Event: Carolina Concertfest 2012
Artists: Chris Cagle,
James Wesley, Sunny Ledfurd,
Pirate Sessions (
Jesse Rice), and Local Artists (
Spare Change,
Presence,
Carlton Tyndall)
Venue: Pitt County Fairgrounds - Greenville, NC
Date: 9/22/12
The word "concertfest" was exactly the right word to designate for this 100 acre party in the 51 acre lot we call the Pitt County Fairgrounds. Taking a look back, the event could be considered the ultimate parking lot party. Let's look at the facts and then tell us if it doesn't scream good time to you - big open field, gravel lot parking, instead of typical paper wristbands you were issued plastic white zip ties, BYOB, blankets, lawn chairs, corn hole, Bud Light tent, the biggest eastern NC bbq sandwich you've ever tried to put in your mouth, boots, buckles, cowboy hats, big trucks, mechanical bull, local party bands, and some of country's best artists. Oh, and let's not forget the 85 degree scorching NC summer sun. Sound good? It was better than good, it was the ultimate goodbye to summer done North Carolina style. The great thing about this country get together was that there were no fights, security and staff were actually able to enjoy the show and there were clean port-a-johns! I wish there had been a bit more advertising outside of the local area but then again had there been more advertising and the crowd gotten too large, it might have turned into a much different kind of party. This was a comfortable sized crowd, an event you could bring the family to and just enjoy the day with good people, good music, good food and make some memories. What a great way to spend a day.
The grounds were set up perfectly, not too many vendors crowding the space with a million tents crammed together trying to sell you everything under the sun. The tents were spaced out very well and there was minimal distraction from the reason most of us were there, the music. The lineup had a little bit of something for everyone starting with the classic Southern rock Marshall Tucker-ish style of
Carlton Tyndall, who took the stage about 11am. He warmed up the crowd and did a great job. He was followed by two local party bands,
Presence and
Spare Change. Those two bands performed covers of pop favorites like Maroon 5, Michael Jackson and also threw in some rock like Bon Jovi. Definitely a mix to liven any crowd, great choice to keep it interesting.
Well, being that we were in ECU Pirate country, it is only fitting that the next name on the bill was one of our favorites,
Pirate Sessions. Now if you're a fan of
Florida Georgia Line ,
Chase Rice, or
Jesse Rice then you're already familiar with their side project, Pirate Sessions. Now that FGL and Chase are no longer able to continue with the project due to other obligations and touring, Pirate Sessions is now just Jesse and that's just fine because he's great just as he is.
Pirate Sessions is a laid back, think about the beach, Blackbeard's ghost kind of style, singing about all things pirate and all things coastal. The song, "
We're All Getting Down in a Pirate Town" is actually the "official yet unofficial" tailgate song of the ECU Pirates. Jesse had 'em dancing, Jesse had 'em singing and well, he just had 'em. Loved his performance.
Up next was
Sunny Ledfurd .Now if you're not familiar with the Sunny Ledfurd experience, it's an eye opener and if you're a parent, probably an ear closer at times but if you're a fan of hard hitting music, Sunny gives it right to you and pulls no punches. If you had to put him into a genre of music, I don't think it could be done. His music doesn't fit into any one genre. No one pushes the musical envelope better than Sunny Ledfurd. With a band comprised of some of the best musicians in the business, pushing boundaries was never so much fun. He kept this crowd on their feet, fists pumping in the air and singing along to every song like "
Pontoon Boat", "
Adderall" and "
Nickel Sized Hail". Sunny is one of those artists you either love or you hate and he's just fine with that because he's gonna play it his way either way.
The next artist to take the stage is pretty much the reason we made the 2 hour drive ...
James Wesley. In our opinion, there's will never be a nicer, more humble and down to earth person you'll ever meet and he has the best smile and biggest heart in the business. We've supported James for the past 3 years and during that time his music itself has grown along with his career. He's selling out shows nationwide, has had charted singles under his belt, starting with "
Jackson Hole", followed by his anthem for the everyday man, "
Real" which hit #22, and "
Didn't I" which made it to #24. Prior to showtime, he was out in the crowd mingling, saying hello, giving hugs, taking pictures and making himself accessible which is one of the things we love about him, you never feel like you can't approach him and he will always make time for a fan. His set lasted for maybe 6 songs, playing all the favorites plus a couple of new ones including "
Waking Up the Rooster" and "
How Much Do You Love Me". He did a great rendition of the classic George Jones hit, "
White Lightning" and had the crowd up and moving. He rounded out his set with fan favorite, "
Didn't I" and as always, he never fails to impress. James came down into the crowd, sang with fans, gave hugs and shook hands while singing. This is fan interaction at it's best. We would have to say this was probably one of the best shows we've ever covered of his, top notch performance.
The final act of the day was
Chris Cagle. We'd never seen Chris perform so we weren't sure what to expect. Great performance. We weren't able to stay for the entire set but what we did see was fantastic. With a string of hits under his big old belt buckle, he knew how to keep the audience alive. His hits include "
Chicks Dig It", "
Got My Country On", "
I Breathe In, I Breathe Out", "
Laredo" and his newest single, "
Let There Be Cowgirls" which is currently burning up request lines all over the country. Personally, a favorite moment for us was when he talked about his wife and his children and then broke into "
Dance Baby Dance". He got emotional and it showed a softer side of Chris. It was definitely a highlight. When we left, the crowd was into it, enjoying every minute of it and it was obvious that Chris was as well. This is why Chris is one of the best live show artists out there, he puts his all into every show and makes it simply about the music. Fans seem to love it.
This year's first "
Carolina Concertfest" was a huge success and we hope, the first of many more to come. Thank you to everyone involved in making this event such a good time: John Tart, Jeremy Price, Tommy Garrett, Carletta Blake and the fantastic crew at
WRNS 95.1 FM, Deep South Entertainment, the artists, the vendors, CCF staff and anyone else we failed to mention. Great job!
.JPG)
