase Rice and Blackjack Billy. I was so happy that rain was not in the forecast and it turned out to be a beautiful summer day in Chicago!

First up was one of my favorite newer bands, Blackjack Billy! It seemed like they played a longer set than what they did when I saw them at the Rodeo Club out here in California and they seemed to get the audience going pretty well.

Blackjack Billy played a lot of their own songs along with some covers since they are still a newer band! Love that they covered "Dust On The Bottle" by David Lee Murphy! 

My dad also took a few videos from this show and I got permission to share them from him. Here's Blackjack Billy singing "Blood, Sweat and Beer"!

Here's another video I took of them singing their song "Drinkalong", love this one! 

Next up was Chase Rice! I have to say that I was not very impressed with him when I saw him at the Rodeo Club earlier this year BUT he redeemed himself in my opinion at this show. With a full band he is more energetic than he was acoustically which is probably why I wasn't very impressed. 

He sang a lot of songs off his debut album that I'm still not very familiar with but I may have to go buy it now as a result of this show. He got the crowd singing along many times to his songs and even some covers that he did. There was a cover medley that he did that I got video of, not sure what the first song is but I recognize it. Then he breaks out into an old school Nelly song! 

It seems that Chase Rice is not only influenced a lot by country music but by rock and rap music as well. He was quite the gentleman too when it came for him to sing some swear words he told the younger ladies standing next to us in the audience to put on their earmuffs! I also could not get over how much he kind of looked like Dierks Bentley with the hat and the sunglasses......(call me crazy). 

That being said, can't wait to see him again at the end of the month opening for Dierks Bentley!

Time for the Eli Young Band!! 

I never get tired of seeing these guys and was very excited to see them again in Chicago. Many years ago I saw them at Joe's Bar and was hooked! 

Eli Young Band singing "Dust"

Love the drummer's faces too! 

Here is another video that my father took of them singing a song off their newer album "10,000 Towns" called "Prayer For The Road". This song is probably one of my favorites from that album! 

Eli Young Band- Prayer For The Road

I can't even begin to pick a favorite Eli Young Band song but one of my favorites will always be "Even If It Breaks Your Heart". 

At the end of the show for the encore, Blackjack Billy came back out to help them out singing "Gimme Three Steps".

Piggyback rides? LOL

I was also lucky enough to catch a set list in the front row! :) 

I had such a great time in the Chicago area visiting my family and friends and these concerts were the icing on the cake! Even though these three days in a row of standing room only concerts was comparable to CMA Fest exhaustion, I would happily do it again! 

We are tonight!

Last night Dave and I went to check out Sam Hunt and Chase Rice at the Rodeo Club in San Jose, CA! It was our first time seeing both of these singer/songwriters that are pretty new to the country music scene. I wasn't sure how I was going to write this review but I'm going to do it anyway. I was very impressed with one of these artists and was kind of bored with the other.

The artist that really impressed me was Sam Hunt! He's got an interesting voice that I can tell has been influenced by not only country music but R&B as well. He did a medley of covers songs that included and older R&B song from the 90's called "This is How We Do It". I got a little video of that:

He's also written hit songs for Kenny Chesney (Come Over), Billy Currington (We Are Tonight) and Keith Urban (Cop Car). I was most excited to hear his version of Cop Car because I love Keith and loved hearing the song sang by the original songwriter. I got a little video of that, and also one of him singing his song recorded by Billy Currington! 

Sam Hunt also said that he has an album coming out later this year! I'm pretty excited for that after seeing him! While waiting for that release, you can check out his acoustic mixtape on soundcloud until then :) 

Sam Hunt SoundCloud Link

Next up was Chase Rice! I was excited to see Chase after hearing great things about him and his music. So needless to say, I had maybe some higher expectations. I hate writing negative reviews especially about an artist that I know had been getting a lot of hype and buzz about. I'm not sure what it was but Dave and I came to an agreement that he didn't seem to be very entertaining. This is just my opinion though and hopefully he changes my mind about him when we see him open for Dierks Bentley this summer!