With his gravelly voice, Brantley Gilbert told the enthusiastic crowd he “came from Georgia to raise hell, St. Louis. It’s gonna be a rowdy night.”
And for the next 1.5 hours, he did not fail in his mission.
Gilbert took to the stage at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre Saturday night on his “Not Like Us” tour amid spurts of fire and smoke and immediately delved into the rockin’ “Kick it in the Sticks,” then pulled it around to a larger country sound with “Hell on Wheels” and “Country Must Be Country Wide.”
Dressed in all black, army boots, chains, and spiked cuffs, Gilbert looked more the part of a bouncer at a metal bar than a country music singer/songwriter. Heck, with band members sporting a mohawk (drummer, Ben Sims) and dreadlocks (guitarist Noah Henson) one might scratch their head wondering if they’re even at a country music concert. But with lyrics such as the 2014 hir “Small Town Throwdown” (which opener Michael Ray joined in on) — “There’s a party back in the woods tonight, Heard it thru the redneck grapevine, Gotta keg of beer and a buncha girls, Sure enough gonna be a good time” — rest assured that yes, this was indeed a country music concert. Albeit, a hard-rockin’ country show with plenty of hard-driving rock ’n’ roll tossed in for good measure.
With a new album coming out right around the corner (Fire & Brimstone on October 4), Gilbert shared a couple of songs from it including the acoustic “Bad Boy,” which he prefaced by asking if there were any “bad boys in the house in love with a good woman?”
Of the next new song, Gilbert said, “2019’s been an incredible year. It includes the first male/female duets I’ve done and she’s one of the hardest working females in the business. Help me welcome Lindsay Ell,” to introduce “What Happens in a Small Town.”
Gilbert dedicated “One Hell of an Amen” to those fighting for our country or battling cancer or any other illness. It was topped off with electric guitar solo of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The night ended with the driving, hard-hitting “Read Me My Rights” and the softer, danceable, “Bottoms Up.’
Prior to Gilbert taking the stage, Michael Ray and his band kept the growing crowd on their feet with hits such as “Forget About It,” Kiss You in the Morning” and “Get to You.” Ray even tossed in a cover of Brooks & Dunn’s “Red Dirt Road.” At one point, Ray flashed his smile while he raised his red solo cup and toasted the crowd saying he’d “had some damn good times in Missouri,” which made the crowd cheer along with him.
Canadian singer/songwriter Lindsay Ell kicked the evening off, wowing the crowd with her driving, guitar-heavy country tunes infused with rock, blues and a little pop. Songs included “Broken” which will be on her forthcoming album as well as a cover of Tom Petty’s “Running Down a Dream” and “Criminal.”
Find more photos of Gilbert, Ray and Ell in St. Louis: http://bit.ly/BrantleyG19cz
In my work life, I help nonprofits and small businesses with media and public relations. In my what I love to do life, you can typically find me photographing either wild horses or concerts.
