It was a cool august night with a hot crowd for the Darius Rucker: Starting Fires tour at Saint Louis Music Park! This venue seats 4500 fans and provides a unique concert going experience. Located near Hollywood Casino, this state of the art venue has some of the best acoustics, lighting and seating like no other venue in the area. The bleacher like seating in the back provides phenomenal views and when that crowd gets going, it sounds like thunder rolling assuring the artist knows they are there for the show. From the food trucks, to the play yard, the accommodations on site makes for a night to remember.
Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors opened up the evening right on time. 8PM sharp. This Americana band out of Memphis, TN has a sound and stage presence that’s intoxicating! The crowd went wild with the introduction of the band, as his keyboardist is a native of St. Louis! It was easy to get lost in the lyrics that seemingly was written for every single one of us. The story telling feels from their ten song setlist reminded me of the greats, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. The crowd was completely engulfed with the cover of Running on a Dream by Tom Petty, and fully interactive with the closing song Family. Definitely a group to keep an eye out for.
They will be returning to St. Louis in April, and I recommend checking them out.
The house goes dark and red lights flash. A melody of songs mentioning fire gets the crowd going as the band casually strolls on stage. We’re all greeted with the most contagious smile in all of country music. Darius Rucker. He opens with Have a Good Time, and that’s what we were gonna do. I LOVE SAINT LOUIS. The man loves it here (he said it quite a bit throughout the show). In between the first few songs, he told stories of being here during Fair Saint Louis and how hot it was. His nostalgic stories led into a melody of 90’s songs. Obviously he started with a blast from the past, Let Her Cry. His Hootie came out and the crowd ate it up. He also covered Tim McGraw: I Like It, I Love It, Waterfalls: TLC and Poison: Bell Biv Devoe. The energy at this point was palatable. The place was fired up as he finished the 21 song setlist including other chart toppers such as Come Back Song, Alright, and a few other Hootie and the Blowfish classics. As the band leaves the stage, the crowd wasn’t finished. The roaring stomps of the bleachers and the endless applause and whistles got the band back.
We weren’t ready for the encore. We got FIVE more songs. Valerie : The Zutons was gift wrapped for this man’s voice to cover, followed by Hands On Me. There was a pause and someone in the crowd screamed NO DIGGITY. Darius smiled and said “I love to sing this song but the band doesn’t” and proceeded to cover this Blackstreet classic. Clearly this man was having a great time and he never lost his smile. A fiddle solo led us into the biggest song of the night. Wagonwheel. The crowd knew every word and was the moment so many people waited for. Surely it was the final song? NOPE. He had one more up his sleeve as we had time. The country music anthem. Take Me Home, Country Roads. Just when I didn’t think the crowd could be more involved, they played this song. John Denver would’ve been proud.
Darius Ruckers Starting Fires tour and Saint Louis fanned his flames! The energy of this show engulfed everyone in attendance. The stage and lighting was simple which left all of the focus on his smoldering song writing and voice. The band was the embers that kept the flame going. This show was hot.
