The Taste of Country, which has quickly become a staple of the summer country tour circuit, played its first holiday show at Shea’s Theatre in Buffalo, NY this past Friday night. The show featured 3 young stars James Wesley, Kellie Pickler and Rodney Atkins.
First up was James Wesley. His set was a short one consisting of only 6 songs, but he made the most out of his time and really connected with the audience. James played 3 songs off of an upcoming album that will be titled “Real.” He went between playing the acoustic guitar and just singing acapella. Wesley also added a nice cover of the Johnny Cash classic “Folsom Prison.”
Next up was the former American Idol contestant Kellie Pickler. Pickler has carved out a nice career in the country scene over the last half dozen years. Taking the stage dressed in all black, Pickler made her presence known on such songs like “Tough” and her new single “Stop Cheatin.” She paid homage to country legend Tammy Wynette on the song she wrote about her called “Where’s Tammy Wynette When You Need Her?” She really delivered a shining performance on “I Wonder.” Kellie showed she will continue to be a mainstay in the country music business for a long time to come.
The headliner, Rodney Atkins, showed Buffalo, NY why he earned that right for the evening’s festivities. Rodney worked the crowd from beginning to end and in the middle, spreading holiday cheer as he went along. He did a blistering rendition of Bing Crosby’s “I’ll be home for Christmas.” He followed that up with his latest single “I’ll Take a Back Road,” which had almost everyone on their feet. He kept everyone on their feet by bringing out a t-shirt gun for the song “Cleaning this Gun.” He alternated by shooting a t-shirt and throwing by hand into the audience during a part of the song.
Atkins picked up his mic stand and held it over the crowd where fans could grab a pick for a souvenir of the nights show during “Watching You.” He continually interacted with the crowd during his entire performance (he signed items handed up to him and let a small kid get up on stage to sing a song with him as well.)
He may be grabbing the headlines for his personal life at the moment (his divorce and subsequent arrest), but he left the crowd with many other things to talk about that’s for sure.
Set Lists:
Rodney Atkins
It’s America
About the South
Farmers Daughter
I’ll be Home for Christmas
Take a Back Road
Cleaning this Gun
Watching You
These are my People
Encore:
Going through Hell
Kellie Pickler
Little House on the Highway
Don’t you Know you’re Beautiful
Makin’ me Fall in Love Again
Tough
Stop Cheatin
Where’s Tammy Wynette when You Need Her?
Things that Never Cross a mans Mind
Didn’t you Know How Much I Loved You?
I Wonder
Best Days of your Life
Red High Heels
James Wesley
Waking up the Rooster
Real
You Should be Here with Me
Folsom Prison (Johnny Cash cover)
Walking Contradiction
Didn’t I
