A great night of country fun happened this past Sunday night as the Erie County Fair welcomed a triple bill of Clint Black, Clay Walker and Tracy Byrd. One of the longest running county fairs in the United States (ongoing since 1883), many people look forward to the concert schedule and this was highlighted on most peoples schedule I’m sure. All 3 have been at this for a while so there was plenty of material for each artist to choose from when they played live.
First up was Tracy Byrd. Byrd did a strong half hour set that included tunes “Watermelon” and “10 rounds with Jose Cuervo” and “The Keeper of the Stars.” Byrd made the most of of his time sticking to his country roots and keeping the fans happy with his original material. He kept the talking to a minimum so he can play more tunes. A savvy veteran thing to do.
Up next was Clay Walker. Walker has nice history that includes 6 number one singles amongst his large catalog of 11 studio albums. Walker was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 26 (he is now 53) and remains someone that has this disease to look up to. He continues to record new music and tour. So I was interested in seeing him perform and how his audience would react to him. His set went over extremely well. He addressed the NY crowd many times throughout his set and confessed his love for the NY crowd as well. He appreciated the hard working attitude that he believed the audience displayed. “The highlights of his set were “Rumour Has It” and “Live Until I Die.” It was cool to see him toss out beach balls during his set too.
Up next was county legend Clint Black. Black was all smiles taking the stage and doing so with a beautiful Fender guitar that had the starts and stripes on it. Black had a great personality and had the crowd eating form the palm of his hand since the opening chords of “The Shoes Your Wearing.” He talked about stories of his dad wondering that if Clint had what it took to write county songs. He though Clint, at the age of 22 didn’t have enough living to know what to write. That’s where “Nothings News” originated from. Black also talked about his relationship with is longtime lead guitarist of his band of over 35 years in Hayden Nicholas. The first ever song they wrote together in “Straight from the Factory” was played. The band did some extending soloing including both Black and Nicholas on “We Tell Ourselves.” Black told a story about showing up early to a studio because he was nervous about meeting Waylon Jennings. It turns out he was already there from the night before with Kris Kristofferson. So the next song “Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way” was dedicated to Jennings. Black added the harmonica to this track as well. Black closed with 2 encores and ended his show by reaching back to 1993 ‘No Time to Kill’ album by playing “Tuckered Out.”
All in all, it was a terrific night of music delivered by a talented trio of country artists!
Setlist:
The Shoes You’re Wearing
Summer’s Comin
A Better Man
When my Ship Comes In
Untanglin’ my Mind
Mama Tried (Merle Haggard cover)
State of Mind
Nothing’s News
Straight from the Factory
Killin’ Time
One More Payment
No Time to Kill
Like the Rain
A Good Run of Bad Luck
We Tell Ourselves
Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way (Waylon Jennings cover)
Nothin’ But the Taillights
Encore:
Been There
Tuckered Out
*Editors note: Unfortunately, Clint Blacks management decided not to allow some great photographs we took of the show. There was only one that was approved from his set.*
We would like to thank Kelly Cunningham from Collective Artist Management for the credentials to review the show.
