CONCERT REVIEW/PHOTOS: KELSEA BALLERINI - MADISON THEATRE 12/10/15

ARTIST: Kelsea Ballerini
VENUE: Madison Theatre - Covington, KY
DATE: 12/11/15
REVIEWER/PHOTOGRAPHER: Jason Evans
Connect with Jason on Twitter at @J_EvansPhotos
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Photo credit: Jason Evans Photography

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B105.1 hosted an amazing night of country music at the Madison Theatre in Covington, Kentucky. The concert was a benefit for the kids through the Toys for Tots foundation. The night kicked off with an energetic performance from Michael Ray, who scored his first #1 single in 2015 with "Kiss You in the Morning" and currently has a follow up hit out on country radio, "Real Men Love Jesus." Ray was followed by one of the hottest newcomers in country music this past year, Kelsea Ballerini, who has risen to the top of the country charts with her hits "Love Me Like You Mean It" and most recently "Dibs". The show was headlined by a group who has also made country headlines this year with their hits "Smoke" and "(This Ain't No) Drunk Dial", A Thousand Horses, whom I unfortunately had to miss as I had a 2 hour drive back home.

The Madison Theatre was packed in tight with the main floor deep from stage all the way to concessions, from one wall to the other with excited screaming fans standing shoulder to shoulder. There was no room for an additional single person on the main floor. This was no doubt a sold out show. Unfortunately, I didn't arrive in time for Michael Ray's set due to traffic. He had finished his set and the stage hands were working hard to clear the stage in preparation for Kelsea as I walked into the venue. As I walked in, a $1,000.00 check was being presented to Toys for Tots. Some fans took advantage of this short break to hit the concession stands while others decided to check out and participate in the silent auction which was being held to benefit. Once things settled down onstage, it was time for Kelsea Ballerini's performance.

Kelsea's live performance is filled with a fun, uplifting energy that will have you singing along to every line whether you know the song or not and if you don't know the words, you couldn't help but hum along. Kelsea began her set with a couple of tunes from her debut album, "The First Time", as well as a cover of Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Cassanova". The rising star then performed her most recent radio hit as she claimed "Dibs" on the Cincinnati crowd, resulting in a very loud reception of applause and cheers. Kelsea would also perform her original songs such as "Yeah Boy", "Peter Pan" and one of my personal favorites "Square Pegs" from "The First Time" album. Kelsea is not one to avoid getting up close and personal with her fans. She sat on the edge of the stage, shaking hands, and taking selfies all throughout her performance. It's great to see an artist connect with the fans like Kelsea takes the time to do, not out of obligation but out of appreciation. You can tell she genuinely loves it.

As if the crowd wasn't already having a great time, Kelsea turned up the intensity and had the crowd dancing to a medley of dance covers featuring many popular hits from artists such as The Backstreet Boys, N*SYNC, Beyonce, and Christina Aguilera. With the night nearing an end, Kelsea had yet to perform her biggest and first #1  hit. She spoke to the crowd about songwriting and mentioned that she and her friends were listening to "this song" and began to play and sing Rihanna's "Take A Bow". She would mention that after listening to that song, she and her friends got to work at writing "Love Me Like You Mean It" and as she began to play, the crowd exploded with screams. Kelsea performed a 45 minute set that left the crowd begging for more!

The Toys for Tots foundation is a charitable organization run by directors who have all served in the United States Marine Corps. Per the official website of the Toys for Tots, "The primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate youngsters that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens.". For more information on the organization, go to www.toysfortots.org.

