Zac Brown Band Comes to KC

Fans packed like sardines in the Sporting KC stadium, thunder sounded and lighting striked the stage. “Let It Rain,” the opening song plays and a storm is brought to life by a huge screen in front of the stage projecting falling rain and lightning bolts. And now there’s that familiar sound of the Zac Brown’s smooth southern voice that so many people go crazy over. The screen becomes less opaque and shows the band of “misfits” jamming out behind it.

The screen is lifted. The best concert I’ve ever been to begins.

For the die hard fans, every word that comes out of Zac Brown’s mouth is also coming out of yours. But for the average fan, one would know songs like “Colder Weather,” “Whatever it Is” and “Chicken Fried.” I’d consider myself an above average fan. There were probably three songs in the stacked setlist that I didn’t know any of the words to and over 5 that I knew every word by heart.

My favorite song the band performed was “Keep Me in Mind.” It’s one of their more upbeat songs and I love singing along. Unfortunately, “Highway 20 Ride,” my all time favorite ZBB song, was not on the setlist. That was the only negative thing I can say about this concert.

Where I was standing made my experience even better, I had rockstar seats. It was set up like a standard concert, a big stage and then a runway-like part of the stage stuck out from the middle where the band would walk. I was standing second row from the main stage and second row from the runway. I was so close I could see all the hairs of Zac Brown’s beard.

I was so close that John Driskell Hopkins handed me his guitar pick. If you don’t know who John Driskell Hopkins is, don’t feel bad, he is a guitar player in the band and does many of those low vocals you hear throughout songs.

Another impressive member of the band is the violinist Jimmy De Martini. He is that edge that has helped made the band so successful. It makes the band sound old timey or almost like you’re sitting around a campfire, especially when the band sits in a circle on rustic chairs and does some of their songs acoustically.

The three hour concert seemed like it never ended, which was great. They played a set. Took an intermission. Played another set. Disappeared and then ran back on stage in glow-in-the dark skeleton suits.

By this time it was pitch black outside and most of the stage lights were off, so the members of the band were glowing. Literally in their glow-in-the-dark skeleton suits. They ironically played “Day for the Dead” as they hit the stage, but their final song was the classic “Chicken Fried.” It’s so well known that I’m pretty sure everyone was expecting to hear it for the encore, because the band couldn’t perform without doing it. It just wouldn’t be right.

This tour didn’t need to promote a new album, it was just a great show on its own. They didn’t play their newly released song “All Alright” either. I went to their concert last fall and found it to be almost identical besides the opening act and finale. That could upset people, but I loved it just as much, if not more, because of their great live presence.

From a storm to a visit from skeletons the Zac Brown Band concert was spectacular. Their feel-good country music pumped up me and the crowd and I would definitely go see them perform for a third time.