There are few things I love more than watching an artist or a band that loves to perform. I have always had a more enjoyable time at concerts when the band gets into the music and looks like they are genuinely having a good time. This typically only occurs at country music concerts and this trend continued this weekend at the Turnpike Troubadours concert at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.<\/p>\n
![\"IMG_1928\"](\"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2014\/10\/IMG_1928-1024x682.jpg\")
It was a great show, from beginning to end. I camped out at the stage for an hour with six of my friends and it was well worth it because we were about 20 feet from the stage and right smack dab in middle. I swear I made eye contact with Evan, the lead singer, multiple times. He even looked right at my camera at one point. I had so much fun singing along to the songs, but I could tell the band had even more fun.<\/p>\n
I loved Turnpike Troubadours before I saw them this weekend and now I love them even more. When they walked on stage, you could see Evan\u2019s face light up when he saw everyone in the crowd cheering and screaming. It was easy to tell that he and his band-mates were beyond honored to be at ACL playing for everyone out there.<\/p>\n
Throughout the show, each band member would take turns coming forward during songs to get close to the audience and engage with them. They wanted to see our faces, they wanted to see us sing, and they wanted us to see that they were excited to be there performing for us. They would smile at each other at points in their songs when the crowd shouted the lyrics or when we cheered long after their songs ended. They had smiles on their faces for the majority of the show. I had a feeling they would be excited to be there because they are a smaller band and this may have been the largest stage they\u2019ve played on, but I had no idea how much they would show how excited they were to be there.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>That’s the steel guitar on the left!<\/p><\/div>\n
Another thing I loved about this concert was how genuine of a country band they are. Until taking this class, I had never really thought about what it meant to \u201cbe country,\u201d but know that I have I know that Turnpike Troubadours really are country. They have everything that makes up a country band, from the instruments, the lyrics, and the look.<\/p>\n
Their setlist from the concert.<\/p><\/div>\n
They have acoustic guitars, electric guitars, a fiddle, a banjo, drums, and the instrument I was most excited about, the steel guitar. When I saw it sitting up there, I immediately thought about this class and how influential the steel guitar has been throughout country music history. Their songs are filled with stories about love, nostalgia, and being out in the country. They opened the show with my favorite song, \u201cEvery Girl\u201d which describes a girl whom a boy is in love with. The lyrics echo nostalgia, love, and everything it means to be country. It states \u201cshe was born in the morning late October San Atone\u201d and describes her as \u201ca sober Sunday kitchen conversation with my dad,\u201d \u201cevery friend I\u2019ve ever had,\u201d and \u201ca flighty good time buddy in the corner of the bar.\u201d<\/p>\n
All in all, this was one of the best concerts I\u2019ve ever been to. I was more excited to be there once I saw how excited the band was. I really think it makes a difference when a band shows how honored and happy they are to be performing \u2013 it makes it so much more enjoyable for the audience and it definitely made it more enjoyable for me at this concert.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are few things I love more than watching an artist or a band that loves to perform. I have always had a more enjoyable time at concerts when the band gets into the music and looks like they are … Continue reading