Concert review — Zac Brown Band at Roanoke Civic Center
Zac Brown onstage Friday night at Roanoke Civic Center | KYLE GREEN, The Roanoke Times
By Tad Dickens | 777-6474
Zac Brown Band has rolled through the Roanoke Valley as consistently as any act at the top of the country music game — about once every two years, touring behind each of the band’s three major label albums.
With that kind of consistency comes familiarity. Fans can be sure they’ll hear the hits — from 2009’s “Toes” and “Chicken Fried” to 2010’s “Colder Weather” to last year’s “Goodbye In Her Eyes.” They can be sure of such covers as Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” and Van Morrison’s “Into The Mystic.” And they can be sure the songs will come across strongly, aced by Brown and his six band members, all of whom get time to shine.
Maybe all of it can feel too familiar. Or maybe Friday night’s colder weather, plus a snow-dump, had sapped the collective strength of more than 7,000 at Roanoke Civic Center. Even though the band seemed on, the crowd in the sold-out venue was more laid back than expected.
But as the nearly two-hour set, including encore, drew closer to the end, Brown and his group dropped in some surprises that fired it up.
It started with an acoustic set on the catwalk that seemed about the norm until the guitar and bass patterns of Nirvana’s “All Apologies” emerged. The line “everyone is gay” is far from the norm at a big box country show, but Brown had the folks singing along.
Then John Driscoll Hopkins popped out some more crowd-pleasing notes from an unfamiliar instrument — a ukelele-sized bass guitar — and the band was laying into Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion.”
By the time Jimmy De Martini’s fiddle sawing transitioned the band from that classic rock nugget into ZBB fan favorite “Free,” with its foray into the Morrison chestnut, the crowd was wide awake and rocking.
With an encore that started with a hot percussion and drum solo, moved into Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” — with a wild-eyed Hopkins taking the lead vocal — and finished with a verse of “America The Beautiful” segueing into ZBB signature song “Chicken Fried, the Atlanta-based band kept things interesting for the faithful.
And since that first appearance, at Salem Civic Center, the faithful have been consistently supportive. The band drew 4,640 in October 2009, and 8,876 at Salem Football Stadium in May 2011. The crowd might have been a bit smaller at Roanoke Civic Center on Friday, but the venue had moved enough tickets for a sell-out, even if a few seats were empty, probably due to the snow.
As usual, Brown had his friends along. Blackberry Smoke, a Southern-rocking country band signed to Brown’s Southern Ground record label, played a 35-minute set of strong material, with the rowdy “Sleeping Dogs” and the pounding “Leave A Scar” landing best. The volume was relatively low, which was unusual given the recent trend of ear drum-rattling country concerts at the civic center. Brown’s set was considerably louder.
Levi Lowrey, who was first on the bill, is another Southern Ground artist. Lowrey, on acoustic guitar, and a bass player did four songs. The strongest was “Trying Not To Die,” an earnest number about a guy who quit taking chances. He would go on to join both Blackberry Smoke and ZBB for portions of their sets.
January 26, 2013 - 12:30 AM
The reason the first bands sound was low was more than likely hack browns ego dictating the level.So his crappy band band would sound better…like that’s possible.I’ve seen this done countless times at various venues and all types of shows…rock,metal,bluegrass,etc.And to call this tripe country music is a real insult to true country artists everywhere.When I lived in georgia he was known as the dave matthews of pop country…and still is to many musicians.
Thanks for your intelligent feedback, James West (I’m being sarcastic, but your probably not smart enough to figure that out).
The 7 members of ZBB are all EXTREMELY talented at what they do. Any artist would admit that. In fact, many go out of their way to point out respect to ZBB. To be fair, ZBB doesn’t bill themselves as country James West…the media does because it’s the easiest peg.
Well JUSTIN,I don’t care what you think or believe.Am I being too sarcastic for you to figure out?In my opinion they are hacks.I don’t care that most people get down and kiss his butt,he still is a mediocre player at best.All the bands he signs are mostly of the same ilk.And I have seen this type of behavior over and over,they pander to the lowest common denominator.You get all that JUSTIN?? Are you smart enough to understand this or do I need to dumb it down for you?
