On October 28th, the Zac Brown Band touched down in Phoenix at the Ak-Chin Pavilion for a stop on their Landshark Lager tour. The show was almost entirely sold out and packed to the brim with excited fans. The general consensus of the evening was, “Zac Brown is next to godliness.” With a little bit for everybody, ZBB comprises mostly of the sounds of country and folk rock, punctuated by the occasional reggae-inspired beat of a congo drum. Front man Zac Brown sings, accompanied on many tracks by other members of the band, with the legendary Jimmy De Martini jamming out on the fiddle, guitarists John Hopkins, Coy Bowles and Clay Cook, Chris Fryer on drums, and Daniel de los Reyes bringing out the heavier percussion.
Anticipation filled the pavilion as the lights finally died down, crowd cheering for the band to take stage. A curtain obscured the musicians from sight, back lighting casting their silhouettes into gigantic shadows. As the curtain dropped, the audience went wild, with lights flashing and the band thrashing instruments with energetic vigor. They played old favorites like “Toes,” “Chicken Fried,” and “Jump Right In,” even introducing the audience to some new, unreleased material the band is currently working on with Dave Grohl. Most of the concert was upbeat and fun, but the band brought it down to a serious note for the fan favorite “As She’s Walking Away.”
The opening acts were Dugas and Aj Ghent. Lead singer of Dugas, Sarah Dugas even joined ZBB on stage for a special cover song, spoiling show goers with the melodic combination of Brown’s deep baritone and Dugas’s rich, Janis Joplin-esque warble. Other covers of the night included ZBB’s lively Enter Sandman rendition with bass guitarist John Hopkins singing vocals. All in all the evening was a Zac Brown, or even just country fanatic’s utter delight.
Check out our gallery of the performance below! Photos by Elite Photo Phoenix.