Kelsea Ballerini 12/10/15-Covington, KY Setlist

1. Lookin' At Stars

2. Sirens

3. Cowboy Casanova (Carrie Underwood Cover)

4. Dibs

5. Yeah Boy

6. Peter Pan

7. Girl Crush (Little Big Town Cover)

8. Pop Medley featuring: Baby One More Time/Oops I did It Again/Everybody (Backstreet's Back)/Bye Bye Bye/Genie In A Bottle/Bootylicious

9. Square Pegs

10. XO

11. Take A Bow

12. Love Me Like You Mean It

CONCERT REVIEW: CLINT BLACK FEATURING JUSTIN BRYAN BAND AND ALEXIS GOMEZ AT JD LEGENDS - 8/15/15

 Photo credit: Jason Evans Photography

Country music gentleman Clint Black hasn't been "Killin' Time" as of late, he's been busy mentoring the Chideo Songwriting Contest winners, recording new music and picking up a new touring schedule. Tonight's stop was JD Legends in Franklin, OH and the place was packed shoulder to shoulder as they arrived early for refreshing beverages, food, and the opening entertainment. Kicking off the night's show was a local country band from West Alexandria, OH called The Justin Bryan Band. The Justin Bryan Band is made up of  Justin Bryan on lead vocals, Ryan Wolfe on vocals and guitar, Chad Schrock on vocals and guitar, Travis Nichols on Bass and Dustin Crank on drums. The band would get the crowd energized during their opening set playing many of today's top country hits with a Justin Bryan Band original or two. You may check out the Justin Bryan Band on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/justinbryanband/timeline.

After the opening band got the crowd warmed up and rowdy, it was time for Dayton, OH native Alexis Gomez to take the stage. Alexis is known from American Idol's season 14 as a top 16 finalist only to be eliminated during Motown week where she performed "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)". Alexis put on a fun performance filled with covers and originals of her own that kept the crowd entertained and cheering. Alexis was backed by a talented group of musicians including:  Sol Gomez on Back-up Vocals, Michael Gomez on Bass Guitar, Morgan Gomez on Back-up Vocals, Jake Ittel on Electric Guitar, Dave D'Aurora on Drums, and Tom Lees on Electric Guitar. Alexis put her own spin on country favorites such as Little Big Town's 'Pontoon', Darius Rucker's 'Wagon Wheel', Martina McBride's 'Independence Day' and many others as well as an original titled 'Country Lovin'. Alexis is performing at various events throughout the Dayton, OH area so please check out her official website for more details at www.alexisgomezmusic.com.

Now that the opening bands had the crowd ready to go, it was Clint Black's duty to seal the deal on the night. The house lights dimmed and a quiet excitement took over the room as Clint's band took to the stage. The crowd packed in tightly as the fans inched closer to the stage for a better view of this country legend. Mr. Black come onstage with a charming smile on his face, harmonica around his neck and a red white and blue American flag guitar displaying his patriotic side. The sound was fantastic as he played through the biggest of his hits of his discography which spans a career of 25+ years. The fans were loud as they stood with their toes buried in the sand, turtle necking over anybody in front of them just to get a better glimpse. Looking out from the VIP deck/club level, it was a sea of people from the left to the right and from the front of the stage to the rear of the venue. This place was packed! Country radio, take a more than obvious hint, people still like traditional country music and tonight more than proved that point.

One of my personal favorite moments during the show was when Clint introduced a song from his D'lectrified album called 'Are You Sure Waylon Done It This Way' which is a spin off of Waylon's 'Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way'. Clint told the crowd of meeting with Waylon about the song and sitting in the same room was Kris Kristofferson, talk about being in good company! There was never a dull moment. Just one of those many exciting moments was when Clint laid his guitar down during "Been There' and got the crowd involved in a harmonica sing along. Yes! A harmonica sing along! At the end of the song, Clint broke things down with an energetic harmonica solo encouraging the crowd to sing back the harmonica part during the breaks. Clint says to the crowd "You have to sing Harmonica!"  Following the sing along, Clint began a bluesy harmonica intro to 'Put Yourself In My Shoes" and then finished up with some amazing guitar picking during 'Nothin' But The Taillights." The crowd was relentless with their cheering and applause that Clint had no choice other than to return to the stage for an encore which featured 'We Tell Ourselves' and then left crowd in a frenzy with 'All Tuckered Out'.

Clint doesn't need a lot of theatrics in his show to prove he certainly has a stage presence like no other. The precision of the notes and licks played on his guitar combined with his skill on the harmonica and one of the most recognizable voices in country music is more than enough to keep an audience captivated for many hours. Dayton and Cincinnati are sure glad that Clint Black took the time to come and play for them.  For more information on tour dates, music and merchandise please visit www.clintblack.com.