I’ll direct you both to this entry from our Times Square blog: http://blogs.roanoke.com/timessquare/2012/12/commentingrulesandfaqs/
Blog posts that contain … personal attacks on other commenters or individuals in the news will be rejected. … petty name-calling is never appropriate.
Gentlemen, I believe it’s possible for you both to make your points without calling each other stupid.
Now, to get down to the original argument from James: It is actually unusual these days in the arena shows here to see opening acts turned as relatively low as Blackberry Smoke on that night. It was still plenty loud enough to hear, and the mix was fine and balanced. ZBB was not incredibly loud either, but as I pointed out in the review, it was a good bit louder.
As to whether Brown is a hack. Purely from the standpoint of musicianship, he is not. In fact, he displayed some good technique at times, even if his speed-picking sounds stiff and frantic. But at one point, and I can’t remember which song this was, he was playing solo, thumping his guitar for bass-drum sounding notes as he pulled off chords with his fretting hand after some hybrid-picked chords. That is not hack work.
James, you and your peers may dislike his songwriting, but he is clearly tapped into something that draws them by the hundreds of thousands (and the DMB of country comparison is probably apt). From an objective standpoint, though, his sidemen are anything but hacks — in fact, they are outstanding players and harmonizers, any of whom would have no problem finding steady band work if they were not part of Brown’s act.
As for the genre, Brown’s biggest hits are most definitely country songs, by the modern definition. Classic country it is not, though his fiddle player gets in more work in a night than any fiddle player I’ve seen in the valley’s sheds. Others have a light ska influence, some are more like harder-edged adult contemporary, and a couple are outright jazz-fusion numbers.
Now, you fellows behave yourselves.
Well you got your opinion and I got mine.And from my standpoint of musicianship he brings nothing new to the table.Just rehashing the same old chords,changes,notes..etc.I actually met him years ago in atlanta when his band opened for a friends band at the brandyhouse.He was aloof and very conceited.After playing,him and his friends{fans} basically ran out the door instead of staying and giving support to the headliner…very telling about his character.Nothing has changed that I can see,so he has a record deal…big whoop.
I’m curious, James, what kind of music, performers are you into? Do you play, too? If so, what and with whom?
Chick Corea,Al Di Meola,Mahavishnu Orchestra,Dave Weckl Band,Dixie Dregs,Government Mule,Slayer,Megadeth,Testament,Steel Pole Bathtub,Melvins,High On Fire,Motorhead,The Pogues,Social Distortion,Dead Kennedys,World Party,P.I.L.,Bauhaus,Steve Earle,the list goes on and on….And yes I play,the drums for over 25 years.I’ve played in jazz-fusion bands,rock,southern rock,metal,punk,blues,experimental jazz/folk/punk.No cover bands all original…and none of them you would of heard of.I’ve lived in raleigh,atlanta,houston,austin,so yes I’ve experienced all types of scenes.Some where good,some not so much.But in all the cities there was an overwhelming glut of bands,some good,most were not.And for anybody who’s going to comment that my bands must of sucked…don’t bother,your opinion on this subject holds no merit.I don’t have to prove to anybody how good my bands were.It’s a uphill battle trying to stand out from the packs of hacks,when most of them are close friends with the booking agents at most bars in most towns.And anyone new to the scene that can actually play end up being ostracized,belittled,ridiculed and ultimately shutout of the “scene”.This holds true to most of the cities I’ve lived in.The old trade a show for a show ends up the band you got on with you at whatever venue never makes good on their end.Or the ever present…opener plays and runs out not showing support for the headliner AFTER making a big deal they don’t want to play last.And the so called camaraderie of musicians doesn’t exist,never seen it,never experienced it.They mostly say “You guys rock” only then with your back turned and out of earshot do they tear you down to their friends.Who just happen to be friends with your guitar player,bassist,singer etc…so it gets back to you.Unbeknownst to the trash talker.I don’t play that game,I let the music speak for itself.Successful or not at the end of the day…the true musician knows who they are and the hacks no nothing.
Are you playing with anyone around here these days?
Can’t find anyone worth a damn.Tried out for a couple of bands,all they cared about was getting drunk.Already looking at moving away if things don’t look up.Maybe portland,maybe back to austin.