M. Fletcher Brown (if you’re not a local, you might know him from Muscle Shoals To Music Row Live) came on the stage to introduce the following artists... He said that "a little later, Gary Nichols will be taking the stage... Are there any Gary Nichols fans here?" There was an eruption of applause... He continued by mentioning that Phil Vassar would be headlining and closing the show, to which there was applause from the audience, but not as much as Gary Nichols got (the Shoals support their own!! Homegrown... "that’s the best kind!" (to quote Zac from one of HIS appearances on Muscle Shoals To Music Row Live). Following that, he asked the audience if anyone had watched Nashville Star... the reaction from the crowd was immeasurable. They raised the roof! (even though there WAS no ‘roof’, since it was an outdoor concert... hehe) Zac and Angela definitely got the loudest cheers, though... which made me swell with pride for both of them.
Zac took the stage to set up and was immediately bombarded with fans approaching, asking him to sign something for them... or pose for a picture. He complied as much as possible, but had to tell most that he had to set up, and that he’d be doing a Meet and Greet after his and Angela’s sets...
When everything was finally set, Zac came out and started with Lonely Town. As usual, he lit up the stage and the audience was loving it! To keep things moving along, he did Any Bridge next, which was a great crowd-pleaser. My favorite song was next, Never Been Loved... He really is amazing... Seeing him perform his songs live adds a whole ‘nother level to his talent. As he introduced his next song, he stumbled with the title... originally he said it was "Call It Anything But Love"... but quickly waved his hand as if erasing what he just said and corrected himself... "No, no! It’s ‘Anything But Love’... Just ‘Anything But Love’!" Hehe... He introduced the next song by thanking everyone who watched the show and voted for him... saying this song really did a LOT for him in the competition. He said that when he got to finally sing his OWN song, instead of one someone else had done, he wasn’t sure how the reaction would be. He hadn’t told his dad he was going to do this song... but not only did it turn out well for him on the show, since then, he and his dad have gotten closer... and so have his mom and dad. Of course, this in itself brought on congratulatory applause and he started right into If It Wasn’t For The Whiskey. He followed that up with Get Your Love On. He got the audience involved in this one... He asked the audience to his left to sing the line "get your love on" and the audience on his right to sing the part "oooooooooh..." I was in the "oooooooh" side. He had fun with that, doing it a few times before finishing off the song. Zac played Emily next, which is an extremely sad song, but based on a real-life experience. His last song was the lively Memphis Women and Chicken, and it was over much too quickly. The one bright side was that he’d be back on stage shortly with Angela.
While setting up for Angela’s set and moving his gear/equipment to his new spot, he again got plagued by more fans wanting even just a few seconds of his attention. He really seems to enjoy all the attention, even though he can’t take the time with them all, especially while he’s setting up. Everyone would get the opportunity to talk with him, get him to sign things, and get a picture AFTER Angela’s set at the Meet and Greet.
Also while he was setting up for Angela's set, an older gentleman approached me and asked if I knew Zac... because he wanted to tell him something about his song, If It Wasn't For The Whiskey. He told me he's an alcoholic... but since first hearing Zac perform that song, he hasn't had a drop! I told him that, at that moment, Zac was pretty busy setting up on stage, so I doubted I could get his attention for him. I did encourage him to go to the Meet and Greet tent after Angela's set, though, because I KNOW Zac would love to hear that. I don't know if he did make it over there to tell him or not, but I sent Zac a message later telling him about it, anyway. The gentleman had a walker, so my guess is he probably didn't brave the long M&G line. I was glad to relay the message for him, though...
Once Angela took the stage, she started with When Will I Be Loved. She followed that up with a song from her Warner Brothers-produced tour-promotional album, Love Me Wild. Her next song was a song that she hopes will be on her next album, which she’s already working on, called "Used". This song was written by Lee J Turner of the Nashville Star band (keyboardist) and it is an AWESOME song. I can’t wait to own a copy of her album so that I can play that song as often as I want to. Another song from her WB album, Emotionless, was next, followed by an original, When The Whiskey Hits Me. That song may also make the new album... as well as the song that followed, called So Yesterday, written by her, James LeBlanc, and Dylan LeBlanc. Two more originals that will hopefully be on the new album were next, When You Come Around and These Walls. She told us that she DIDN’T write the next song, but she asked James LeBlanc (who DID write it) if she could play it, and he said "No". Hehe... Of course she was kidding because that was the very next song she played... the song "No Next Time". James was on stage with her, playing guitar and singing background vocals, so we KNOW for a fact that he didn’t mind her playing that song.
If you wanted to hear that song, James has it on his current CD... which is available for purchase through Fame Publishing’s website, and I believe you can still purchase the individual tracks from his album using his SNOCAP account in his MySpace profile --- www.myspace.com/jamesleblancmusic. Her next song was another original --- the same one she performed for Originals Night on Nashville Star. She ended her set the same way so many other shows have ended, with her and Zac doing a duet --- Hard To Handle.It was over... all but the Meet and Greets. I usually hang back, or off to the side, for a while... watch the line dwindle... Eventually I’ll go up, but I hang back for a while. I like to ‘people watch’... seeing all the fans come and go... The line was extremely long and never seemed to get any shorter. My guess was that because Gary Nichols was playing while Zac and Angela were Meetin’-and-Greetin’, that people probably decided to catch some of the show and just get in line after it had gone down some... so it never got longer... and it never really got shorter. It was a pretty long line, though... and unfortunately, Zac and Angela didn’t get through all their fans before having to go back on stage for Gary’s final song, along with James LeBlanc. After they finished the song, they headed back to the Meet and Greet tent to try to get to the rest of their fans. However, they didn’t quite make it because the tent they were using was the same one Gary would be using. They wrapped it up as best they could, but were still signing things and taking pictures off to the side of the tent after moving so Gary could use it. That was a little trickier, since it was pretty dark there... but it didn’t seem to phase the fans... or them.
I watched for a while... and got to talk to him for a bit. I had a great time... but didn’t get a new picture of me with him... OR a hug. But it’s all good... cuz that stuff is all just ‘extra’ anyway. I go for the music and a great show. Anything I get besides that is a bonus.
We need to convince him to stop. And I know just how to do it, too (but I ain't sayin'!!)... Hehe... 
