Georgia-born singer/songwriter Levi Lowre offfered up a set that highlighted his insightful writing talents.
Zac Brown BandCountry’s newest heroes, the Zac Brown Band, brought their power-driven headlining concert to Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday, for the first of a two-night gig, where they gave it their all from country to jam-rock to reggae-tinged songs in a two-hour long concert which more than satisfied their party-loving audience.
The Georgia-born singer/songwriter Levi Lowrey, who is signed to Brown’s Southern Ground recording label, opened the concert around 7 p.m. with a set that highlighted his insightful writing talents.
After a break, the beanie-topped Zac Brown and his assembly of six master musicians took to the stage shortly after 8:30 p.m. With two platinum-selling records under their belts and nine hit singles, the group wasted no time in their 20-plus song set by starting the evening off with their Number One single “Keep Me in Mind” followed by plenty of their top charting songs such as the sentimental “Highway 20 Ride” and “Colder Weather,” as well as “She’s Walking Away,” “Knee Deep” and the very island-sounding “Toes,” whose comparison to Jimmy Buffet has been noted by many critics.
Not overly chatty during the evening, early on during the concert Brown, feeling the vibes of the audience, thanked the crowd “for making it feel like home….it feels good to be here tonight.” He later again thanked the audience by saying the group “considers ourselves blessed because you support us and buy our music.”
Not far into the concert after already rocking their hearts out, the band took a light-hearted break shooting t-shirts into the audience followed by a sit-down acoustic session on the stage’s proscenium which highlighted their vocal harmonies a la Crosby, Still, Nash and Young on a new song not released on any album called “One Day,” as well as a cover of Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” with some fine fiddling by band member Jimmy De Martini.
Brown freely shared the evening with other band members - Jimmy De Martini on fiddle and vocals, John Driskell Hopkins on bass guitar and vocals, Coy Bowles on guitar and keyboards, Chris Fryar on drums, Clay Cook on guitar, keyboards, mandolin, steel guitar and vocals, and Daniel de los Reyes on percussion – who also got to show off their individual talents during the show.
The group’s encore, brought back on stage through the thundering clapping and foot-stomping of an audience who clearly wanted more, began with an extended drum and percussion solo that could have been plucked right from the middle of any rock concert. It continued with “The Wind,” “No Hurry,” and ended with a soulful “America the Beautiful” paired with the song that started it all for the band, “Chicken Fried.”
And, just like the lyrics to the ever-lovin’ “Chicken Fried” state – for the audience at Mohegan Sun Arena it was indeed a time for “a cold beer on a Friday night.”