On November 18th, Stars and Guitars joined a social distant crowd at Marathon Music Works in downtown Nashville, TN for what was for many, their first live show experience in months. Kudos to the venue for establishing extra safety precautions including temperature checks at the door and spaced seating (based on your party size upon registration) to make guests feel at ease. Overall, the vibe was not one of worry. In fact, I’d say anything but worry. I don’t recall a show in recent history that I’ve attended with more energy in a single room. Not only from the audience, but also from the artists.
Angie K, a Nashville-based singer/songwriter who was also a contestant on Blake Shelton’s “The Voice” team in 2016 opened the show. Angie brought a relaxed vibe to the stage, emitting plenty of gratitude for the ability to be back and playing live music. She noted several times that it was her first live performance since March of this year. Sharing many personal stories of her time working in Georgia scrap yards as well as during her season of “The Voice”, she sang songs both new and old in her career. At moments, she seemed to somewhat struggle to catch the crowd’s energy but other moments, she shined. One song that particularly caught my attention of hers was “Real Talk”, written by Thomas Rhett. Angie released this song earlier this year. I quite enjoyed the stripped down, acoustic, version of this song as opposed to the single release version. While Angie has a very unique pitch and a vocal tone that some people dream of, her vibes reminded me very much of a true Nashville songwriter and a little less of a touring performer. Either way, no wonder as to why she’s up on a stage like this one.
An hour later, when LANCO took the stage, the room was one big ball of excitement. While attendees remained socially distant with a mandated mask policy, it was as if the fear of a virus had disappeared in favor of live music. I also have to give props to the sound and lighting crew at Marathon Music Works who seemed just as excited to be back. The relatively intimate space was handled perfectly by those guys. The boys of LANCO were no exception. They blazed through their hits, older album tracks, and newer music alike. The band made it through just two songs before lead singer, Brandon Lancaster, stopped the set to thank the audience for coming and to express their excitement to be back onstage. The room’s energy only grew when the band began the opening chords of hits like “Born To Love You” and “Greatest Love Story” later on in the set.
If you’ve ever been to a show and been blindsided by the difference in sound between recorded tracks and live versions of songs from artists, you’ll be happy to hear I did not experience that at this show. For the boys of LANCO, it’s easy to lay out vocals that sound flawless and match the levels that fans already know from recorded versions. No scary shockers here. For me, my only critique was that the show felt rushed at times, particularly during the second half of the set. The energy was almost too much for the set list and as I mentioned, the relatively intimate venue space. Otherwise, I was thrilled to be back at a live music venue, reviewing music with some of the best people in town. Cheers to the possible return of live music? Cross your fingers as we blaze towards 2021. Maybe, just maybe, the virus’ cure is live music.
