Starting a career over, albeit a successful one to boot, isn’t easy. Just ask Darius Rucker that question. Darius’ old band Hootie and the Blowfish were one of the most successful bands from the 1990s. Fast forward to a few years back when Darius decided to take his talents elsewhere, to the country music scene. Would country fans accept him? After his performance in Erie, PA, last Thursday night, that answer was a resounding “yes!”
It was a cold night with the temperature outside hovering around the five (5) degree mark. There were no worries inside though, as Rucker and his six (6) piece band heated up the Erie Times Arena. Rucker performed a 20 song set list comprised of songs from his three (3) country solo albums, his old band Hootie and the Blowfish and a few covers. Rucker changed the tempo all night as he started off with a video montage of different radios throughout the years before taking the stage and going into the third single off of the “True Believers” disc called “Radio.” Rucker had the fans singing and chanting right from the start and even into the ballads such as “Missing You.”
Rucker was proud to play his first number one country single ever in “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It.” He gushed over telling the story of how he appreciated country fans as they accepted him into their genre. His video screens even displayed a Pittsburgh Steelers helmet during the song “Southern State of Mind,” getting an extra boost from the Pennsylvania crowd. He told the story about writing his first country song with his former band Hootie and the Blowfish. The hit song was “Let Her Cry.”
Rucker and his band really put the finishing touches on a wonderful evening by putting great spins on the Prince tune “Purple Rain” and the Hank Williams song “Come Back Song Family Tradition.”
Again, it was a great show by a man who proves that when you write great songs, music has no boundaries!
Setlist:
Radio
Heartbreak Road
This
Miss You
Alright
Shine
Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It
Time (Hootie & The Blowfish song)
Pink Houses (John Mellencamp cover)
Southern State of Mind
Let Her Cry (Hootie & The Blowfish song)
History in the Making
Hold My Hand (Hootie & The Blowfish song)
The Craziest Thing
It Won’t Be Like This for Long
Only Wanna Be With You (Hootie & The Blowfish song) Come Back Song Family Tradition (Hank Williams, Jr. cover) True Believers
Wagon Wheel (Old Crow Medicine Show cover)
Purple Rain (Prince cover)
We would like to thank Jason Hauser of McGhee Entertainment for the credentials to review the show.
