The Pavilion show featured Rascal Flatts, with openers Edens Edge, Thompson Square, and Little Big Town, one of my favorites. I’ll get to them in a minute, first some observations on the performances of  Edens Edge (EE) and Thompson Square (TS).

The trio of two women, Hannah Blaylock and Cherrill Green, and slide guitar player Dean Berner all from Arkansas, EE tried hard to get the Texas crowd going.   They made a valiant effort but in the end they really didn’t get it done.  Maybe the multiple mentions of being from Arkansas dampened the crowd’s enthusiasm.  Whatever the case, the reaction appeared lukewarm at best.

TS is a husband and wife duo that hit the Nashville scene awhile back (2010) with their hit “Are You Going To Kiss Me Or Not?’.   The also put forth their best effort to warm up the crowd.  As I reflect on the evening I’m not sure the audience ever did warm up!  Both groups made comments about the warm and humid weather.  Perhaps the audience was already too hot to ‘warm up’?

In my judgment the REAL SHOW started, and perhaps ended, when Little Big Town (LBT) hit the stage.  These two guys and two ladies can get it done – NO PROBLEM.  Their four part harmonies are wonderful and their music is oh so easy on the ears, chock full of high energy. Their songs often have a country twang, and just as often have all the ingredients for a terrific rock song.  They’ve been compared to Fleetwood Mac, and tonight they proved themselves worthy of that comparison.

You could also hear some Ann Wilson of Heart type vocals woven into the set.  Every time I see this band I walk away wondering why they aren’t having bands like Rascal Flatts open for them?   The best part about the group is they are a group.Although each individual singer (Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook) has a strong presence , the focus never seems to be about one member or another.

It always comes across that what matters most is the music, the performance, and their collaborative effort. The sound all night was superb, the lighting wonderful, a fact that helped showcase the fact that the members of this group are very easy on the eyes!

One clear highlight of the evening was LBT playing  their new song ‘Tornado’.   It will be a cut on their next album, scheduled for release in the Fall.   I hope it is as good on the record as it was performed live at The Pavilion!

Also worth noting is band member Kimberly Schlapman virtually stopping the show between songs.  She grabbed the mic after sensing a kind of mediocre crowd response and looking a little annoyed shouted “Hey people, this ain’t church!”.   I totally got it.  They were up on stage kicking ass and the crowd was just sitting there – not just in church but maybe attending a  funeral?!   But the ‘come to Jesus meeting’ worked and success was achieved.  The audience got up on their feet and showed more excitement  when LBT presented their debut single ‘Boondocks’.

This song’s a little too country for me.  However their four part harmonies are just so outstanding that I quickly got over it and just enjoyed hearing them nail it with their amazing vocals.  Thank you Little Big Town!  And some additional photographer’s praise for coming together giving me a great shot, really the first time I got them SHOULDER TO SHOULDER!  Woo Hoo!  (More on group photography before we end this little review).

So now on to my views about the headliners of the night, the Prima Donnas of Country Music, Rascal Flatts (RF).  They obviously have done something right as they’ve lasted in this business for 12 years.  Personally I am going to give a ton of the credit to Mr. Jeffery Steele, one of Nashville’s finest songwriters (along with my friend Mr. Tony “Garth Brooks’ The Dance” Arata, nominee for the Country Music Songwriters Hall Of Fame).   Steele has created some beautiful masterpieces that I would say many artists could turn into hits! Okay, Gary LeVox does a nice job in interpreting the songs.  When you just listen to this band they have a very appealing sound and judging from their legions of fans many agree with me.  Where I get cranky is watching their behavior on stage.  It’s a perplexing mixture of conceit,  pure arrogance, and ’I am a Rock Star’ mentality.  They put it on and wear it all over the stage.  LeVox and DeMarcus have perfected it, and Rooney bounds around like a puppy taking their lead.

RF have named this tour the ‘Changed Tour’.  Do you wonder what has changed?   I am going to guess that their management must have heard some of the fan backlash from past performances.  These guys have been a little too big for their britches since day one.  So, maybe the message was  ‘try working a little closer together, perform as a group versus 3 individual egos and reconnect with your fans’.

Here is what I can share with you regarding my personal experience comparing this ‘changed’ performance to the 3 previous shows I have photographed and watched.  This time  I witnessed some interaction between the three guys, a little playing around amongst them. Gary LeVox actually put his hand on Jay DeMarcus’ shoulder!  More importantly they came together side by side more per minute than I had seen per hour in prior concerts – I am NOT exaggerating! At one performance I got one photo of the 3 guys together and I photographed the entire performance.  This time I got several and I was only allowed two songs early in the set.

Finally, to prove my point , they inserted an ‘Audience Request Block’ in  the middle of the set. (Thank God no one requested FREEBIRD!)  Honestly, I think ‘request time’ was the low point of the evening yet I will give them credit for the effort.  Again, the LeVox attitude made him appear extremely uncomfortable and frankly a little bored with the entire process.  There is no doubt in my mind he was not the driving force of that little exercise.  It was obvious his heart wasn’t in it and, I’d say because of this, it failed miserably.

And, to be fair, Rascal Flatts just does better when they stay with what has brought them over 11 years of success…rehearsed songs and proven hits.   More credit for audience connection is due for all of the ‘hand slapping and high fiving’ throughout the show with those fans in the pit.  Always a good move as every ‘slap’ likely represents a fan for life.  Backing up all this new effort were LED messages woven into the set and lighting showing ‘Here’s 2 U’  –  our fans!

After the audience request portion, RF managed to lay another egg with their new song ‘Hot in Here’.  After performing the song, which did not sound Rascal Flatts-ish at all,  Jay asked the audience, “How did you like our new single?”.  Even with lyrics shouting ‘Hot, Hot, Hot in here’ the response was (Rascal) Flat and decidedly Cold, Cold, Cold.  If they haven’t yet released this song to radio, I’d suggest they go rethink it!

A Rock medley was their encore and to end on a positive note I thought it was well done. Lots of terrific guitar work with songs that were a nice cross section from one of my favorite genres…ROCK.

In closing,  I’d say this show was the best I’ve seen of Rascal Flatts (minus the ‘Request Hour’) and their behavior on stage was clearly much better than in the past.  ‘Changed Tour’ seems appropriate.   Let’s keep it going.  I’d like to suggest these guys come out into the audience while Little Big Town is up their on stage giving it their best and see what ‘Teamwork’ looks and sounds like.  Learn to take the ‘I’ out of  Rascal Flatts!

Until next time please keep it between the navigational beacons.