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Mark Brickley: Grammy Winner Zac Brown Rocks Arlington
It was no miracle that Zac Brown sold out the Arlington Theatre on St. Patrick’s Day. Like the Grateful Dead of the 1960s, the Zac Brown Band’s live act has an intoxicating vibe. It’s a band you want to follow after the show is over.
The act’s newest member, multi-instrumentalist Clay Cook, showed extraordinary electric guitar prowess that helped propel the band’s recent touring success.
After years of paying road dues, Brown just may unseat Taylor Swift as Country Entertainer of the Year at the upcoming Country Music Awards. Like American Idol’s interactive format, the CMAs are decided by online fan voting.
Contemporary country music has remained relevant and popular because of its constant reinvention. The genre has stayed true to it roots by encouraging artists to reinterpret its traditional songwriting styles and apply renewed meaning to its historical themes.
Members of the Zac Brown Band are the new sons of the South. Emerging from Atlanta’s country bar scene, Brown’s songs borrow from Jimmy Buffet’s and Kenny Chesney’s ocean rhythms, with a Dixie melody and Allman Brothers-layered rock. Throw some patriotic imagery, bluegrass harmony and lonesome lyrics into the mix and Brown’s ballads emerge.
Wednesday’s show featured Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic” and brilliantly reinterpreted Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird,” playing wild congas to Cook’s passionate vocal and sexy chopped guitar riff.
The unhurried, 3½-hour show featured four opening acts, including Joey + Rory, a talented married duo, and Southern Ground artists Levi Lowrey, Sonia Leigh and Nic Cowan.
Each played solos with Brown singing backup. The stage’s back-lit set felt like the audience was inside the band’s living room. Large risers were positioned to allow everyone in the theater to see Brown’s frenetic drummer, Chris Fryar, and bandmate Coy Bowle playing the Hammond B3 organ. The show’s finale featured all 13 of the tour’s musicians playing with Brown as the audience sang along: “We’re gonna make this day better than the last.”
The Arlington’s backstage is small, so the tour’s impressive video-control system was set up in the back parking lot next to the band’s tour buses and traveling barbecue kitchen. The stage’s two oversize video screens offered an intimate view to even those seated in the balcony.
Between opening acts, Brown showed his home-movie archives. The band’s beer-infused humor and tour-bus antics cracked up the audience. That was the night’s theme.
Country has always been about having fun making music. Brown and band take both seriously. Their pending new CD release, Pass the Jar, features live performances and new songs, including the gem “Colder Weather.”
— Noozhawk contributor Mark Brickley is a freelance writer in Carpinteria.
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