You can also get social with Clint on Facebook, Twitter at @Clint_Black and on Instagram!

#CMAFEST2015 - PHOTO MEMORIES FROM FAN FAIR X

#CMAFEST2015 has been over for about a month now, but the memories of good times can always be found in our photo galleries! Check out this collection of photos from Fan Fair X, you may see yourself! Thanks to our amazing photographer, Jason Evans, for catching these moments!

 

REVIEW/PHOTOS - #CMAFEST2015 CITY OF HOPE CELEBRITY SOFTBALL GAME

EVENT: City of Hope Celebrity Softball Game
VENUE: First Tennessee Park - Nashville, TN
DATE: June 13, 2015
REVIEWER/PHOTOGRAPHER: Jason Evans
Follow Jason on Twitter at @J_EvansPhotos

The 25th anniversary of the City of Hope Celebrity Softball game took place at the brand new First Tennessee Park in Nashville on Saturday, June 13, 2015. The annual charity event takes place every year during country music's CMA Music Festival which draws hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide to the Nashville area. This event directly benefits City of Hope cancer research, as well as diabetic research and other life threatening illnesses which directly impact countless numbers of individuals across the world.

The softball game lineup is usually chock full of country music stars, actors/actresses, athletes and other celebrities that step up to the plate and go to bat for this great benefit. In the past years, the event has hosted celebrities like Brad Paisley, Craig Morgan, Charley Pride, Sara Evans, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean and many many others. This year, the celebrity lineup was split into two teams, Team iHeartRadio and Team Opry.

Team iHeartRadio: 

Angie Johnson • Bobby Bones • Bret Michaels • Doug McCormick • Eddie • Lauren Alaina • Lindsay Ell • Lunchbox • Perrish Cox • Seth Jones • Stephen Barker Liles

Team Opry:

Aaron Watson • Bucky Covington • Charles Esten • Chuck Wicks • Deana Carter • Eric Gunderson • JT Hodges • Phil Vassar • SaraBeth • Stu Grimson • Vince Gill

Note: Little Big Town was originally scheduled to attend, however due to an unforeseen family emergency they were unable to participate this year.

Representing humanity and overall goodwill in this years festivities, Stephen Bess, a Nashville resident and cancer survivor that needed a bone marrow transplant in order to live and beat cancer, and his stem cell donor, Jonas Baade who had a perfect match that would help save Mr Bess' life. A video would play on the jumbo screens depicting this story and the importance of the decision that Jonas Baade made in order to save the life of an individual in which he did not know.  Jonas Baade, who crossed nine time zones to meet Stephen, received an emotional standing ovation from those who were present to witness the connection of a lifetime.
     

The crowd was certainly there to have a good time and enjoy watching these celebrities play some softball as well as have fun and share laughs with everybody on the field. Some of the highlights of the game included Vince Gill taking the field for his 20th game, Deana Carter using her on-field antics to cheat and always considering herself "safe". This would eventually turn into "The Tomato Rule" in which all girls on the field were to be considered "safe", never be out and the announcers would say "Chop the lettuce, Lauren" as Lauren Alaina would take a swing. Lauren would play her heart out and even included a moment in which she would slide into home plate and cause herself to scrape her leg pretty badly but would continue to play. At one point, a foul ball would fly into the crowd and Charles Esten of the hit tv series "Nashville" immediately became concerned for the safety of those in the stands and assessed the situation. Once he realized that nobody had been injured, he gave his own personal safety announcement to the crowd to turn around and enjoy the game while watching for objects flying into the stands. The City of Hope used military armed forces members to umpire the game, giving it a patriotic feel and salute to those servicemen and women. Both teams were very well matched but it came down to the final inning where Bret Michaels would hit a walk off single that brought in live saving hero Jonas Baade, giving iHeartRadio a win of 6-5 in this year's challenge. City of Hope hit a home run this year by raising over $20,000.00 for cancer research.