From top to bottom, these past few days have been great. I spent the afternoon with my mom on Friday; we checked out a few yard sales and came across some nice finds, though it was a scorcher outside! The heat made us quit that sooner than we otherwise would have, but it was fun nonetheless. Come 4 PM, it was time for me to get ready to head to Blossom.
Hank Williams Jr. was the headliner, as you probably know, and it was a great evening out in the Cuyahoga Valley. Aside from how much I was sweating, it's always a joy to be at the WQMX tent greeting happy fans as they make their way in. Unsurprisingly, the crowd was generally a little more mature than what you might see at, say, Dan and Shay for example. We met a couple listeners who won tickets from us to be there, and I linked up with some friends once the music started.
Seats in the pavilion were directly in the sunlight and it was more pleasant to be on the lawn until sunset. There were some mosquitos though, so consider bug spray if you want to be towards the top of the hill near any trees this season. My friend and I took that tradeoff through the openers' set, and they were decent.
Now Hank, he was exceptional! I thoroughly enjoyed his set, and I have a few notes. First, he plays with his guitar strapped to the opposite shoulder it should be. I'm sure this is old news to many, but my buddy explained to me how he suffered an injury mountain climbing in the 70's and adapted his playing style.
That being said, that old hall-of-famer can shred! Hank played three, maybe four different instruments including guitar, piano, and fiddle- and he sawed that thing!
Some artists have extravagant costumes they cycle through multiple times during a show, but not Hank Jr. He simply switched between different hats for different vibes, with a ballcap, cowboy hat, and a bucket hat at least.
My only other note on Friday is that my license plate was stolen off my motorcycle that evening. I reported it there on the spot and got a new one in the morning....
On to Saturday, I don't have nearly as much to report. My fiancée Mackenzie and I took the boat out, and I did some swimming in the lake as she sunbathed. Later, we had a night-in with a pizza and a movie.
On Sunday, she and I went down to Columbus to see Zach Bryan perform at the OSU stadium. His was one of the best concerts I have seen in a while, and I'd like to share a few things about this one too.
First, neither The Turnpike Troubadours nor Billy Strings were that amazing to us. They were on before Zach, in that order, and both were just okay. It was easy listening, but their songs didn't necessarily draw me in.
As it has been, it was hot! Our seats were in a pretty good spot, in the stands, and the place was just about packed.
Zach Bryan puts on quite the show, for sure. He played everything I hoped he would and sounded phenomenal. The crowd was entertained and engaged, and it was a fun concert from start to finish.
We crashed at the Airbnb, woke up to Monday and hit the highway northbound. From there, it was back into the routine.
I did a lot over my long weekend, and so this has turned into something of a long blog. I appreciate you following along, and thank you for listening to WQMX!