Year: 2022

Hey ya’ll !!!   I have been super busy and totally slacking on these concert reviews and getting them on YouTube and such so I am just going to just make blogs for them and maybe later on do a whole “End of Summer Shows” recap?  I don’t know yet, but this review is about Country Jam at Wojcik’s Farm in Blackstone Ma.  

Well, this show was something special if I do say so myself.  It was our first hosting gig as the Boots & Whiskey Podcast.  We were the emcee for the days events and it was an absolute honor.  This was year two of this festival and I think it has great potential to continue its growth.  Hopefully we can be a little more instrumental in some things for next year, but over the potential to be huge is there!

The local festival consisted of many local bar bands including: Wendy & The Cultivators; Bail Money; Trigger South; The Pub Kings; and the Goat Roper Band.  All of these acts were very gracious to us and we loved working close with them.  These bands are great bar bands and if you’re ever in the area and they are playing, go check them out.  

The days headliners were Houston Bernard and Timmy Brown.  We are honored to say that Houston played per our request and Timmy was the headliner last year and came back for year 2!  I found their sets to be very interesting and very different.

We knew what to expect with the bar bands listed above, cover songs that would get the crowd to sing.  They nailed it with that.  But with the headliners, you would expect originals, especially when both artists have plenty to fill a set.

Houston went on before Timmy as a Co-Headliner and played all originals which was great, maybe a cover or two which was to be expected.  In a setting like that, I believe that if you have originals and you have a name behind you, play your originals and get more people to know your name and your music.  You don’t want to be an original artist that plays covers, at least I don’t think so, at least in a full band stand out opportunity.  I thought Houston nailed this.  Just the right blend of a couple covers but didn’t over run the set.  

I am surprised to say that Timmy Brown did not do that.  Timmy played many covers which is disappointing because his originals are just as good if not better than some of the covers he played.  The album he released last year could have covered a whole set.  Again, I get it as to why you would play covers.  I totally 100% understand, but like I said, when you have a name and a bit of a following, play your originals.  You have originals for a reason!  Let the people hear them!!!

I thought all acts had great sets and really did their jobs with being entertaining and fun!

There are a few things we would like to see different for next year, but nothing major.  Many of these come from audience members and performers alike.

One, definitely need a new sound company.  The sound and tech portion of the show was less than stellar.  We heard it from practically everyone we spoke with about the show.  I don’t think it’s a negative thing, just something to improve on.  Another idea is to move the food closer to the stage area, I know on a hot day, it sucks walking to get food and back to your seat, so I get that.  I would even switch up the lineup.  Nothing against anyone who played but the same bands or artists can’t play every year or headline every year, it just gets stale.  The last thing we heard, was about the cost of getting in.  A big way to offset that would be to get a C Level Act to come and play and get some local “bigger names” to help draw a crowd, etc.  Now these aren’t complaints, this is a festival I am passionate about and want to see do well and succeed for many reasons.  One reason Vicki is a friend and former classmate and I want to see her visions come to life and be successful.  Another is that it’s in my hometown, I love seeing things do well at my hometown!  I think it’s great exposure for the farm and for the area!

The whole idea has great potential and I look forward to doing more with-it next year, I hope anyway!

Till next time ya’ll Cheers! 

Thank you all for reading along and listening to the show.  Check us out on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter all of the above.  And check out our website at http://www.bootsandwhiskeyentertainment.com

Hey ya’ll !!!   I have been super busy and totally slacking on these concert reviews and getting them on YouTube and such so I am just going to just make blogs for them and maybe later on do a whole “End of Summer Shows” recap?  I don’t know yet, but this review is about the McGraw Tour 2022.  

This show was held on Saturday June 4, 2022 and it featured Boots & Whiskey Podcast Alumni Brandon Davis, Alexandra Kay, Russell Dickerson and of course the man himself Tim McGraw.  A big thank you to our friends over at Live Nation for our tickets and an even bigger thank you to our friend Brandon Joyce over at Live Nation for letting us check out the VIP area at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts.  

There is so much to cover about this show, so let’s just get it.

The night started with some VIP access.  If you’re ever going to a show here or anywhere that you can upgrade to VIP, do it!!!  Our friend Brandon if you’re in our area will take great care of you and we can get you in contact with him for all of your needs just shoot us an email or a DM on our socials and we’d love to help you out.  Let me tell you why you need this.  One, private bathrooms.  Do you even need another reason other than that?  I mean if you do, then there is a private bar, seating area, and dining service as well.  Menu for food is pretty standard but it is absolutely fantastic.  Overall, the VIP experience is a 10/10.  My wife even made a comment that she will ever not upgrade ever again.  I am with her on that 100%!  

