Summerville, South Carolina
April 24, 2022
The morning after. I’m trying to process all that I experienced last night. It was an amazing experience.
First, as you might expect, it was a festive and friendly atmosphere. I learned this was the first event at this rebuilt venue; it’s a great outdoor (primarily tennis) facility. It holds 11,000 people and best I could tell is located in the heart of the Daniel Island retail area.
I arrived at 515 pm — the gates opened at 530 pm (7 pm showtime).
The opening act was Robert Randolph and the Family Band. It is billed an American gospel band led by pedal steel guitaristRobert Randolph (Robert Jermaine Randolph, born August 8, 1977, Irvington, New Jersey). I’m not sure how gospel they were last night as they did everything an opening act should do — raise the energy level of the crowd to a fevered level.
NPR has described the band as one with an "irresistible rock 'n' roll swagger". Rolling Stone included Randolph upon their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. The band has released six studio albums and has been Grammy nominated four times.
https://youtu.be/ZzFB4eO7Qpk
The Zac Brown showgram was divided into three acts. The first act focused on the evolution of the band from just being Zac Brown to adding the rest of the band over time. Brown is a wonderful story teller and this was a very fun set. The backdrop was there to set the atmosphere to be a local bar setting. It was fun that he mentioned playing at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta where Lucian and I saw Delbert McClinton.
This set included the introduction of Caroline Jones who seems to be a member of the band now.
After a ten-minute intermission, the band returned to a new stage which was big time. This set included two backup female singers (like the Coral Reefer Band?) and three horn players who had played with Robert Randolph (Reminded me of the Dave Matthews Band). The music is as incredible as ever but the presentation has certainly gone bigger over the years. The horns and backup singers were a great addition The crowd had not “received the memo” about swaying with their phone flashlights to “Colder Weather.”
The third act was a blast — each member of the band performed a part of a song from the past — from “That’s The Way“ by KC and the Sunshine Band to Rick Astley’s “Never Going To Give You Up.” Credit One turned into a dance hall during this time.
The show ended with “Chicken Fried” with the traditional marching in of a Marine. This part gets to me every time — the sincerity of Zac Brown’s words is inspirational.
During the concert I ended up talking to a couple to my left. Vandy folks who started out in Arlington, Virginia for eight years before moving to Daniel Island four years ago. They were clearly enjoying an evening out with their three kids.
I have to comment on the crowd. I’ve never seen so much blonde hair and youngsters wearing so little. Is that how girls dress today? As far as the men, lots of t shirts. And in general they made me feel thin.
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