An evening with the Zac Brown Band…

Two days ago, on Friday the 13th, I ventured into Toronto again to check out another kickass concert. This time, I went back to my beloved Skydome (officially known as the Rogers Centre, yuck) to check out one of my favorite Country acts known as the Zac Brown Band.

I don’t listen to as much country music as I used to… as Leah was the bigger country fan, but I still listen to a bit and this is currently one of my favorite bands. So when I heard they were coming down to Toronto, I picked up a ticket to check them out. The dome wasn’t sold out, but there were at least over 40,000 fans packed in there to see Zac and his band, and no one left disappointed. It was a killer show, and while my ears are still ringing a bit, it was once again totally worth it.

I had a great seat as well, as I was on the cushy second level of the dome, right behind where home plate was so I had an amazing view of the stage:

So here is a set list of the song we heard that night from the Zac Brown Band:

1. Day for the Dead

2. Knee Deep

3. The Devil Went Down to Georgia
(The Charlie Daniels Band cover)

4. Sweet Annie

5. Use Somebody
(Kings of Leon cover)

6. Quiet Your Mind

7. As She’s Walking Away

8. My Old Man

9. Homegrown

10. It’s Not OK

12. Colder Weather / Take It to the Limit
(Eagles cover)

13. Enter Sandman
(Metallica cover with Bubbles)

14. Loving You Easy

15. Toes

16. Tomorrow Never Comes

17. Next to Me
(Imagine Dragons cover)

18. Keep Me in Mind

19. Isn’t She Lovely / Neon

20. Whiskey’s Gone

21. Take Me to Church
(Hozier cover)

22. Beautiful Drug

23. Free / Into the Mystic

24. Chicken Fried

Encore:

25. Cult of Personality
(Living Color cover)

26. Bennie And The Jets
(Elton John cover)

27. Tush
(ZZ Top cover)

28. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
(Sly & the Family Stone Cover)

29. Black Magic Woman
(Satana cover)

30. Baby Got Back
(Sir Mix-a-lot cover)

31. Thunderstruck
(AC/DC cover)

32. Sabotage
(Beastie Boys cover)

That’s one hell of a set list, eh?

Who goes to a Country concert expecting to hear MetallicA or the Beastie Boys covered?

Now don’t get me wrong, I like a cover song as much as the next person but is 14 in one concert pushing it just a tad? I’m not one to gripe, because alot of those covers were kickass selections, but I paid to see the Zac Brown Band play their own shit too.. cause their stuff is just as kickass. Yet I went home a little disappointed cause they never played my favorite song, the one song that made me their fan to begin with.

I get that this band has over half a dozen albums, and they can’t play everything… and a good cover song mixed things up and prevents the band from doing the same thing every damn night. I get that… but the song they skipped was one of their very best, a #1 hit that no doubt left a lot of fans saying what the fuck?

Could you imagine going to see Paul McCartney and he doesn’t play Hey Jude?

Or Garth Brooks refusing to play The Dance?

Or Bon Jovi refusing to play Living on a Prayer?

Or The Rolling Stones refusing to play Start Me Up.

I think you’re getting the point here… but let me explain a bit better. If you go to this link, you’ll find a list posted by billboard.com that puts in order the band’s best all time hits. And guess what song is listed at #1? You guessed it, my favorite song that the band refused to play that night. Since billboard has it listed as their best song of all time, I’m guessing that it’s the favorite song of a lot of fans who were there two nights ago.

I don’t mean to sound spoiled, because the band kicked ass that night and played a lot of tunes. 30+ songs is no small feat, so maybe I should shut the fuck up. It just jars me a bit, but one could understand if they are tired of playing the song, but it doesn’t make any sense to me.

But besides that one tiny, teenie, little detail… this was a kickass concert and I had a really good time.

So that’s three concerts down… two more to go.

The kickass summer rolls on.

Later gators,

Peter