Zac Brown Band Concert

I saw the Zac Brown Band on Friday night at Walnut Creek Pavillion in Raleigh with two friends. The Zac Brown Band is building a beautiful collection of hits that sound as good live as on the radio. It's a serious show.  There are no sexy women on the big screen or wacky hijinks.  It's just good music.

What stood out for me at this show was the covers. Usually when a band or singer does a cover it is just that, the band or singer playing another artist's song, either a popular song to get the crowd going (or groaning) or a song meaningful to the performer that is often lost on the audience. When Zac Brown Band does a cover, they make it their own. I was skeptical when they launched into Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" but in the middle of the song the focus turned to the fiddles, and I thought "Wow! This is interesting."

Then rife with the potential for cliche, they did Charlie Daniels' "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and I kid you not, the devil was present in their interpretation. The song was faster and harder than Daniels' original. A red strobe lights blinking. It was hellishly exciting. The crowd woke up like a wind up toy and went a little crazy, dancing like souls possessed. It was wild, just for a moment.



Three blonds kibitzing while waiting for the concert to start. Country Kibitzer in the middle.

So if you have a chance this summer, go see the Zac Brown Band. It's worth it. It's all about the music for these guys so you don't need a front row seat. If you like Zac Brown Band, as long as you can hear the music and see the screens from your seat you'll enjoy the show.