Blake Shelton's "Friends and Heroes" Tour at the Forum Saturday night (March 7th) was filled with musical guests - some expected and some a surprise.
"It's gonna be a long night," Blake promised at the beginning of his set, which deviated from a normal concert of support act followed by headliner, by way of interspersing Blake's music with 3-4 song sets from special guests John Anderson, the Bellamy Brothers, and Trace Adkins, along with opening act Lauren Alaina, who effortlessly hit every note demanded of her, both in her set and when she returned on stage to sing "Lonely Tonight" with Blake (who deserves additional props for allowing her to sing it live rather than using a recorded video of the original artist, as so many other artists do. This is said without intending any offense to Ashley Monroe, who is a treasure).
But perhaps the most welcome surprise of the evening was an appearance by his girlfriend Gwen Stefani, who sang their current single, "Nobody But You," with Blake, much to the delight of the crowd.
Blake revealed that "Mine Would Be You" was one of his "favorite songs that I've ever recorded," but the admiration that he had for John Anderson, the Bellamy Brothers, and Trace Adkins was evident, gushing after each of their sets.
The finale saw Blake, John, the Bellamy Brothers, and Trace gathered together for stripped-down versions of what are arguably their career songs: Trace, in particular, delivering the best version of "Every Light In the House Is On" that this reviewer has ever seen him do, aided considerably by the elegantly haunting fiddle of Jenee Fleenor.
Setlist:
1. Neon Light
2. All About Tonight
3. Doin' What She Likes
4. Came Here to Forget
5. Sangria
6. The More I Drink
7. Mine Would Be You
8. Every Time I Hear That Song
9. Lonely Tonight (with Lauren Alaina)
10. Guy with a Girl
11. It'd Sure Be Cool If You Did
12. Nobody But You (with Gwen Stefani)
13. Honeybee
14. Seminole Wind (John Anderson)
15. Money in the Bank (John Anderson)
16. Swingin' (John Anderson)
17. I'm Gonna
18. Home
19. Boys Round Here
20. I'll Name the Dogs
21. Let Your Love Flow (Bellamy Brothers)
22. Do You Love As Good As You Look (Bellamy Brothers)
23. Redneck Girl (Bellamy Brothers)
24. Drink on It
25. Some Beach
26. Ol' Red
27. God's Country
28. Honky Tonk Badonkadonk (Trace Adkins)
29. You're Gonna Miss This (Trace Adkins)
30. Ladies Love Country Boys (Trace Adkins)
31. Hell Right (with Trace Adkins
32. Hillbilly Bone (with Trace Adkins)
33. Who Are You When I'm Not Looking
34. If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body (Bellamy Brothers)
35. Every Light In the House Is On (Trace Adkins)
36. Straight Tequila Night (John Anderson)
37. Austin
38. God Gave Me You
1. Doin' Fine
2. Ladies in the '90s
3. Getting Good
4. The Other Side
5. What Ifs
6. Road Less Traveled