There was no Dick Clark and no ball dropping at midnight. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at my home or someone else's watching New Year's Eve festivities in New York City. But this New Year's Eve was different, I spent it with thousands of other people doing something I have always loved, attending a concert!
There were several New Year's concerts to choose from here in Nashville including Steve Holy at the Wildhorse, a huge bill of performers at the Ryman Auditorium, Nashville Star winner Chris Young at the Nashville Palace, and of course my pick for the evening, Brooks and Dunn at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.
The night was kicked off at 8pm with rising star Jason Aldean bringing his show to the stage. His set was longer than most new opening acts usually are, likely to make sure the party lasted until after 12. From start to finish the performance was filled with hard core electric guitar.
When Jason sang his hit single "Amarillo Sky," he thanked the crowd for making it his third straight top ten from his debut self titled album and he also thanked us for making "Why" his first No. 1 single. He mentioned that he has a new album coming out in 2007 and the first single will be released in February. Jason gave us a preview of that single, an up tempo song called "Johnny Cash."
A particular highlight of Jason's performance for me was a medley of two Guns n Roses covers, "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child O' Mine." He talked about how he always listened to country growing up until he was about 13 and he started listening to 80s rock groups like Bon Jovi. He said that Guns 'n Roses was one of his favorite rock bands and after he did the covers you could see how their music may actual influence his own.
At one point Jason was talking about the troops over seas and the people they are fighting. He made a bold statement by saying, "we hung one of those crazy bastards two days ago. Once we get a few more those guys can come back home." His words were followed by huge cheers from the patriotic crowd.
The set built towards the end and got better and better. Jason didn't move around too much at first but by the time he ended with his first single "Hicktown," he was moving all over the stage and showing off his energetic side. Personally I enjoyed Jason's performance, but I think it could be improved a great deal by toning down the electric guitars a bit. Jason has a beautiful voice, but his show is so full of rocking guitars that it's really hard to appreciate the vocals. If he toned things down, even just for the slower songs, I think it would add a lot to the performance. All in all, it was a great start to a night full of amazing performances.
Set List:
- You're the Love I Wanna Be In
- I'm Just a Man
- Amarillo Sky
- Lonesome USA
- Why
- Johnny Cash
- Paradise city/ Sweet Child O' Mine
- Hicktown
