Stop now if you’re a fan of straight-ahead traditional
country. This isn’t the review for you. But, if you happen to love modern
country – as I do – then keep reading, because you need to know what I’m about
to tell you.
Florida Georgia Line and then Jason Aldean absolutely slayed
the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney last night.
Just as well, because I had two first-timers with me, who
happily admitted they were only in attendance to see the bands I have hyped for
so long. I’m happy to report that they’re now converts. How could you not be
after what we saw?
I’ve seen Aldean before (last July at Arrowhead Stadium in
Kansas City where he co-headlined with the masterful Kenny Chesney) but you
need to see him in an arena environment to truly understand just how loud and…bombastic his performance is when the
sound is trapped in there, with no place to go.
From Rich Redmond’s powerful, unrelenting drum beat – the
man is an absolute machine behind the kit – to the guitar of the vastly
underrated lead guitarist Kurt Allison and the thumping bass lines from Tully
Kennedy, you could walk into an Aldean show, listen to the band jamming as they
did early and often, you’d swear you were at a rock gig. Only Aldean’s gravelly
Georgian voice and his large cowboy hat give it away. He’s spoken often of a
wide music education growing up, and it shows, as he borrows from a few genres:
rock, pop, rap and, dare I say it, even a touch of traditional country. “Amarillo
Sky”, comp
No doubt, Aldean’s music is aggressive, more so than has
perhaps ever been seen in country before, and it’s sensational. He leads all
comers – or, perhaps, is tied for the lead with another Georgian, Brantley
Gilbert – when it comes to merging rock music with country lyrics and ideas. It’s
done seamlessly, too. “Hicktown”, “Tattoos on This Town” and “My Kinda Party”,
to name just three, feature guitar work that would make most rock bands smile
with appreciation. Perhaps even the Rolling Stones, whose t-shirt Aldean wore
on stage last night.
Aldean is a fantastic front man. He owns the stage, stalking
about, making sure to take himself to all corners of the stage, exhorting the
crowd to get louder and rowdier – as if that was a problem, even on a Wednesday
night; the Hordern was kickin’ – and interacting fantastically with his band.
He’s always working, and despite the short length of the set (just 1hr 10
minutes) the guy was sweating like a you-know-what
at the end.
A set that eschewed ballads was straight ahead power – and
featured a very cool cameo from the FGL boys on “The Only Way I Know”, an
anthemic song that Aldean originally recorded with Luke Bryan and Eric Church.
A lot of older tracks have been given cool instrumental introductions, and the
songs from Aldean’s newest album Old
Boots, New Dirt, are tailor-made for the sort of arena show he specialises
in.
My only complaints were the short set, compared to what he
plays in America – help us out here, Jason; what’s good for America, should be
good for Australia – and the fact that the mega-hit (and a personal favourite
of mine) “Johnny Cash” was missing. Other than that, he was better than when I saw him last August.
The smaller venue made it a really, really intimate show.
No complaints where Florida Georgia Line are concerned.
Nope, not one. Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley put on the most energetic show
that I have ever witnessed, tearing through 13 songs (most of which were giant
#1’s for the duo) before Aldean came on, stirring the crowd into a frenzy with
their eclectic mix of pop, rock, rap and country.
It sounds crazy, but it works – just look at the duo’s
mammoth record sales all over the world – thanks in large part to an incredible
band. Shout-out to Sean Fuller, the Pitbull lookalike drummer whose arms never
slowed down. He looked like a cross between a demented windmill and an air
traffic controller, powering FGL’s party-hearty beats. Oh man, what a party it
was. Those boys can turn even a Wednesday night into something amazing. As they
sing, “Anything goes on a Friday night” and, you know, same goes for
Wednesday’s when FGL are in town.
The set list was top-notch. Starting with the call to arms
of “It’z Just What We Do” and rolling through “Party People”, “Round Here”,
“Confession”, “This Is How We Roll”, the epic Rodney Clawson/Chris Tompkins
ballad “Dirt” (a massive favourite of mine) and, of course, the song that
launched their career, “Cruise,” which, as you would expect, brought the house
down. They neatly melded the original version with parts of the
Nelly-accompanied remix. BK doesn’t do a bad job singing Nelly’s lines.
At the end, as the duo bear-hugged, you couldn’t help but
wonder if Jason Aldean had made a mistake in bringing along so electric a
support act. Had they raised the bar too high? Hell, they’d raised it a
freakin’ long way! But Aldean, seasoned performer that he is, was up to the task.
And Wednesday March 9 was a memorable night, a double-shot
of the best modern country has to offer. I won’t soon forget this show.
20 stars out of 10. Yeah, that good.
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