The Texas-born, neo-traditional country singer rode into Meijer Gardens on Monday night to deliver more than two dozen songs in rousing fashion from his robust catalog. The review and photos.
‘Night Rider’: Charley Crockett made up for last year’s canceled show with a crowd-pleasing evening at Meijer Gardens. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTO GALLERY, SET LIST
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America’s favorite $10 Cowboy brought a forgiving Grand Rapids crowd to its feet Monday night as he blazed through a 30-song set at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.
“Grand Rapids, Michigan, y’all know how to make a $10 cowboy better than he is,” exclaimed Charley Crockett, who canceled last year’s show at the venue due to illness.
“I’m sorry I missed my show last summer,” said the Texan, taking a break mid-way through his set. “My whole life, brother, in my whole life, it’s the only one in 20 years. There were a lot of people mad at me, and I understand.”
The fast-rising outlaw country star told the crowd that he was more ill than he had ever been in his life and his former management told him he needed to cancel so he could play his next two shows in Nashville.
“I am no longer with them,” he repeated to cheers and shouts of, “We love you, Charley.”
The dapper-dressed Crockett, who has released four albums in the last 16 months alone, had the Meijer crowd on its feet from the start.
Standing Room: Crockett and his band had the crowd on its feet all night. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
Crockett stepped out in blue jeans with a brown jacket and white hat and his signature glasses, while his backing band took the stage in black dress pants, blue denim jackets and blue Western shirts.
The band opened with Crockett on electric, smoking through “Game I Can’t Win,” “One Trick Pony,” “Night Rider” and “Solitary Road.”
Not missing a beat, the band stepped into the jazzy “Mr. PC,” while Crockett strapped on an acoustic. They then launched into “Welcome to Hard Times” and “Hard Luck & Circumstances.”
Crockett, never one to be shy about how he feels, then addressed the crowd, letting them know he was born on the Rio Grande River on the Gulf of Mexico.
“You may know it as something else now,” he said. “But seeing as I’m from there, I’m going to keep calling it that. If we‘re gonna change some names, we should start with New England, ’cause it ain’t new and it ain’t England.”
The energetic Crockett, who shuffled and danced throughout the night, then tackled four more numbers before his band exited stage left, leaving him alone with a Gibson acoustic.
He then treated the crowd to “Dollar a Day,” “Life of a Country Singer” and “Santa Fe Ring” all solo, before they returned and he shifted gears, setting his guitar aside.
The next three tunes, “I Stay Ready,” “Jukebox Mama” and “Destroyed,” would all be performed by Crockett without his guitar, as he sidestepped and dipped to the crowd’s delight.
Crockett would strap a couple different guitars on over the duration of the show as he hit on tunes such as “Die with My Dreams on,” a rousing “$10 Cowboy,” and a “Trinity River” that transitioned right into a bluesy “Never No More.”
He would then close out his set with “Crucified Son” and “Tennessee Quick Cash” before returning with an emphatic “Jamestown Ferry” and “Lonesome Drifter.”
Opening the show for Crockett was Canada’s Noeline Hofmann, who delivered a country-driven set highlighted by her originals such as “Purple Gas,” “August” and “Sleepless Nights,” along with covers of Johnny Cash’s “Big River” and Guy Clark’s “Dublin Blues.” – By Michael Elliot
PHOTO GALLERY: Charley Crockett, Noeline Hofmann at Meijer Gardens
Photos by Derek Ketchum
SET LIST: Charley Crockett at Meijer Gardens
Game I Can’t Win
One Trick Pony
Night Rider>Solitary Road
Mr. PC (backing band only)
Welcome to Hard Times
Hard Luck & Circumstances
Easy Money
Ain’t That Right
Paint it Blue
Hold it
Dollar a Day (Solo)
Life of a Country Singer (Solo)
Santa Fe Ring (Solo)
Four Wheel Drive
I Stay Ready
Jukebox Mama
Destroyed
PT Strut
Die With My Dreams On
Tom Turkey
Don’t tell Me That
Ten Dollar Cowboy
Lone Star
Trinity River > Never No More
Crucified Son
Tennessee Quick Cash
Encore
The Jamestown Ferry
Lonesome Drifter.
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