June 25th (Pine Knob Music Theatre – Clarkston, MI) – I had been looking forward to this show for quite a while and the day had finally arrived. Brooks and Dunn’s ‘Reboot Tour’ was in town today and I couldn’t wait to see Ronnie and Kix on stage once again. Depending on the date and location of each show, the lineup was different in certain cities with an alternating roster of bands taking part in the event. For the SE Michigan date we had Joe Nichols, Scotty McCreery, Tenille Townes, Parmalee and Kassi Ashton taking to the stages before Brooks and Dunn closed out the day. We got there right about the time the gates opened and spent some time out in the parking area talking to people and having some drinks before we headed in. It’s always fun to chat with folks and people watching never disappoints. As we headed over to enter the venue, the line was longer and slower than we anticipated so even though we heard Parmalee doing a few songs, we didn’t make it in soon enough to see them play. What I heard sounded great and I have seen them a few times before, so it wasn’t anything worth beating myself up over. Lines happen and delays happen. It’s all part of life.
Next up was Joe Nichols and I’m not sure if it was planned the whole time or if the show running a little late affected it but I was surprised to not see a drum set or full band. It was just Joe, the two string players and the drummer was playing a sit on beat/percussion box. While it was a little mellower than a full band plugged in and rocking, it at least had more energy than a strictly guitar focused acoustic show. I had not seen Joe live in several years, but he sounded great and judging by the crowd’s reaction, they agreed. Notable set from Joe and the guys as they went through the hits like ‘Tequila Makes Her Clothes Come Off’, ‘Brokenheartsville’, ‘Gimme That Girl’ and my personal favorite of his, ‘Yeah’. I think Joe was a little caught off guard at just how many people came to the second stage to see him and how many people sang the lyrics to the songs and sang them LOUD. Impressive set overall, glad I got to catch it.
Scotty came out and the crowd was fired up and ready to watch him do his thing. This would be my first time seeing Scotty live. There’s been a few songs over the years that have caught my attention so I knew quite a bit about him. As he went through his set, I became more and more impressed. He is great with the crowd, and you could tell that he really enjoys being on stage and performing. Songs like ‘You Time’, ‘5 More Minutes’ and ‘Damn Strait’ were great to hear live and I really enjoyed his cover of George Strait’s ‘Check Yes or No” and the medley he and the band did paying respects to Alan Jackson, Johnny Cash, Randy Travis, and a few others. At the end of his show, I walked away being even more of a fan.
The evening was winding down and that left us with one last act, Brooks and Dunn. I’ve been a fan of these guys since the very beginning and have seen them live close to a dozen times over the last twenty-five plus years. They have always had that legit, traditionally country sound and the amount of hit songs and their longevity speaks for all of that. I was pleasantly surprised at how good they still sound. Top notch band as always, the chemistry that Ronnie and Kix always had on stage was still alive and very obvious and the hits just flowed one after the other. The audience was totally eating it up and you could tell they were really excited about Brooks and Dunn being back in town. There were way too many hit songs to list but let’s just say they played pretty much everything that a Brooks and Dunn fan would want and expect to hear. I also loved hearing some of the stories between songs, especially about Michigan and the Metro Detroit area and why it and we the fans here meant so much to them. Ronnie’s voice was totally on game and Kix still had the same usual energy and excitement running around and really getting into the performance. I do want to mention a few songs specifically though because they are the ones that I really enjoyed hearing live again. ‘Honkytonk Truth’ and ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone’ were the big ones for me that night. I also loved when they did their version of Merle Haggard’s ‘I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink’. The night brought out so many memories of B & D shows in the past and all the years I spent working at all of the big country bars around town back in the day. After all this time, Ronnie and Kix have still got it. They can still keep up with the new, younger dogs and they can still show us all how to have a damn good time. As we were getting ready to leave the band played ‘Believe” and that stopped me in my tracks. While I do like the song, my mom really loves it, so as I sat there listening, I thought about her and about the meaning of it and what those powerful lyrics really meant. That is what a good song is supposed to do, mission accomplished.
As we were driving out of the parking lot, I could not help but smile and think about what an enjoyable day and night it had been. Good music, a few good friends, and another beautiful day for an outdoor country concert. I do want to add that tonight was also WYCD’s annual Hoedown, the Brooks and Dunn ‘Reboot Tour’ was the events lineup for this year. Another impressive and enjoyable B & D show is in the books. Thanks for reading, until the next one!
-Howie
