Being on the Fenway turf alone is a surreal experience- these are hallowed grounds with some of the greatest baseball players playing in some of the most historic moments in baseball history. But in the last decade or so, Fenway Park has become notorious for having some of the greatest musical acts set up in center stage. Not just any group can have a show at Fenway Park. And this weekend, the Zac Brown Band joined a list of great acts to play this historic venue such as the first show in 1973 featuring Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles to Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Buffett, and Jason Aldean.
As a Zamily member, I was lucky enough to score incredible seats to see the Zac Brown Band at historic Fenway Park on Saturday night. Twenty two rows from the stage, onthe field with the fortress of Fenway Park surrounding me. It was truly an incredible atmosphere.
But let’s first talk about the environment before the show. I got down to the Fenway area hours before the start of the show. I was yearning for some great summertime cocktails and food. There was only one place to go- Loretta’s Last Call on the corner of Ipswich and Lansdowne. With cocktails full of moonshine and fit for summer, I sat on the patio and watched as the crowds flooded Landsdowne Street. If you get a chance to go to Loretta’s, I recommend the chicken and waffles. It was one of the best meals that I have had in my life. The boneless fried chicken was fried perfectly with a little bit of a kick on top of a perfectly cooked and golden waffle with maple barbecue sauce. I’ve had chicken and waffles in the south before, including at the famous Gladys Knight’s Chicken and Waffles in Atlanta, GA and Loretta’s blows them out of the water. Not even close. Healthy? Probably not. Absolutely delicious? 100% yes. And probably big enough to share.
After leaving Loretta’s, I had to check out some of the other hotspots in the area. We enjoyed some nice and cold Sam Adams Summer Ales at Game On followed by UFO Big Squeeze Shandy at the Bleacher Bar. Just some of my favorite summertime refreshments before entering the park.
Getting into the park when the gates opened at 5:00, it gave me the opportunity to walk around and take in the sights. Seeing the park before it was full was awesome. All the empty seats and just knowing that in just hours all of those seats would be filled with country fans.
After a 45 minute video about Zac Brown and his interactions with Dave Grohl regarding their late 2013 release of The Grohl Sessions, Volume 1, it was almost showtime. As the video ended, a timer went up on the video screens and the countdown began. 15 minutes until ZBB took the stage.
When time was up, out came Zac Brown and his band to begin his show that would include 32 songs. He started the night out with an acoustic set that began with ‘Toes,’ and included childhood ball park favorite ‘Take Me Out To the Ballgame.’ His 32 song set included numerous covers such as, ‘Neon’ (John Mayer), ‘Sweet Emotion’ (Aerosmith), ‘Can’t You See’ (Marshall Tucker Band) and ‘Devil Went Down to Georgia’ (The Charlie Daniels Band). I was surprised that ZBB chose to perform some of their biggest hits such as ‘Chicken Fried’ so early in the night.
Some of my favorite moments included a tribute to America’s soldiers during ‘Chicken Fried’ when ZBB brought out two US Marines which brought a standing ovation and overwhelmingly loud reaction from the crowd. A truly classy action by ZBB.
Another unforgettable moment was when Zac left the stage and came into the crowd to shake hands and say hello to his fans during ‘Keep Me in Mind.’ Right as the song started, my buddy who was at the show with me, went to get a drink. But the event staff told him that he didn’t want to leave right then. That’s when we knew that ZBB had to have been coming our way. And he sure did- right down our aisle. And having the aisle seats, we had the best vantage point.
As the show went on, including a short intermission, it was evident that the crowd was loving every minute. There were people dancing in the aisles, and nearly everyone was singing along to every song. We loved how Zac Brown lets his band members show off their individual music talents such as Clay Cook and his amazing rendition of ‘America the Beautiful’ and an incredible guitar solo during their cover of ‘Can’t You See.’
The Zac Brown Band isn’t about one guy with an awesome beard and an incredible voice- it’s about a group of extremely talented musicians working as one. It’s eight guys- Zac Brown, Clay Cook, Coy Bowles, John Driskell Hopkins, Daniel de los Reyes, Matt Mangano, Jimmy de Martini, and Chris Fryar- all contributing to one sound, one band.
ZBB ended the night with an encore including Boston-themed ‘Shipping Up To Boston’ and Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ (despite some concerns from diehard Red Sox fans- see: Mariano Rivera). To sum up, it was an amazing show at a historic venue in the greatest city in the country. And it looks like Zac Brown enjoyed his two night stop in Boston, just as much as the fans enjoyed having him here. He told the sold out crowd, “This is my favorite place we’ve ever been of any show we’ve ever played.” He later said, “Thank you for the best two nights in our career so far.”
(Photo courtesy of Rolling Stone)
If you missed out on the Zac Brown Band shows at Fenway, you can see him tonight in Hartford, CT at the Xfinity Theatre and later this summer in Gilford, NH at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion where they have 2 shows scheduled in mid-August.
For more photos and videos, check out our Instagram page!
And for more, full-length videos from last night’s show, also check out out YouTube page!