Zac Brown Band show

Friday, Oct. 23rd I attended the Zac Brown Band concert with my friend Sarah. I had gotten an email from Ticketmaster with a presale code and had gotten two tickets in the 10th row of the center section. The morning I got the email I tried to coordinate something with Sarah and her husband Nathan, but niether of them would answer their phones or email, so I got two tickets for either myself and Justin or myself and Sarah. Luckily Sarah was able to go, so we had a girls' night. She is quickly becoming my concert buddy.

Last week was not a good one for me or Justin. I had been coughing and feeling sick since the Saturday before and finially was down for the count on Tuesday evening. I stayed home sick on Wednesday and Thursday hoping that I'd be back to myself by the show on Friday. I did start to feel better Thursday, but then we got the news that Justin's grandfather passed away. Justin took it very well since he'd had the last three weeks to come to terms. Still, I was not in my usual pre-concert mindset.

Come Friday I was feeling better, and Justin seemed to be dealing well, so I was able to get excited for the show. I rushed home from work, changed into jeans and my cowgirl boots and drove to pick up Sarah.

We got the the Schott right around the stated showtime and were just about to enter and find our seats when we saw the lights dim and music began to play. When they said 7:30, they meant 7:30! We found our way in the dark to an usher who showed us our seats. They weren't front row like Poison or anything, but they were a close second! 10th row was great. Far enough away so that we weren't looking straight up, but close enough that they guys looked like people, not ants.

The openers were three artists that are on Zac Brown's new label, Southern Ground. Zac himself actually took the stage with each one! The first guy, Levi Lowrey, was great. The second was a girl named Sonia Leigh, and she had a cool voice. The third was a guy named Nic Cowan, and to be honest I didn't like him as much. Just not my style.

Luckily, a fight broke out during the Nic Cowan set. I'm not sure how it started, but a guy (1) and his girlfriend (2) were having it out with two guys (3 & 4) about four rows in front of us. Guy 1 and Guy 3 were having words and Girlfriend 2 and Guy 4 were also going at it. the littlest usher I've ever seen (like 5'2") was trying to get between them. Another concert goer was trying to hold 1 or 3 back, but 1 ended up throwing a punch and bloodying 3's lip. He staggered back, and someone offered him a chair right across the aisle from us. The couple behind us tried to help him out since he was bleeding on the floor. Bloody lip guy (3) ended up sitting and bleeding behind us, while they tried to get him help as punching guy (1) was hauled away. Meanwhile, Girlfriend 2 was getting fired up and punched Guy 4. He didn't lay a hand on her, and someone pulled her away. All four ended up leaving. A chair was placed over the bloody puddle, and no one seemed to know what to do with it. You mean to tell me that there is no protocol in the Schottenstein Center for cleaning up blood? It took forever for someone to come clean it up, and even then it was a woman with gloves and a towel. Seems like there should be a bodily fluid kit with that absorbant powder stuff, gloves, and some kind of Lysol. Just saying.

In any case, the fight had died down by the time the Zac Brown Band took the stage. I've got to say that musically, that was the best show I've ever been to. The level of musicianship was unparalleled. The group of guys were so talented and true masters of their instruments and voices. I was blown away.

Like any band touring it's first album, they filled gaps with new material, but they also played covers including The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, The Devil Went Down to Georgia, and Blackbird. I was amazed that not many people in the audience seemed to know The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. I was the only person sitting around us singing along, even with the "na-na-na" part. The audience did react better to Devil Went Down to Georgia. The whole place went crazy and people started cheering. The fiddle player is just awesome anyway, so it was great to hear his talent showcased with that song. Again, no one seemed to recongnize Blackbird, but what can you do? Kids these days.

The musician that sang Blackbird is a guy named Clay Cook who was part of the band Lo-Fi Masters with John Mayer. He wrote with John Mayer and his material appears on Room for Squares. In any case, Clay Cook is now part of the Zac Brown Band. He has a great voice, is an awesome guitar player, and also plays the keyboard for the band. He is just another example of the tremendous level of musicianship displayed by the band that night. Truely awesome.

If I was only a casual Zac Brown Band fan before the show, I am definitely a devoted follower afterward. Those guys are not your typical country musicians. They aren't pretty. They aren't clean cut. They aren't a cog in the Nashville machine. They are guys with true talent for music and songwriting. They work hard and tour hard. I am so glad that they've found success depite the unconventional approach to country music. It reminds me of the way The Outlaws album changed the direction of country in the 70s. It wasn't typical, but it was popular. The Zac Brown Band doesn't fit an image, but it's great music. Quite resreshing to say the least.