One of the most uplifting events in the Western New York area is the Ride for Roswell that is held at the University at Buffalo every June. Roswell Park Cancer Institute is one of the leading research centers in the country and every year the Ride for Roswell raises money for various cancer research. This year during the Celebration of Hope, country singer Kellie Pickler provided the entertainment.
Ride founder Mitch Flynn, Roswell CEO Candace Johnson, WYRK Radio Personality Clay Moden, WGRZ TV Personality Adam Benigni and former Buffalo Bills player Steve Tasker all took turns speaking in front of the few thousand in attendance. They had inspirational cancer surviving stories on the video screens to accompany the various speakers. Very moving and uplifting experiences were shared by all involved. Kellie Pickler, who is gearing up for a reality TV show with her husband Kyle Jacobs (set to air this fall), took the stage at around 8pm and played a solid hour and 15 minute set. Pickler, who is a very vocal lung cancer advocate, fit right in and really played an inspirational set to the attendees. She shaved her head in support of her best friend, Summer, in 2013, when she was battling breast cancer.
Her set included a little bit of everything, country, pop and honky tonk. She talked about how the song “Ring for Sale” was about her good friend Pam. “Stop Cheatin’ on Me” really had an old country western feel to it. During the song “Don’t You Know Your Beautiful,” a fan and cancer survivor, Kelsey, and her mom went up to give Kellie a rose and she responded by posing for photos with her, signing her shirt and telling her how much of an inspiration she is to all that were in attendance. This brought tears to the young girl’s eyes and made for a very emotional moment.
My favorite song that she performed was one she said her husband produced and wrote for her called “No Cure for Crazy.” The lyrics were a bit comical and Pickler performed them with a lot of zest. She sang the Johnny Cash cover “Jackson” with her keyboardist/guitar player Kyle Stallons. It was Kellie’s husband’s birthday and he came out on stage to sing the Lee Brice song he wrote for him called “Hard to Love.” Before he did this, Kellie sang “Happy Birthday” to him.
During each band member’s introduction, a medley of songs was performed for the audience. Pickler’s new song “Feeling Tonight” was very catchy and had a great hook. She ended her set with her biggest songs “Bonnie & Clyde” and “Red High Heels.” At the end of the latter, attendees were able to go in front of the stage where Pickler signed shirts and posed for selfies while still singing the song.
Back 2 Back Entertainment and Roswell hit a home run with their selection for this year’s musical guest. Pickler couldn’t have been more gracious with the crowd while giving the audience a full show.
Setlist:
Where’s Tammy Wynette?
Things That Never Cross a Man’s Mind
Tough
Makin Me Fall in Love Again
Ring for Sale
Stop Cheatin’ on Me
Little House on the Highway
I Wonder
Don’t You Know Your Beautiful
No Cure for Crazy
Jackson (Johnny Cash cover)
Happy Birthday (Patty and Mildred J. Hill cover)
Hard to Love (Kyle Jacobs performs – Lee Brice cover)
Unlock That Honky Tonk
Didn’t You Know How Much I Loved You?
Band Intros (You Can Feel it All Over –Stevie Wonder, Great Balls of Fire – Jerry Lee Lewis, Walk This Way – Aerosmith, Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne, La Grange – ZZ Top medlies)
Feeling Tonight (new song)
Best Days of Your Life
Encore:
Bonnie & Clyde
Red High Heels
We would like to thank Lindsay Truesdell from the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation for the credential to review the show.
