Stagecoach 2018

One name: Garth Brooks. Brooks is the biggest headliner the festival has had in its 12 years. Granted, only the Beatles have sold more albums in America, so he’s the biggest name to ever play practically any stage he’s ever played. I spoke with no shortage of concertgoers who viewed the entire weekend as a series of opening acts for a Garth Brooks show. But let’s get back to the beginning and build up to the main event.

For several years, the layout at Stagecoach had been identical, but this year they switched it up. The 3rd/Middle/Mustang stage is gone, replaced by the Spotlight stage, which is basically at the sound booth for the Mane/Main stage, and only having acts before the Mane stage got going. An interesting idea, especially since anyone who ever caught an early act on the main stage were not seat holders, creating a giant unnecessary void between early bands and their fans. However, the number of artists playing each day is basically reduced by a stage. The other plus is the Palomino/2nd stage is now closer. The problem this year is they seemed to have lesser talent overall on the 2nd stage, which is odd considering there are fewer bands overall.

As worn out as I got in years past walking back and forth from the Mane to the Palomino stage, I enjoyed catching a few songs of acts on the Mustang stage in my travels. There was also live music coming from the Toyota Tent at times, and I thought I heard live music coming from the Beer Barn, but didn’t confirm it. Overall, I liked the Spotlight stage but didn’t like the loss of the Mustang stage, and I find all the bonus amenities a distraction. Music, booze, and food should be enough for a concertgoer.

I must admit that I am guilty of the “this weekend is all about Garth Brooks” mentality. In years past, my feet have been as heavy as lead cinderblocks by Sunday night, and I was determined to have energy for the G-man, so I took it easy, came in a little later, and moved around a little less this year.

Let’s get to the music.

Tanya Tucker was the first act of the weekend I was settled in to see. She exploded onto the country scene in 1972 at the age of thirteen, and over 40 years later still performs with a youthful charm, that I could never decide if it was cute or creepy, but it was stage presence, and I’m sure in the eighties it was zero creepy. Her voice, her band, and her specially added backup singers for the big gig at Stagecoach were all part of a solid professional performance. Tucker still has that voice that dances between sweet soulful and ragged country. She closed her set with her first hit “Delta Dawn” but snuck in a nice medley of Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” and Cash’s “Ring of Fire” on the way. And everyone knows I love a good cover song.

I stayed put at the Palomino stage for Georgia Satellites; their song “Keep Your Hands to Yourself” has always been on my shortlist of favorite songs. And this is one of those seemingly once-in-a-lifetime moments to see something that Stagecoach has offered over the years. They were a solid fun rock and roll band that I would have loved to see in their heyday. All three frontmen took turns singing for different tracks, and the bassist and lead, rhythm guitarists switched guitars for a couple of tracks. They also did their own sound check, so you can see how these guys are their own crew. The highlights of the set were a couple of back-to-back Beatles covers, “Don’t Pass Me By” & “I am the Walrus.” They snuck in Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” into the middle of “Keep Your Hands to Yourself,” during which they also played a double-length guitar solo. They finished with “Hippie Hippie Shake,” fitting to play a song recorded for the COCKTAIL soundtrack because I needed a drink.

In years past, I had constant struggles over whom to see with desires to see conflicting acts on multiple stages all playing at the same time. That happened less this year, but I did make the conscious decision to skip Cody Jinks and head to the Mane stage to see Chris Janson. I did detour for a drink and missed the beginning of his set, which I heard contained some Backstreet Boys. I caught the tail end of “Fix a Drink” and then he went into a little of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” with some minor lyric changes to fit the current scene. He proceeded to put on one of the weirdest performances of the weekend. Somewhere in there, he did play his biggest hit “Buy Me a Boat” which is the song everyone wanted to hear. He also played a little of Skynyrd’s “Give Me Three Steps” and an oddly attributed rendition of Social Distortion’s “Ring of Fire” instead of playing his own version of Johnny Cash’s. He also played the drums and harmonica for portions of a jam in the set. But I took issue with his every several seconds asking the audience to scream. He even asked people to dance like an American Eagle if they were having a good time and to dance like an American Pterodactyl if they were having a really good time. Yes, an American Pterodactyl. I’m still not sure if his performance was based on him being overwhelmed by the size of the stage or if he felt he needed to try harder to get the crowd going. From my vantage point in general admission, I couldn’t tell if people were in the seated section or not for his set. Or maybe he really is that full of himself all the time. If he has more hits and opens for another band I want to see in town, maybe I’ll find out.

I then caught the beginning of Kelsea Ballerini, who opened with “Peter Pan.” I heard her entire set was good, and I saw her open for Lady Antebellum a few months ago and she was good then, but I was making my way over to see Molly Hatchet. In years past, the last act on the Palomino stage each night has usually been the highlight of the festival for me. Even with Hatchet not being high on my favorite bands list, I still figured I’d go for some good ole’ rock and roll. They were enjoyable but not the same caliber in hits or performance as someone like John Fogerty, Willie Nelson, Travis Tritt, or Merle Haggard they’ve had in years past.

Back to the Mane Stage for Jake Owen, who played wall-to-wall hits from his lineup of songs with a lot of airplay on country radio. The most unsuspecting thing he did was sing the entire “Theme from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” in the middle of “Barefoot Blue Jean Night.”

Florida Georgia Line closed out the first night. These guys exploded on the country music scene several years ago with “Cruise”and have probably been the most played band on pop country radio ever since. They are one of those bands that whether you like them or not, you know all the words to all the songs and just have to sing along and have fun. They did do a great job of bringing up people to play with them. They had Morgan Wallen come up and do his song “Up Down,” which for the first several times I heard it thought it was FGL. Jake Owen and Chris Lane came back out for “Sun Daze.” They had Jason Derulo come out and do Luke Bryan’s part in “This is How We Roll” and then his own “Want to Want Me.” They had Mason Ramsey, Walmart Hank Williams, come out and play his cover of “Lovesick Blues” and his new single “Famous.” The one time they didn’t get a guest singer is for “Meant to Be.” Bebe Rexha couldn’t be there, and they opted for a recorded track. This is one of my pet peeves for all live acts; with all the talent at the festival, they couldn’t get a female performer to substitute and keep it all live? They are far from the only act guilty of this. They closed the night with “Cruise” and with it, the first night of Stagecoach.

Saving my energy for Garth, I rolled in on Saturday afternoon and worked my way over to check out Ronnie Milsap. I’ve never been a fan, but he’s been around a long time, and sometimes seeing a band live can turn the corner for you. Not the case here, so I ventured back to the Mane stage to see Midland. These guys knew how to speak my language by covering Petty’s “American Girl” and Seger’s “Turn the Page.” I liked the way they had a good sense of true country roots. So many of the pop country bands that play on the Mane stage feel as though they’re just country because that’s where they get airplay, but Midland actually seemed to have a real country connection through all their songs, not just their hits. Particularly “Drinkin’ Problem” and “Make a Little,” which I really enjoyed.

Granger Smith followed them on the Mane stage, and he also had to get my attention by covering Tom Petty