Time for another break, and more jokes from Ned. Then, everyone's favorite country singing Marine was up next; Josh Gracin.
When Josh performs you can definitely see the Garth Brooks influence in his stage show. He's all over the place. I would be taking a pic of him and start to focus and he'd head towards me and then turn around and head the other way. I love his energy. He opened his show with his debut song, "I Want To Live," from his self-titled debut.
Unlike the other acts that added a cover song, Josh performed only songs from his album. Next up was "Endless, Helpless Hoping," which was always one of my favorite tracks.
Josh performed his current single "Stay With Me (Brass Bed)" next, much to the excitement of the young women in the audience... and the not-so-young women too, myself included.
Bringing the tempo back up, he gave us "Turn It Up," and if he turned it up any more, he would be on the ceiling. He was smoking!
Josh's final song of the night was his first No. 1 song, "Nothin' to Lose." This song is so much fun to try to sing along with, with its quick tempo and fast lyrics. Josh was doing just fine, even when he jumped off the stage and sang in the mob of people for a verse, and then continuing to sing as he hopped back up on the stage again. I guess that Marine stamina really helps you to be able to do stuff like that. I'd fall on my face.
What a fun set Josh gave. I had been wanting to see him ever since he released his album, but he's never been in my neck of the woods, so I am glad I finally did get the chance.
Some more stage changing was coming up and Ned was back to entertain us, and just before Big & Rich hit the stage, we got to see the Chevy commercial that they used to play so often during Nashville Star, where Cowboy Troy picks up the various band members with the semi truck. But, wait.. the ending is different. Instead of the girl holding the sign saying "Welcome to Nashville," she was holding a sign that said "Welcome to the Academy of Country Music Awards." Cool!