Raisin The Bar Tour [Photo][Photo][Photo][Photo]Saturday December 8th was the last night of the “Raisin the Bar” tour featuring Jason Michael Carroll, Bucky Covington, and Cole Deggs & The Lonesome. The venue was the Rams Head Live in Baltimore, MD. My main purpose in going was to witness Jason Michael Carroll live. There has been a whirlwind following him around since the release of his album “Waitin in the Country” earlier this year and has received nothing but great reviews. Needless to say I was excited.At first I was little disappointed, the crowd at the Rams Head was small; I soon came to realize this was to my advantage. I was positioned right in the middle of the floor about three people back from the stage directly in front of the mic.Cole Deggs & the Lonesome hit the stage running, and that’s how they remained for there entire set. Hard driving country rock, that kept you swaying and clapping the entire time they were on stage. Most of the songs came from their first self titled CD. The new single “Girl Next Door” co written by Cole Deggs the bands front man was a highlight of the set and Cole commented on the video that was recently filmed and now airs on CMT and GAC. He made the good natured comment that he had no idea what he was doing while filming it. He swirled and swayed all over the stage, keeping the audience engaged and happy. The band was tight. (Cole’s brother Shade is also in the band and plays bass). I really enjoyed them and hope they continue on the upward path they are on.Next was Jason, the intro was a montage of songs from the CD, then finally he comes out to “ I Can Sleep When I’m Dead”, a hard core rocking song that has everyone in the audience rocking along with him. Oh did I mention the screaming, yes he is eye candy and talented eye candy, the best kind. His full toned voice filled the club and gratefully sounded very much like his CD. He sang “Angel of Broken Hearts”; making a comment that someone said that song wasn’t country enough. “Alyssa Lies”, "Livin Our Love Song”, “Honky Tonk Friends”," Anywhere USA": and my favorite of the night “Stray”. When he sang “Waitin the Country”, Cole Deggs joined him on stage, (Cole wrote it), that was fun to watch. Jason danced and didn’t hesitate to sign all sorts of things the crowd handed up to him, from paper to shirts. etc., while performing. But he does fall into the category of sexuality and he happily gyrated and shook his incredible toned body all over the place. Unfortunately I just sensed a tiny bit of vanity that rubbed me and my two daughters (22 and 19 respectfully) the wrong way. I know that it’s all part of the act and he was great. But, I was touched by Jason’s performance, and being woman I could not take my eyes off of him, the spell is strong. I might not even have mentioned it if it wasn’t for Bucky.Bucky Covington was the 2006 American Idol 8th runner up. Since then he has had a hit single with “A Different World”, and is currently watching his new single “It’s Good to be Us”, climb the charts. He and his band which includes his brother Rocky on drums or in this case percussion and bongos, came on stage starting their set off with “American Friday Night”, I was in shock. I had no idea that he was going to rock the house down. He did covers such as “Drift Away”, and “Another Brick in the Wall”. There were no breaks in between songs. He would easily glide into a new song. Dancing for the crowd and encouraging them to sing along with him as he held the mic out to the audience. When he spoke to them he was funny and up beat, just like he was one of them. He threw in a Christmas song for good measure, commenting afterward that he loved that song. He was endearing and folksy, yet still was able to jam hard and seriously rev up the music. I was impressed. The two guys that were standing behind my daughters told them they were about to be happily entertained by Bucky, now sitting here in a New England snow storm, all I can think is, man they weren’t kidding.
Labels: Concert Reviews