concert review 2023 🤘🏼🍃🌞 (part two)

hi friends!! if youre a returning reader, welcome back! and if you're new, im so happy youre here! if you havent already, be sure to check out the first half of my 2023 concert adventures in the post previous to this one.

My next adventure would be one long weekend spent with my awesome roomie, AnnaLee. We had tickets for Rock the South, Mom Jeans, and Greta Van Fleet, all in the same weekend. We hadn't realized at the time that we had tickets to shows in cities hours apart, but that made it all the more fun for us. The weekend began on wednesday night, when AnnaLee came to my hometown to stay with me the night before the festival began. The first night was the one I looked forward to the most, with Zach Bryan headlining. I couldn't wait to get there. We stayed at my house and drove back and forth to avoid paying for a hotel room, so we had to get up and ready pretty early, stopping for breakfast on the way to Cullman and get ourselves parked and lined up, waiting for the doors to open. It was exceptionally hot that day and we met up with some other friends to ward off the heat together. We pushed through, standing on the toes of my boots and peeking over many shoulders and cowboy hats to see my top artist of 2023 live for the first time! The show was phenomenal, Zach and his band absolutely blew me away and I'll never forget dancing to ten minutes of revival for the first time. The last day of the festival, we got to see Cody Johnson and Chris Stapleton. With Chris being one of AnnaLees favorite artists, I was thrilled to get to experience his set alongside her. This set was one that I absolutely adored. I had forgotten how much I loved Chris’s music until he was playing right in front of me, and we got to hear the song “White Horse” live for the first time as it was released the same day! It takes a lot to get two hippies at a country music festival, but these artists were so worth it. 

On Sunday, my friend Abby joined Annalee and I to head to Nashville where we would spend the next couple of days. We hit a small music festival at Ascend Amphitheater to see our favorite guilty pleasure, the band Mom Jeans! Being big fans of their album, Best Buds, we knew more of their old songs than the new ones, but tickets were cheap and we had to be there, so there we were! 

The next day was the most anticipated of the whole weekend. AnnaLee, Abby, and I had tickets to the opening night of Greta Van Fleet's Starcatcher World Tour! Greta has to be one of my favorite bands i've ever seen live, the energy in any space that they play is so positive and unique, and this show was particularly special. we got up and spent the entire day running around nashville, making stops at all of our favorite places, including Grimeys, where there was a mural inspired by the new GVF album, and Black Shag Vintage, where as soon as we walked in someone asked, "Are you guys going to see greta tonight?" With a special fan project that took place during the encore, the band played my favorite song (for the first time in years!!!) and I got a high five from Jake (um hello !!!!) This show took the cake after a weekend of nonstop fun. 

After this, I took somewhat of a break until after school started back, when some friends and I secured last minute tickets for the final day of Pilgrimage, a festival in Franklin, Tennessee. The headliner that day was, of course, Zach Bryan. The morning of, Ava and I loaded into her car and went to pick up Noah and Eli before heading 45 minutes to Franklin. We got in and got out spots as close as we could, and spent the day taking in the scene of this festival. The positive energy was so sweet, with everyone around us just happy to be there, anyone could feel at home. The weather was perfect, not hot or cold, the best way to lay on a blanket and listen to music. The war and treaty gave a wonderful performance, with so much talent you can't help but admire them. Finally out came Zach Bryan. I was the only one in our group who had seen him before; Ava and the boys were all so excited, especially with his new self-titled album and his EP, Boys of

Faith, being released that same week. The show was more than good. We got special guest appearances from Noah Kahan, who came out to sing “Sarah's Place.” The War and Treaty came back out to sing “Hey Driver” with zach which was so beautiful to listen to, and finally, The Lumineers came out during Zach’s encore to play “Spotless” all of these were played live for the first time, and i can't believe i got to hear it all in one night. Of course the night ended with ten minutes of “Revival” and seeing the looks on Ava and the guy's faces when they realized he was playing it again and again was priceless. 

The next show I got the privilege of seeing was Noah Kahan, at Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville. I was so excited to have the opportunity to see him as I had become a huge fan of his over the past year. Two days later, we would be back at Ascend to see Hozier. Hoziers Unreal Unearth tour was far more than we could have ever expected. He outdid my expectations by leaps and bounds, and I can say with confidence that this is in the top 3 best shows I've ever seen. He was such a captivating performer, with his wonderful songwriting and the performance, it couldn't have been more worth the wait. on top of Hoziers wonderful preformance, my friends and i happened to cross paths with our favorite drummer, Danny Wagner while walking across the lawn, making this night one of my favorite yet.

The last show I would attend this semester was a spur of the moment adventure. Annalee, Ava, and I bought tickets to Ace Monroes release party for their self-titled album at the Exit/In in Nashville on November 17, the same day of the show. I hadn't heard any of their music before, but when we got a text saying “anyone up for a concert tonight?” I listened to the album and bought my ticket about 30 minutes later. After listening to as much of their music as I could throughout the day, it still couldn't have prepared me for how good they would be live. They were such a fun group to see perform, bringing out guitarist Grace Bowers to play a cover of Fleetwood Macs “Oh Well,” which was my favorite surprise of the night. Over this was such a fun show to end the semester with, especially spending it with such good company. 

If you've made it this far, thank you!!! i hope to write loads more in the new year & i absolutely cant wait to see what 2024 brings!

see u soon !!!

kerstie 💝