Home Free Opens for Reba!

** I will start out by mentioning that I do not have any pictures of the acts outside of Home Free. So, if you wanted to see how cute Reba was that night I will be disappointing you. But if you are here for my show recap and pics of the Guys, then please proceed! Pics of the Guys follow the recap this time.**

Thank you for joining me and as always, on mobile, click the pics to enlarge then and make them a little clearer than they show in the article.

How exciting is it that the Guys of Home Free got to open for country music legend Reba McEntire at Treasure Island in Welch, Minnesota on Saturday night? The Guys, and many fans, had been beaming about this opportunity since the concert was announced to the public and of course for good reason. I mean this is REBA! I grew up listening to Reba with my country music-loving parents and must admit while I bought my tickets to support the Guys, I was pretty excited about seeing one of the queens of country perform.

Along with Reba the Guys were joined by country newcomer, Rachel Wammack, a 23-year old native from Alabama who describes her sound as “the trifecta of country, soul, and adult pop”. Apparently she is considered as one of country music’s next big things to hit Nashville. Her voice was lovely. I personally wouldn’t immediately jump out and buy her album but can’t say I won’t look forward to hearing more from her on country radio.

Gone West, featuring singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat, also took the stage before Reba and really blew me away. I knew Colbie from the early 2000’s and while her music was good, it wasn’t what I was into at the time. Fast forward from 2008 to 2019, add a country band and songs, and I paid attention. Their versions of Caillat’s older hits, such as Bubbly, with a country twists gave me a new appreciation for her music. This is a group full of energy, full of beautiful people, and full of beautiful voices. And also full of bugs. Watching Colbie fight off the swarm of mayflies was almost as entertaining as their performance.  I would love to see this group perform live again in the near future and look forward to catching more of their music.

And Reba, well she certainly didn’t disappoint! And I have to add damn is she adorable! We were sitting close enough to the stage where we could see her flash those deep dimples at people in the crowd and more than once I leaned over to my daughter and said “she is so cute!”. And at 60-some years of age she can still rock a crowd. I do have to admit she did bring me to tears with her song “The Greatest Man I Never Knew”. She told stories about her dad right before singing the song and having lost my dad just two years ago the words completely ate me up. I wasn’t alone though. I noticed the lady right in front of me, I would say around my age with her elderly mother, leaned into her during the song and also started sobbing. I could only assume she had lost her father as well. While I love many Reba songs I have three distinct favorites and was blessed to hear all three of those live Saturday night. The first was “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” and it gave me chills listening to her sing it while a haunting video played behind her on the big screen. The second was “Does He Love You” that she sang with a female member of her band. Both ladies were powerhouses singing back and forth at each other about who this man loved more. I was honestly waiting for some punches to be thrown as both went from their side of the stage to the middle for a vocal showdown at the end of the song. And for whatever reason I thought she forgot about the third, but as she returned from her last song for the encore it was clear she indeed did not forget about singing “Fancy”. She kept one outfit on all night but for this song changed into a sparkly red dress and emerged back on stage as the crowd erupted. It was an amazing performance of one of her best songs ever. It feels like such a treat to add Reba to the list of the many music legends I have seen live including Garth Brooks, Oak Ridge Boys, Lorrie Morgan, and Vince Gill. And as with Gone West, watching Reba fight off mayflies while cracking spontaneous jokes was also pretty entertaining. I guess after 43 years on a stage you learn how to just go with the flow and make the crowd laugh at bugs getting stuck in your hair and flying down your shirt!

Reba picture courtesy of Greg Benson

And now to the part most of you are probably here for-Home Free. I am sure I don’t even need to say how incredible they were. I am sure you already know, but in case you didn’t, they were incredible! The Guys took the stage after Rachel and immediately pumped energy to the amphitheater. The set was limited as an opener but included the classics like “Life Is a Highway”, “My Church”, and “Ring of Fire” along with some of their newer music including “Dive Bar Saints” and “Take Me Home, Country Roads”. At first people unfamiliar with them were a little hesitant but it didn’t take long for the crowd to start really paying attention to their talents. As always Adam and his drum solo had people’s mouths wide open as he wowed them with his beats and bass drop. And Tim with that last note of Ring of Fire did what he does. He made them stop and wait for it, teasing, before vibrating the seats of everyone in the venue. Hearing crowds react as the vibrations run through them is one of those moments I look forward to at every show; knowing this is the first time for some of those people. You can tell people about it and warn them that that note is something to be prepared for, but until it happens they have no idea what they are in for.  

And if you were wondering, no Austin didn’t get mayflies stuck in his curls and Chance didn’t have to karate chop away the moths because it was still light when the Guys performed. The bugs started showing when Gone West took the stage as the sun went down and they were drawn to the bright stage lights. Although, it would have been hilarious to see Adam smack a real fly off of his forehead like he mimics during some of his drum solos!

During and after the performance, people around me were saying how good they were and how they wished they had more time on stage. It always makes me feel so proud to hear the reactions of newbies and how in awe they are of what they can do to get those sounds flowing.  I rarely wear Home Free merch to their shows because I figure they know who they are and who I am there to see, however for a show where they weren’t the headliner, I wanted people to know who I was there supporting so I did sport my green Home Free tank from 2014. The cool thing about that is immediately following the show as we were exiting the amphitheater people would see my shirt and comment how much they loved the Guys. I would ask them if this was there first time seeing them perform and for the majority of people it was but they wanted to see them again. Opportunities like this are so important to the band because it brings them closer to fans that love country music but haven’t had the chance to see them perform. After their performance, some people were already talking about finding a show near them; and luckily the new tour has many shows in and around Minnesota for these new fans to go and see a complete performance. Home Free fans already know that it takes just that one time of exposure to be hooked. It’s easy for that one show to turn into 5 or 10 or 25 in no time.

And speaking of shows, you are probably already aware, but if not, the Guys did release new Dive Bar Saints World Tour dates for 2020. Tickets for many of these shows are on sale already this week. Also, there are still tickets left for some of the fall and Christmas Dive Bar Saints shows, including two nights at the Ryman in Nashville on October 11 and 12. For tour and ticket information, check out www.homefreemusic.com. Hope to see you out there at a show!