Conan Gray I Kacy Hill

Conan Gray brought his much anticipated Superache Tour to Saint Augustine, FL on September 18th 2022. Before even touching on the performance, I think it's necessary to talk about how long the merch line was. There were people wrapped all the way around the venue standing in line waiting for an eternity, just for a Conan t-shirt. It was insane!! Okay, now on to the important part; the concert. Conan kicked off the concert with the song "Disaster" as he walked around a balcony near the back of the stage. A giant kaleidoscope heart shined behind him and he stopped in each section of the balcony to give fans a good view. Once the second song "Telepath" began, he made a dramatic walk down onto the actual stage, towards a hoard of screaming fans standing behind the barricades. I want to point out that I had ear plugs in, since I was standing directly in front of the speakers, and the screams from his fans still made my ears ring after the show. After completing the second song, Conan took a moment to converse with friends and made jokes about the humid Florida weather. He even mentioned that he took a trip to the nearby Alligator Farm! The short bit with the crowd come off as very endearing and made Conan seem extremely personable. He then went into "Fight or Flight" (the song not the actual mode) and crouched as close to the edge of the stage as he could get, and looked out into the crowd the entire time he sang. He sounded extremely good live and did so well with crowd engagement. I think that element of 

Conan's performances is why a lot of people are willing to wait in line for an hour for merch. He connected with a lot of people that night.

Conan's opener was Kacy Hill who is an up and coming sensation. This was my first time ever hearing of her, or her music. It was extremely minimalistic, which isn't a bad thing, but it made for an odd live show. Kacy was the sole person on stage for her entire performance. She was the whole show, and yet she really didn't perform at all. She had a very calm presence on stage, would walk over to different sides of the stage to pose for the crowd, and then walk back to the center and stand for a while. Every now and then she would head over to the keyboard and play it for maybe 30 seconds at a time. The best way I can describe her is by comparing her to a combination of Lorde and Poppy. She was great vocals, but lacked personality. I would stream Kacy's music and listen to it, but I would not have interest in seeing her as a headliner. 

Do you remember, the *27th* night of September? Anyone who  was at the Saint Augustine Amphitheatre that night will remember it as the night Earth Wind and Fire brought the house down. I truly didn't realize how many hits EW&F have until every song they played resulted in a "ohhh I didn't know they sang this!" reaction. The venue was packed with fans dressed in 70s attire and vibing to the music. Overall, it was a really fun atmosphere and the band sounded amazing. The vocals were great, the band had amazing chemistry together, and the musicians (especially the drummer) were impressive! 

Old Crow Medicine Show and Gov't Mule brought their co-headlined tour to Saint Augustine, FL on October 14th, 2022.  OCMS was the first act to take the stage and I can't even begin to explain how much energy they brought! Each and every member of the band was bouncing around all over the place and out their all into each song! The music itself was what comes to mind when I think of traditional country/bluegrass music. Banjos, harmonicas, and lots of string instruments were in use. The vocals were spot on and sounded perfect, even throughout all of the moving around and dancing going on! Even though the band was extremely interactive with the audience the whole time, the crowd noise hit its peak whenever OCMS started playing the beloved song Wagon Wheel. Even though the song was made extremely popular when Darius Rucker covered it, it was such a cool moment to hear it performed by the band who actually penned it. I have to say, I think I may actually prefer Old Crow's version better after hearing it live!

Gov't Mule come on stage shortly after Old Crow Medicine Show, and the sold out crowd was stoked! It was a little weird seeing such a relaxed and chill band perform after the high energy of Old Crow, but Gov't Mule had a really cool vibe. There was very little moving around and "performing", but what was lacking there was made up for with killer instrumentals and vocals. This reminded me a little bit of Tash Sultana and her style of guitar playing. You kind of just feel mesmerized and content just watching and listening to the instrumentals when the musicians are that talented. The aesthetics of Gov't Mule's set up on stage was very relaxed too. There was a giant rug on stage that looks like it was pulled from someone's mom's house and a couple of the guys were just in socks. It truly almost felt  like you were watching a band perform in their living room, and it really works for them!

Overall, it was a great night watching 2 bands with wildly different styles mesh together for a tour. Old Crow Medicine show is 100% someone I would seek out tickets to watch see live again. While Gov't Mule  is a band that I would definitely pay money to download their music, but not necessarily want to see live. Each band was entertaining in their own elements and styles, and I love that I have two new bands that I can say I'm a fan of.

The Red Clay Strays  made an appearance at the Saint Augustine Amp  on November  4th, 2022.  From the moment the band took the stage, I was instantly intrigued. The lead singer's 1950's look, the retro style guitars, and the very minimalistic stage set-up all made sense when the band hit their first chords. The Red Clay Strays can only be described as a perfect mash up of vintage and modern. A combination of early Elvis and Chris Stapleton. A gritty, southern, rock-a-billy style. The song that won me over was titled "Wondering Why" as it instantly made its way into one of my Spotify playlists after the concert, and left me wondering why I had never heard of this band before. 

Jacksonville, FL. Vystar Arena. December 29th, 2022.

Saint Augustine, FL. Saint Augustine Amp. March 17th, 2023.

Jacksonville, FL. Vystar Arena. March 19th, 2023.

St. Augustine, FL. St. Augustine  Amp. June 2nd, 2023.

Walker Hayes brought his Duck Buck Tour to Daily's Place in Jacksonville, FL on June 9th 2023.  This was a cool moment for me, as Walker Hayes was one of the first shows I photographed in 2021. It was awesome to see that he moved on from the small (but really cool) Florida Theatre venue and now was playing at a completely sold out Daily's Place. Two of the most impressive things to me from the first Walker Hayes concert was his stage presence and how family oriented and down to earth he seemed.  I was happy to see that both of those elements were just as strong years later! Walker was all over the place and constantly interacting with fans in the crowd. He signed hats, tossed footballs into the nosebleed seats, and even took people's phones to record videos while he performed. Outside of all the high energy performing, Walker connected with the crowd by getting personal and discussing some of the backstory to his songs. One that really stood out to me was the backstory to the song "Craig". You can listen to the lyrics and understand what its about, but to hear Walker actually be vulnerable and open up about his past struggles was really touching. It was nice to see the on stage  persona disappear for a second, and to see a normal human being opening up about things that a lot of people in the crowd could probably relate to at some point. On a lighter note - it'll never get old to see people lose their minds when "Fancy Like" starts playing.

Jacksonville, FL . Daily's Place. June 11th 2023