With Country music steadily on the rise for sometime now, fans of the genre are starting to see a new sub-genre lovingly referred to as “Bro-Country” amongst a new generation of fans. The phrase, originally coined by Jody Rosen of New York Magazine, describes the modern Country scene that finds the genre adding influences from Rock, Pop, Hip Hop, and Electronic Music, bringing Country music to a more mainstream audience. One man front and center of this movement is Chase Rice. Oddly enough, Chase Rice’s first brush with fame did not come from his musical capabilities but in 2010 through CBS’s Survivor: Nicaragua where he fell just short of winning it all but lost to Jud “Fabio” Birza in the finals. While he does not attribute his time on the show as what helped create his Country music career, he does claim it put his life into perspective.
Releasing his debut album Friday Nights & Sunday Mornings sometime in 2010, the album featured the track “Larger than Life,” dedicated to his late father who had acted as an inspiration to his music career. Later in 2011, he released Country as Me and in 2012, Rice’s co-writing of Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” propelled him into Country superstardom for his writing while his 2013 release of the song “Ready Set Roll” did the same for his music. Treating his albums the same way he approaches his live shows continued to pay off as his 2014 album Ignite the Night continued the upward trend. With a library of catchy tracks and a sea of adoring fans, Rice took to the road this Fall and saw his run begin to wind down on Wednesday November 18th when he, his band, and supporting act Jordan Davis arrived at the sold out Emporium nestled in the heart of Patchogue village.
Originally scheduled to perform as well was the band Cadillac Three. Unfortunately, Cadillac Three was unable to make the show despite their best efforts as their tour bus was experiencing troubles. Rice would take time later in the show to tell those in attendance that Cadillac Three wished they could have been able to play in front of the live crowd. He went on to say how Cadillac Three considered Long Island “One of the Top 5” crowds to play in front, resulting in a cheer from the excited crowd.
With one group missing from action, it was up to the two other acts to raise the bar in their place. First to the stage was Nashville, Tennessee’s Jordan Davis. With a beard as epic as the music he played, Davis always had a desire to be a musician. While his size and athleticism garnered the attention of several universities who gave him offers to play baseball for them, Davis knew his heart was in music and set his eyes on following that dream. Luckily for the Patchogue fans, Davis clearly chose correctly.
Playing in front of a sold out room seemed to electrify Davis and his band as he let loose on stage. Showcasing tracks such as “Going Round” had the Patchogue crowd flooding the dance-floor area of The Emporium to get up-close and personal with Davis. Slowing down his set with songs such as “Slow Dance In A Parking Lot” showed the range Davis is capable of as the girls in the crowd became wooed by his every word. Davis chose to mix in a couple of cover songs into his set, arguably none more enjoyable than his rendition of Matchbox 20’s “3 AM.” Original piece “Take it From Me” amazed the crowd and had people dancing along. Davis continues to tour alongside Chase Rice and Cadillac Three through December with tour dates bringing them into Colorado and Texas. Fans of country music looking to know more about this quickly up-and-coming star should take some time to visit his site to check out more music.
With a large screen set up at the front of the stage, the crew set up for Rice’s arrival. As fans played along with the various hits the loudspeakers played, anticipation grew for the set to begin. As lights dimmed and shadows of musicians became visible through the screen, a loud roar took over The Emporium as fans knew the time had arrived. As the first few chords, beats, and words to “How She Rolls” made their way from stage to fans’ ears, shadows danced before the screen dropped, revealing Rice and his band. Backed by the very talented Derrick Royer on lead guitar, Brandon Autry on rhythm guitar, Marcello Kravitz on bass, and Jeremy Roberson on drums, Rice continued the song while fans sung along. As it came to an end, Rice thanked crowd members for selling out The Emporium on a Wednesday night, eliciting a loud cheer from those in attendance.