Now, onto the show!

The show opened with our good friend and show Alumni Brandon Davis.  He came out played a few songs that of course we knew and some in the crowd knew as well, which was super exciting to see!  For those of you who don’t know, Brandon and Alexandra alike were discovered through Tik Tok and Tim asked them to join the tour and open the show.  The two split the time and for this show Alexandra closed their set time.  She is a force as well, damn she can sing!  These two people are going to the be future of country music, you just watch!

Next up was Russell Dickerson.  I have to admit, I have a big soft spot for Russell.  Why you may ask?  I don’t really know.  As you know, I rail against the sort of country music he puts out.  But for some reason RD just gets it.  For me, it’s the non-radio songs that I think I love the most.  This was the first time we have seen RD, we were supposed to see him back in January at the House of Blues in Boston, but Covid hit the house and we were sidelined unfortunately.  After seeing him in this aspect, I would have loved to see him in a smaller headlining setting.  He was absolutely fantastic.  He stole the show with his energy and charisma.  Absolutely outstanding!

Then we had the man of the night, Mr. Tim McGraw.  This was our first-time seeing Tim by himself.  As some may know we saw the Soul2Soul tour a few years back with him and Faith, but we have always wanted to see him alone.  We are so glad we did!  He did not disappoint.  He can still hit every note and has a stage presence that makes everyone go crazy.  The set itself wasn’t super long but he played every song you would like.  He didn’t play our wedding song, but Faith wasn’t there or at least she didn’t come out so I will forgive it…this time.  There’s something to be said for an artist of any genre with the storied career that someone like him has who can go on tour even after all these years night after night and sound just as good, if not better, then he did 20 years ago.  I know he takes great care of himself, but damn he sounded incredible.  The highlight of the set was the encore.  Before he came back out for the encore they played a ‘1883’ Montage with the opening credits and it gave me insane goose bumps.  I talk about it a lot but the ‘Yellowstone’ world is one of our favorites here and being able to see James Dutton 😉 sing these songs was absolutely incredible.  

This was the last night of the tour and as tradition holds, there needs to be a tour prank and the openers came out all in retro 90s McGraw Tour tee-shirts and sang a song with him, which was pretty cute.  

If you ever get the chance to see Tim or any of these other fine artists, please do so! 

A big thank you again to Live Nation, Xfinity Center Mansfield and of course the McGraw Tour 2022!

Till next time ya’ll Cheers! 

Thank you all for reading along and listening to the show.  Check us out on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter all of the above.  And check out our website at http://www.bootsandwhiskeyentertainment.com

Hey ya’ll !!!   I have been super busy and totally slacking on these concert reviews and getting them on YouTube and such so I am just going to just make blogs for them and maybe later on do a whole “End of Summer Shows” recap?  I don’t know yet, but this review is of Garth Brooks Stadium Tour at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro Massachusetts.

This show was way back in May on the 21^st 2022.  Garth actually played the night before as well to a much smaller crowd, and honestly, wish I would have been at that show instead.  I love small crowd shows.  Anyway, let’s get in to the show we saw.

First things first, a BIG thank you to Nash Icon in Worcester for our tickets, very sweet.  We had a great view of the stage as you’ll see in the pictures and the set up was great.  I really enjoy the “in the round” experience, I feel it gives the audience a since of closeness as well.  Regardless where you are in the stadium the show is right in front or below you.  

I am going to give Garth all the praise in the world!  To me, he is top 5 artists of all time and not just in country music, but in all genres.  The first concert my wife and I saw was Garth so it holds a special place in my heart if I am being honest and maybe where my bias comes from but that’s fine, because the memories with her deserve a bias.  

Before I get into the good stuff, I want to touch upon some stuff that for me I don’t are for.  One, I am not a huge fan of Stadium shows.  I get it, more people, more money.  It’s an experience yadda yadda yadda.  I just feel that it leaves a lot on the table.  The place is too big and you lose a lot of sound no matter what they try to do unless you’re in a covered stadium, which Gillette is not.  

We were fortunately close enough to the stage where we could still everything pretty clear, got some great shots as you’ll see posted here, but the sound still sounded so far away, it just drives me nuts! HAHA

Garth has been bringing Mitch Rossell to open these shows on this leg and it was the first time I had heard him and he was fantastic.  He did an acoustic set, which wasn’t very long but I think because the traffic situation getting to the stadium was a shit show that night.  It was the first Sold Out Concert since the Pandemic at Gillette, so I am sure there were some growing pains, but I mean what the hell, we had a full NFL season last year.  It is what it is, we were there early enough for doors, but the show itself was delayed about an hour.  I almost wonder what we missed from Garth and from Mitch.

