There were cheers. There were hugs. There was music.
Live country music returned to the Inland Empire by way of Boots in the Park at SilverLakes in Norco, the first big country music festival in the I.E. in over a year.
Headlined by Chris Young, the exuberance of being back on stage performing in front of an audience was evident in all the performers, from Leaving Austin to Tenille Townes to Dylan Scott to Scotty McCreery, and of course, Chris Young, who noted, that while he loved being able to work in the studio, "I like being out here." Scotty McCreery was a bit more pointed when he confessed, "I was sick and tired of Zoom."
And certainly, while the excitement of seeing some of contemporary country music's most beloved acts was fulfilling in and of itself, equally important for the country music community in Southern California was being able to see friends and acquaintances that hadn't been seen in over a year. And when Michael Austin performed the National Anthem before Scotty McCreery's set, there was an undeniable unity in seeing all however-many-thousands of people in attendance rise together and place their hands over their hearts.
"Normalcy" has never felt so special.
Setlist:
Chris Young
1. Hangin' On
2. Getting You Home
3. Lonely Eyes
4. Losing Sleep
5. The Dashboard
6. Who I Am With You
7. I Can Take It from There
8. Hold My Beer Watch This
9. Raised on Country
10. I'm Coming Over
11. Voices
12. Sober Saturday Night
13. Famous Friends
14. The Man I Want to Be
15. Drowning
16. Papa Loved Mama (Garth Brooks cover)
17. Tomorrow
18. Think of You
19. Aw Naw
Scotty McCreery:
1. Same Truck
2. Wherever You Are
3. In Between
4. You Time
5. The Trouble with Girls
6. Why You Gotta Be Like That
7. Feelin' It
8. Fire & Rain
9. Carolina to Me
10. Wrong Again
11. It Matters to Her
12. She's Not the Cheatin' Kind (Brooks & Dunn cover)
13. Feel Good Summer Song
14. See You Tonight
15. This Is It
16. Blue Clear Sky (George Strait cover)
17. Damn Strait
18. Five More Minutes
19. Boys from Back Home
20. Heaven