The Boys Are Back...

This evening, I went to Chris' JV game and then came back to the apartment to check my email and settle in for the evening. When I checked the email, I got a message that the Oak Ridge Boys were having a free concert at the Wildhorse Saloon. I had a lot of other stuff that I needed to be doing, but heck, seeing the Oaks for free was too good to pass up. So off I go....

When I got to the Wildhorse, the place was packed. Evidently there was a convention in town for IEBA (International Entertainment Buyers Association). They put on the show at the Wildhorse and invited the public. It was pretty cool.

When I got there, there was a band playing, I figured it was a warm-up band of some sort so I found a seat and was just hanging out until the Oaks came on. As I settled in, I realized that this 'warm up band' was really really good. I started listening but didn't recognize any of the songs. Shortly after I got there, the guitar player started into a riff that I recognized. As he played, I recognized that it was the unmistakable into to "Green Grass and High Tides".

For the unintiated, there are some rock songs that are 'good songs', then there are some songs that are anthemns. They define the period. Examples would be "Free Bird", "Stairway To Heaven", "Do you feel like we do". For the southern rock fan, "Green Grass and High Tides" was one of those anthemns. This 'warm-up' band was the Outlaws who originally did that song. It was amazing, I couldn't imagine that I'd ever see them perform that song live.

After The Outlaws finished, the Oak Ridge Boys came on. For some reason, even though their style of music is not my favorite, I have an emotional connection with those guys. They are local Nashvillians that did good. I went to high school with William Golden's sons (the one that looks like the missing ZZ Top member).

Anyway, they opened the show with a pretty good song called "The Boys Are Back" which is evidently the theme song for their comeback. Of course they had to do "Elvira" and a couple of songs that I'd not heard of before.

The featured song, was "Mama's Table" it was a pretty good song and is probably going to be a single when their new album comes out. They closed the show with "Bobby Sue". They came back out for an encore and sang "Amazing Grace" A Capella. It was pretty classy. William Golden even took off his hat.

I'm glad that I went, it was a good show.