Day Two of the inaugural Old Town Music Festival in the parking lot of the Stampede in Temecula earned more positive reviews from festival-goers, despite a delay early in the festivities due to concerns over the wind, which settled down later in the day.
Headliner Chris Janson took note of the favorable energy from the crowd, declaring, "After today, California may be my favorite state to play." He also shared, "I had a dream come true this week. I got a text message from the lead singer of Sublime, asking, 'Don't you think we should do a collaboration at some point?'" as he played a chorus of "What I Got."
He ran all over the stage, his energy infecting the crowd, especially with the up-tempo songs like "Redneck Life" and "Truck Yeah" and "Ring of Fire," which bookended his set, as well as the songwriter's version of "I Love This Life." A special treat for the audience was his version of "How I'll Always Be," which Chris noted he'd written for himself, but naturally was thrilled to have Tim McGraw record. A sweet moment took place when he invited his wife Kelly on stage, to celebrate her as the inspiration for "Done."
Walker Hayes joked that he used to think he'd be a one-hit wonder, but thanks to the Tik Tok dance success of his latest single, "Fancy Like," now he thinks he'll be a two-hit wonder. But the Temecula crowd knew plenty of his other cleverly-written songs, like "90s Country," "Beckett," "Break the Internet," and of course, "You Broke Up With Me." He performed the comical "Your Girlfriend Does" acoustically, sharing how the song is a humorous clap-back at a rude comment from a random person on the internet.
Coffey Anderson put on a very impressive performance, saluting military and veterans with his latest single, "Mr. Red, White, and Blue," and noting that, "As much as they try to divide us, black and white, there's only three colors that matter: Red, White, and Blue." The star of "Country Ever After" explained that the chivalrous "Cowboys Like Me" was written with the intention of his desire to honor women. His distribution of a couple dozen long-stemmed roses to the crowd had a few female fans swooning.
Orange County based local favorite Scotty Mac Band can always be counted on to turn in a solid show, and this was no exception, as they included an ambitious version of "Freebird" in his set, as well as originals like "Summerthing," but the appearance of his adorable almost-four-year-old daughter on stage during "Starts with a Girl" just may have stolen the show.
At the conclusion, several festival goers expressed their hope that the Old Town Music Festival would be an annual event, and that seems to be the consensus all around.
Setlist:
Chris Janson:
1. Redneck Life
2. Everybody
3. Fix a Drink
4. Power of Positive Drinking
5. Keys to the Country
6. Check
7. Good Vibes
8. Beer Me
9. Say About Me
10. A Country Boy Can Survive (Hank Williams, Jr.
cover)
11. Country State of Mind
12. Hawaii on Me
13. How I'll Always Be (recorded by Tim McGraw)
14. I Love This Life (recorded by LOCASH)
15. Medley: Piano Man (Billy Joel cover) / Don't Stop Believing (Journey cover) / Rocket Man (Elton John cover) / Learning to Fly (Tom Petty cover)
16. Drunk Girl
17. Done
18. Keep Your Hands to Yourself (Georgia Satellites cover)
19. Buy Me a Boat
20. Truck Yeah (recorded by Tim McGraw)
21. Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash cover)
Walker Hayes:
1. 90's Country
2. Beautiful
3. Beckett
4. Make You Cry
5. Shut Up Kenny
6. Fancy Like
7. Don't Let Her
8. Your Girlfriend Does
9. Dollar Store
10. Break the Internet
11. Mind Candy
12. Briefcase
13. You Broke Up With Me
14. Country Stuff
15. Halloween
