The first four acts were reviewed by AboutCountry Staffers Marilyn Wigglesworth and Laurie Petricka.
Trick Pony's set was reviewed by Shel.
We arrived at the Riverfront stages on Saturday in time to catch Jerrod Niemann. I like country rock, and this band certainly captures your attention with their southern rock sound while playing his 5 song set that included "Paint The Town Redneck," "We Like Mud," a country favorite made popular by Garth Brooks "Good Ride, Cowboy" followed by "Whiskey Kinda Way," and ended with a toe tapping southern rock song "I Love Women My Mamma Can't Stand."
Rockie Lynne took the stage playing a crowd favorite "Lipstick." Next we were treated to his newest release "I Can't Believe It's Me." Rockie really delivers with this great song. I look for this song to be a top 10 hit. The crowd was then treated to one of his guitar instrumentals called "Liquid," and he completed his set all too soon with another great tune "The Only Reason." For the second year in a row, Rockie proved to be a crowd favorite.
The second segment of the Saturday Riverfront shows was hosted by Philip Gibbons. He started off this segment introducing Bryan White bringing full crowd applause and the women to their feet in spite of the intense heat of the day.
White started his set with "Let's Get It Together" and continued with "Love is the Right Place." Next, Bryan introduced his band to the excited crowd. Then, he shared that this year has been an exciting year for him, and the CMA has been great to him, before singing "Hands Of Time" his new single.
Women and young girls crowded to the stage dancing, waving their arms and yelling out "We LOVE You Bryan!" Bryan responded that he loves them too, and thanked everyone that helped him get onto the stage today, as well as Country radio for their support. He shared that this upcoming session is going to be amazing, and he doesn't mean to sound over-confident but he's glad he's back.
Next, Canadian Country Rockers The Road Hammers took the stage singing "Overdrive," as Bryan White fans drifted away from the stage, being quickly replaced with Road Hammers fans. They performed "Eastbound," the theme from Smokey and the Bandit, bringing the crowd to their feet to dance and wave their arms in the air during Road Hammers rendition of this well known theme song. They announced they were very excited at just signing a record deal.
Then they asked the question to the crowd, What do the Road Hammers look for? They answered saying something like, we get on the road touring and every day we see the same girl on the same billboard, but now she's gone. So we're looking for a new girl for the billboard sign. Then they launched into "Girl On the Billboard," and then closed with "I'm a Road Hammer."
The final set of music of the day was started off with a bang by the newly re-formed Trick Pony. With lead singer Heidi Newfield going off on her own as a solo artist, Ira and Keith were left trying to find a new female singer. They found her with Aubrey Collins. Aubrey is a spitfire with a country rock voice, and attitude, and she fits in with the group like she's always been there.
They started their set with a song I'm not familiar with, that I think is called "A Moment Like This." They followed it up with another rockin' song that I'm guessing is called "Mama Burned the Kitchen Down." Just when I wondered if they'd sing any of their older stuff, they went into "Just What I Do," which is always a crowd pleaser.
Time to do a cover, the band decided to perform "Take a Load off Annie." But, the moment fans had been waiting for was when Keith played those four notes that all Trick Pony fans would recognize anywhere. Yep, the intro to "Pour Me," and the band was rocking the whole stage. This is also where Ira is playing his big, purple stand up "Crown Royal" bass on the ground. Yep, he gets down on his back and plays. I remember his old bass with the headlights and chrome, and this one is beautiful. It even has a small crown on the top.
The set was over too soon, but you can bet that this new Trick Pony will have as much success as the older version. I really enjoyed seeing them again.