Mitch was great, wonderful charism, great personality, the perfect person to open for someone like Garth.  I am a little butt hurt he hasn’t answered my texts from the text line he has, but I guess I will eventually get over it, hahaha.

From the time Mitch got off the stage and Garth got on the stage I swear it felt like 10 minutes, if that.  I wish all openers and headliners had such a quick turn over!  

Garth came out from under the drums, per usual and he absolutely killed.  I know I talked a lot about the size of Gillette and thinking it’s too big, but with that being said, Garth had the whole place in the palm of his hand.  From the opening chord to the final bow, the place was electric.  Every song and every note hit the crowd as if they were reliving a memory that night.  I sure as hell was anyway.

I love when you can hear the crowd singing every song back to the artist.  Damn, I am getting chills just remembering that night and what it sounded like.  Hot damn.  Wow.

Well, that’s it for now about Garth.  Again, a big thank you to everyone over at Nash Icon, Gillette Stadium, the Krafts, and of course Mr and Mrs Yearwood.

Till next time ya’ll Cheers! 

Thank you all for reading along and listening to the show.  Check us out on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter all of the above.  And check out our website at http://www.bootsandwhiskeyentertainment.com

Hey ya’ll !!!   I have been super busy and totally slacking on these concert reviews and getting them on YouTube and such so I am just going to just make blogs for them and maybe later on do a whole “End of Summer Shows” recap?  I don’t know yet, but this review is of Whiskey Myers on their Tornillo Tour.  Again, I know this is late, but they are on tour all year, so if you can see them.  See Them!!!

The show we saw was at the Worcester Pallidum on April 29^th, 2022.  This show had Goodbye June and Shane Smith & The Saints as opening acts.  Talk about a line up.  Holy shit!

First, I need to thank my good friend Dan and the Worcester Palladium for having us!  It’s a great honor for me to be working with local venues to bring good authentic country music to central Massachusetts and New England in general.  Thank you all for that, the graciousness is not lost on me.

Now to the show.  The night kicked off with Goodbye June.  Never heard of these guys before and honestly, wasn’t sure about them going in, I am sure you can see a trend on these reviews.  I always want to stay objective with these reviews as well and I have to say, their sound, sucked.  They didn’t suck.  The sound for their set was awful.  I was actually really bummed out because I love seeing bands I never have and seeing them with a fresh set of eyes and ears.  It was so muffled and loud that you couldn’t understand lyrics, which is a huge bummer.  The band sounded absolutely fantastic and I do hope we get to see them again.  Someone asked me at the show what I thought and how I would describe them and all I could think of was if Axle Rose fronted a country rock band.  I think that’s the perfect analogy for this band.  I really do hope to get a better sounding show from them in the near future.

Then we had Shane Smith & the Saints come out.  Honestly, the night could have ended right here.  No disrespect to Whiskey Myers, but Shane Smith stole the night.  Stole the whole fucking night.  We legit saw a robbery right before our eyes and have no idea it was happening.  If you’re not listening to Shane Smith yet, give it a listen, you’ll be hooked.  I promise.  If you’re not.  Get your head and ears examined and FAST.  These guys were, as you may know, featured on the TV show Yellowstone.  Maybe you’ve heard of it?  If not, another thing you need to watch.  But anyway, Shane Smith blew the roof off the Palladium, I couldn’t believe how many people knew every word to every song they sang and sang it back to them.  It’s not every day a full crowd knows all the words to the opener’s songs, it was quite the spectacle to see.  It’s a true testament to them and their talent for sure.  I shamelessly stopped and gave Shane Smith a sticker from the show and I hope he still has it, was a huge honor to meet him after their set.  From the sounds of it they did play all of their more well-known songs and they were great.  When they played ‘All I See is You’ the place went ape shit and it was awesome.  I honestly have to say I was bummed out when their set came to and end, but that just meant it was finally time to see a band I have been waiting years to see…

Now, it was time for Whiskey Myers.  Like I mentioned, been wanting to see them for years.  They have come around and played shows, but this show was Sold Out in a larger theater, it was absolutely incredible.  They came out and played every song you would think they would play.  I was actually surprised they kicked off the night with their latest single ‘John Wayne’, honestly, I love when a band comes out and plays their latest release first.  Like it’s a “fuck you, now you stay for the rest of the show.”  I am sure that’s not their intent, but that’s how I see it and love it.  I was surprised how short their actual set was with 12 songs, but their encore had 5 songs including a cover of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers classic tune ‘Refugee’ to close the night with 17 songs.  Overall, it was a killer high energy set with everything and more you would expect from one of the Top Tier Country Rock bands in the country.  Whiskey Myers can’t come back soon enough in my opinion and I can’t wait for them to do so.

