The ever-engaging Americana/bluegrass/country, Nashville-based, Virginia-bred band enthralled a sold-out Meijer Gardens audience in its return to Grand Rapids on Sunday. The review and photo gallery.
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A certain contingent of stalwart Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park summer concert series acts simply never disappoint.
One could safely count Michael Franti, Brandi Carlile and Trombone Shorty (who will return to the venue on Wednesday) among those who consistently deliver a high-caliber, crowd-enchanting performance in the gorgeous amphitheater.
Southern charmers Old Crow Medicine Show also number among those ranks.
The Nashville-based band’s packed, Sunday night performance ably lived up to all expectations, tapping into some 19-odd months of pent-up energy and audience-craving for all things live musical performance.
An efficient but effusive set clocked in just shy of two hours, with roughly two dozen songs, as frontman Ketch Secor led the band through a fast, furious and fun evening of dancing, clapping and a whole lot of sweating; dregs-of-summer heat and humidity led the band to quip that despite advertising, Michigan temps last weekend topped those in all points south.
Among the highlights were spirited covers of the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women” (in honor of the recently departed legend Charlie Watts) and the Beastie Boys’ ’80s anthem “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party).” A rousing “Wagon Wheel” and show-closer “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” likewise inspired the crowd, which spent a fair portion of the evening on its collective feet.
Show opener Molly Tuttle — whom Secor introduced as an “electrifying voice”– offered 40 minutes of virtuosic vocals, including her own tribute to the late, great Watts (a sweet cover of “She’s a Rainbow”) and a handful of originals.
Several members of the headlining act joined the young singer/banjo player/guitarist for her opening stint, and later welcomed her to the stage for the evening’s closing numbers.
PHOTO GALLERY: Old Crow Medicine Show, Molly Tuttle at Meijer Gardens
Photos by Steve Baran
SET LIST: Old Crow Medicine Show at Meijer Gardens