The show opened up the same way it has at all shows... all 4 take the stage, singing “Fourth of July”. They all then leave, and take the stage individually. First, they showed highlights of Joshua’s performances and judges’ criticism during this year’s Nashville Star competition. After the highlights were through, Josh’s first song was “I’m In A Hurry”, which is kind of ironic, since all the contestants seemed to be ‘in a hurry’ in that they are only allowed to perform 5 songs each. *ugh* =( He chose “Can’t Buy A Beer” for his next song, followed by “Hate’s A Pretty Strong Word”. Then he did a song I’d never heard him play before, so I’m guessing at the title... something perhaps like “He Won’t Be Seven Forever”, though I doubt that’s the actual title. The last song of his set was the song he’s releasing as a single soon, “Rock ‘n’ Roll ‘n’ Pensacola”. That song really has a great beat... great lyrics. It’s definitely a song that’ll get you wrapped up into it. If you haven’t heard it yet, give it a listen on his MySpace page (www.myspace.com/joshuastevensmusic). As is often the case, his performance of the song is much better than the recorded version... but you’ll get the idea.

David’s highlights of the season ensued, with him kicking things off with one of his ‘new’ songs “When The Rain Comes Down”. That one is not available on the CD he’s selling while on tour, but perhaps it will be on his next album. “I Love You Period”, however, IS available on the album he’s selling, and that was the next song of his set, followed by his energetic performance of Pat Green’s “Wave On Wave”. David really shines on that song, and Friday night was no exception. Of all the songs on his album, “Please” is my favorite (though I really, really like “Just As She Was Leaving”, too... but I’ve yet to hear him play that one). Of course, I was ecstatic when he chose to play “Please” for us yet again (he’s done it at all 3 of the shows I’ve been to). Concluding his set with another high-octane performance was the song he performed during Originals Night on Nashville Star, “That’s Where I Wanna Be”.

Then started the highlights of Zac’s performances during the competition. His first song was one of the tracks available on his CD, as well, “Anything But Love”. I love the tongue-in-cheek irony of the lyrics to this song, and it’s probably one of Zac’s liveliest songs. He, of course, rocked it! My favorite song on his album followed, “Never Been Loved”. Being the avid photographer that I am, I began snapping photo after photo of him playing this song acoustically... There was no one else on stage. It was simply him, his guitar, and all his adoring fans, mesmerized by his performance. Part-way through the first verse, it occurred to me that I could RECORD this moment and forever have a keepsake of his amazing chemistry on stage that night. I’m probably partial, but it seemed that Zac recieved the most love from the audience that night, and he was definitely feeding off of it. You could see how much he was enjoying himself... and how appreciative he was. He told us that this was perhaps the best audience yet on the tour! He livened things up a little with the bluesy original, “Get Your Love On”. An audience member shouted during the virtual silence between songs, “If It Wasn’t For The Whiskey”!!! Zac asked, with a smile across his face, “You guys wanna hear that song?” Of course, the entire audience erupted into applause... and he grinned bigger and got right into it. Nearing the final notes of the song, people started standing in approval. I’ve seen him get a standing ovation for it before... but this time, he seemed more emotionally touched by it than before. It seemed all too soon that his final song, an oft-requested, audience favorite, “Memphis Women and Chicken” began and ended.

And without further ado, Angela was on stage following the highlights of HER performances on Nashville Star. Her first song was “When Will I Be Loved”, immediately followed by “I Can’t Make You Love Me”. She asked us if we enjoyed Zac’s performance... and cheers erupted once again. She invited him back out on stage to play with her, this time one of her originals from her album. “Love Me Wild” led right into a new song she’s hoping to have appear on her next album, due out sometime this fall. It’s a song written by Lee J. Turner (keyboardist in the Nashville Star band), entitled “Used”. It is SUCH an amazing song... and Angela sings it with nothing more than her voice and the keys played by Lee himself. It’s an anthem of self-worth and strength... having the will to move on and go on... I really like it and hope it makes it to the final cuts of the album she releases next. Her final song was another original available on her current album, entitled “Emotionless”.

That brought us to the final song, as with all the other shows, the duet between Zac and Angela that they chose as their finale duet during the competition, “Hard To Handle”. It was such an amazing show, and over much too quickly.

Then the meet and greets began... and I believe the line at this show was the longest line I’ve seen at all of the shows I’ve attended... and all 4 finalists stayed til every last fan was satisfied. I know, because I was last. =)

I'm getting better at narrowing down all the pics I have to just a few of the 'best' ones. I'll have you know it's not easy, though. Hehe... anyway, here they are.

Thanks Sam for the great review and great pics, you always do such a great job. thanks again!

Glad you enjoyed it!!

Great pics! And Zac looks great as usual

But of course he did... would you expect any less?? Hehe...