Thank you again to Dan Millen and the Worcester Palladium and of course Whiskey Myers, Shane Smith & the Saints and Goodbye June! 

Till next time ya’ll Cheers! 

Thank you all for reading along and listening to the show.  Check us out on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter all of the above.  And check out our website at http://www.bootsandwhiskeyentertainment.com

Hey ya’ll !!!   I have been super busy and totally slacking on these concert reviews and getting them on YouTube and such so I am just going to just make blogs for them and maybe later on do a whole “End of Summer Shows” recap?  I don’t know yet, but this review is of the 101.7 The Bull Green Solo Cup Party at Big Night Live in Boston on April 25^th.

As always, a BIG thank you to 101.7 The Bull, Big Night Live, and really of course our biggest thank you to Annie Brobst for making this show even possible for us, it truly is greatly appreciated.

Now, full disclosure.  I wanted to go to this show for really the eyeballs it would bring seeing HARDY.  Oh for those of you who don’t know, this was a radio show that Annie Brobst Opened for and had Niko Moon and Hardy, all acoustic, all absolutely incredibly.

Back to HARDY, like I said, only wanted to go for the exposure to the Instagram and what not.  This is a business, it’s only fair to want to see and do things that will get eye balls right?  I mean obviously I love doing these or I wouldn’t but all exposure for myself, the venues and the artists is always great.  Anyway, I wasn’t sold or sure about Hardy going into this show.  I hadn’t heard much of his stuff, I knew his claim to fame was through Morgan Wallen and Blake Shelton and some others he’s written songs for, I just wasn’t sold on the appeal.  We will get to the appeal in a moment.

Annie Brobst started the night, played some originals and played some covers.  I say it all the time, I hate when original bands play covers.  It legit goes up my ass sideways.  BUT.  In this instance I get it.  I think Annie’s set well very well received and really helped pave the way for the rest of the night.  Like I said, I get it, but me personally I thought it was a moment for Annie to shine and play some more originals, but in a room where maybe not many people know those songs, you have to take the safe road and get the crowd really going.  It was perfect, the highlight of the set was her rendition of ‘Whiskey Glasses’ by Morgan Wallen.  I will say it to the day I die, Morgan Wallen is the absolute man.  Fight me.  It was perfect to tie in MW’s tune at a Hardy show, maybe cliché but fuck it, it worked!

Then we had Niko Moon.  Again, not going to lie, wasn’t sure about Niko either.  I had heard ‘Good Time’ and that was it, although catchy, and a great song, it was played to death.  Love it, but overplaying a song for me loses its luster.  I have to say though, Niko came out and absolutely CRUSHED.  I honestly couldn’t believe it.  That infectious “Good Vibes Only” mantra is really contagious and the crowd FELT that shit.  When you’re at a country show, that’s what you’re there for, a good damn time, and Niko’s set provided just that.  This is a guy I need on this show, I bet the stories he could tell are absolute fire.  I bet he’s funny as hell and just a good dude.  Love it.  And since then, I have pretty regularly listened to Niko Moon on my rides to and from work, can’t get enough.  Cheers man! 

Now, the headliner.  HARDY.  I wasn’t sure if this show was even going to happen because he was sick as shit the day before and the day of the show.  But this dude came out and absolutely slayed.  He played for well over an hour, and I was originally told by the people on the inside that we’d be lucky if we got 45 mins due to how he felt.  The crowd was electric and sang EVERY WORD back to him.  It was unlike anything I had ever seen before.  I have seen shows where there’s crowd participation right, but this crowd it seemed knew the words better than he did.  

He played his hit ‘Sold Out’ to start the show, and as the night went on, he played various song’s he’s written for/with Morgan Wallen including the original version of ‘Sand in My Boots’ which you can see on our Tik Tok.  He also played the song he wrote that Blake Shelton released ‘God’s Country’.  It was a set that I wasn’t sure I was going to like going in, and left being a die-hard fan.  Hardy has been a regular on my playlists since this show and I can’t wait to see him again.  Absolutely incredible.

When it comes to the venue choice with Big Night Live, I have to say, it’s very reminiscent of the old Showcase Live in Foxboro Massachusetts.  I worked at Showcase Live for a little bit of time and walking into Big Night Live brought back a lot of feels and memories of my time there.  This venue is located right at the TD Garden, home of the Bruins and Celtics and it’s a great location.  There are several bars and restaurants in the area to grab a bite or a drink before a show or event there.  If you’re making your way down to Causeway Street make sure to check out the local establishments.  This was my second time at BNL and I will continue to see shows there time after time, even after they didn’t hire me for a sales person role 😛 I tease…but seriously wonderful people and great hospitality.