The party continued as Rice went on to play “Do It Like This” before kicking into “50 Shades of Crazy.” The crowd followed along with every word while the band showed their talents, rocking along with every song, their talents on full display. “U Turn” would close out the first four original songs of the band before the band took some time to play some covers, starting with a rendition of Eric Church’s “Smoke a Little Smoke.” Giving fans of ’80s Rock something to sing along with, Rice followed it up with Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” Continuing the covers, David Lee Murphy’s “Dust on the Bottle” came next. For a couple of top notch sing alongs, Rice closed out a block of covers with Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Free Fallin'” as fans belted out the lyrics alongside Rice, creating the feeling of a fun party before the lights went out.
As “We Goin Out” started out with a prerecorded “Yo Chase, what’s up man? What you doing?,” the spotlights returned towards the stage as the band returned to Rice’s original music. Fans bobbed their heads along and threw hands in the air, enjoying every moment. Asking if anyone in the crowd was drinking tonight raised the volume amongst his fans before Rice began singing “I Like Drinking, Cause It’s Fun.” Slowing it down a little, the band followed with “Carolina Can.” Keeping the slow sing-along style alive, they followed with “Gonna Wanna Tonight.”
While Rice found a stool to take a seat in, the rest of the band recessed to the backstage. Now alone with his adoring fans, Rice took his acoustic guitar and strummed into “Jack Daniels and Jesus.” With the crowd still all his, Rice turned his attention to a couple in the crowd who had brought him a gift. Rice reached into the crowd and pulled out what turned out to be a cowboy hat from the crowd and, after confirming it was for him, removed his trademark trucker hat and placed the cowboy hat upon his head. Rice then posed for a few photos for both the crowd as well as his on-stage photographer before inviting the better half of the couple on stage. After playfully getting to know the young woman, Rice had her sit on a stool and then continued to toy with his newly found elated friend. He then, as he coyly put in his own words, got “real sexual” with her as he serenaded her with “Ride.”
As the song concluded, Roberson, Autry, Kravitz, and Royer rejoined Rice on stage. The band continued their set with a cover of Tim McGraw’s “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s.” As the song concluded, Rice talked about his career in music, giving fans some incite into his beginnings. After introducing the next song as a song he wrote, the band played a cover of Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise.” As the song continued, the band broke down as each of Rice’s band members had their chance to shine center stage, starting with Royer. Once spotlighted, Royer began strumming away to Blink 182’s “All The Small Things” with the rest of the band joining in after the opening chords. After a small interlude, it was Autry’s turn to take control of the crowd, and he chose to lead the band into Puddle of Mudd’s “She Hates Me.” Once again, the band soon joined along with the crowd to shout out the chorus. Not to be outdone. Kravitz took a turn to lead the crowd. With all eyes on him, the bassist took some time to drive the band into Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places.” With only the drummer left, the rest of the band left the stage to let Roberson enjoy some personal time with the Patchogue crowd. With a drum solo that would have brought the Rock gods to their knees, Roberson wailed away as the band’s photographer took advantage of the one of a kind photo opportunity.
As the band rejoined the stage once again and the night coming to a close, Rice and company had one more trick up their sleeve as they blasted into “Ready Set Roll.” With fans eager to take part in the finale, fans screamed along with the lyrics as the five men rocked out on stage. As the song barreled towards its conclusion, Rice took advantage of an extended ending to shake hands with crowd members and sign anything he could get his hands on from ticket stubs and beer bottles, to hats and cowboy boots. The only thing he refused to sign was an American Flag, which he instead graciously took up on stage to kiss before returning it to the crowd. Fans smart enough to stay after the conclusion of the set were treated to a great chance to meet and greet with the other band members as they hopped off the stage into the crowd for photo opportunities and autographs.
Rice’s live show is a up-close, one of a kind experience that exceeds what most expect of a musician. Eager to please his fans, Rice and his band go out of their way to make even the most casual of fans leave his show with one hell of a story to tell the following day. Rice comes off as a class act live, taking as much time as he could to show appreciation to his fans. While the JD and Jesus Tour rolls to an end soon, Rice’s touring shows no end in sight. With tour dates scheduled for Australia in March and numerous Country Music Fests scheduled later in the 2016, fans are strongly urged to go out and see Chase Rice play live.
What a great night this was, thanks so much for the pics of The Jordan Davis band! I gad a blast!