Finally a big thank you to Amanda, Jess, Colton and the 101.7 The Bull crew, ya’ll have been incredible to me here at this show and I thank you for a successful night with Hardy, Niko Moon and Annie Brobst.

Till next time ya’ll Horns Up! Cheers! 

Thank you all for reading along and listening to the show.  Check us out on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter all of the above.  And check out our website at http://www.bootsandwhiskeyentertainment.com

Concert Review Time

Hey ya’ll !!!   I have been super busy and totally slacking on these concert reviews and getting them on YouTube and such so I am just going to just make blogs for them and maybe later on do a whole “End of Summer Shows” recap?  I don’t know yet, but this review is of the Lansdowne Street Country Crawl Music Festival.

First, I have to thank literally everyone involved including Beezlo Music, 101.7 The Bull, Bill’s Bar, Game On Fenway, Loretta’s Last Call, The Lansdowne Pub, and Bleacher Bar.  These bars and Lansdowne Street itself were absolutely fantastic on the day of the show!  This show was on April 24^th…I know I know, damn Jim, take your time why don’t ya with these reviews.  

In my defense, I posted it to YouTube and totally fucked up like most of it because I was in a hurry.  So, you’re welcome for making it right 😛 

But seriously, this day was incredible.  Music started at 9:30 am and went all the way to 11pm.  It was a full day of country music!  There were some highlights and low lights and we are going to get into those now.  I will say, this was year one, and like most things in the first year or years, we’re going to have some growing pains.  I am not damn expert and I am sure none of what I am going to say will shock those who put it on, but my job is to review.

I am going to start with the lowlights first: 

1. Sunday shows are brutal for us old people and even more brutal when it’s all day
2. Food Options were tough to be had.  Personally, I would have lined the streets with food trucks and called it a day.
3. Some of the acts shouldn’t have had the slots they had.  Mid-day was way busier then first thing and after like 7pm.  

Honestly – I don’t have much to critique here.  Overall, the day was handled absolutely great.  The stuff mentioned above is super minor.

Now, the highlights:

1. Highlighting Local Country Artists here in New England …. FUCK YES!!!  Love to see it.  There were so many, check out the listing we have attached here for the full lineup! 
2. The National Acts were absolutely amazing to my surprise.  The Swon Brothers and Craig Campbell absolutely stole the whole day.  They absolutely crushed and turned me into a life long fan.  Hoping to get both on the show real soon.  Maybe my buddy Ricky Lynn can help with the Craig Campbell one.  I had zero intention of seeing The Swon Brothers and my god am I glad I did.  It was like being in church listening to these guys sing and tell their stories.  Can not wait to see them again.  Craig Campbell just speaks for itself, right?  I mean come on. ‘Outskirts of Heaven’ is a top 5 song of all time.  OF ALL TIME!  The other National Acts I saw were Drew Baldridge and one song of David Nail’s.  Drew’s set was entertaining for sure.  Reminded me of Luke Bryan but on a smaller scale, so for me, the jury is still out on how I feel about Drew.  Would love to chat with him and get his story, I typically change my mind about people after a conversation.  I saw one David Nail song and I split.  I was beat after such a long day.  I’ve never been a big David Nail guy, but I was looking forward to seeing him and bummed I couldn’t muster the energy to stick around.  Hopefully next time he’s here we can do a proper review of his show so we can hopefully do it some justice.
3. The venue options were pretty cool.  I loved that small dive bar feeling with a lot of these acts.  I loved how it had that lower Broadway feel to it as well.  People coming and going from these bars to see who they wanted when they wanted was awesome.

I have talked to a lot of people about this show and the main consensus was “we can do better next year.”  I love that mindset!  Like I said, it wasn’t perfect, but it was still pretty damn good.  From the artists I talked too, they had a blast!  I think some should have been in different times and places, but that’s not my call just my 2 cents.  I think for next year, maybe get the House of Blues involved and do an even bigger National Act on their main stage a few times during the day.  I also think next year should be on a Saturday OR a shorter day on a Sunday, start at like 11am and have the Main Act Finish at 9pm.  I only say this because the crowd really died off after dinner time.  Overall, it was an incredible day and I can’t wait til next year!

Thank you so much Beezlo Music for having us!  Cheers! 

Thank you all for reading along and listening to the show.  Check us out on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter all of the above.  And check out our website at http://www.bootsandwhiskeyentertainment.com