It was a stormy, summer Friday night at the South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, MA, equipped with thunder and lightning. The storm, however, was not just outside but also under the tent as Jake Owen performed, for the second night in a row, to a sold out thunderous crowd. Jake and his five-man band entertained the rowdy fans with a twenty-one plus song set list, consisting of both original songs and cover songs.
Jake and his band entered the arena by coming down the aisle in section three of the venue, slapping the hands of fans along the way. Jake in tattered jeans, a t-shirt and his signature bare feet, took his guitar and sat on the stool in front of the mic. The circle stage soon began its slow rotation as Owen started his ninety-minute show with ‘The Ride,’ the David Allan Coe hit song about the ghost of Hank Williams Senior.
Before singing the next song, ‘American Love,’ Jake stopped to address the audience. “We played last night and we didn’t have a set list (starts pointing in audience saying you were there last night; you were there last night). Well you aren’t going to see anything you saw last night. Cause tonight is about you guys and making memories and so I happen to be in the key of D, my friends, and we are just going to jam a little bit if that’s ok with ya’ll.” Jake ended the song with “HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!” The fans under the tent were in agreement with that statement and cheered loudly, stomping their feet and whistling.
The next song Owen sang is also a song on his new album, ‘American Love,’ set to release at the end of July. Jake prepared us for the song with this description; “My new record happens to come out in one month. This is July first isn’t it? In 28 days an album that I spent the last 2 years of my life working on, will be out. It’s called ‘American Love’ and it’s for instances, for people like that right there, (pointing to a man in the audience who was standing up clapping and cheering), that’s what ‘American Love’ is all about. Having fun, being with friends and having a good time, it’s all I’m saying. This song is one of my favorites on the album it’s about hanging out with guys like that (pointing) and for all of you that brought your friends and family. It’s called ‘Good Company’ and it goes something like this.”
True to Jake’s statement that there would be no set list, he broke into many cover songs throughout his show. After singing ‘Good Company,’ he transitioned into the theme song from the Prince of Bell Air, which morphed into ‘Sitting on the Dock of the Bay,’ the Otis Redding hit that won a 1968 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance.
Moving on with the show, next up in the program was Jake’s number one hit, ‘The One That Got Away,’ the third single from his album ‘Barefoot Blue Jean Night.’ Other songs performed from the number one selling album were, ‘Anywhere With You,’ and its title track, ‘Barefoot Blue Jean Night,’ which of course became a whole venue sing along, much to Jake’s delight as he said, “ya’ll are good singers!” Alan Jackson’s, ‘Chattahoochee’ and Brooks & Dunn’s ‘Boot Scootin’ Boogie’ were performed with Jake first commenting, “This shows you how good old country music is still here.”
Other popular Jake Owen hits performed were ‘Beachin’,’ ‘Alone With You,’ as well as crowd favorite ‘Eight Second Ride.’ From his upcoming album, Jake performed a track called ‘If You Love Someone.’ “I had a whole lot going on in my life last year. You probably thought this record would have a lot of songs that might be about sadness or something, but I don’t roll like that all the time, but I did have room for a song I’m willing to sing on this record. It’s pretty self-explanatory.” Unfortunately, we will have to wait until ‘American Love’ is released before we can read the lyrics to the song!
Jake also performed track 8 from the new CD, a collaboration with Chris Stapleton who helped him write the song and also sings backup on the song. “We are going to play another new song from the album, and when it’s over, you have to tell us if it should be our next single. A guy with amazing talent named Chris Stapleton wrote this song. A couple of years ago we recorded it and he sang and it’s on the record. It’s called, ‘If He Ain’t Gonna Love You. I will.”
Many artists give time to their band members to perform for the audience, but usually for only a few chords or a verse of a song. Not Jake Owen, as three band members got to show off their musical talents. Joe Arick, keyboard, wowed us with his rendition of The Outfield’s song, ‘Your Love.’ Bass player and band leader Robby Emerson showed off his superb guitar skills while performing The Beastie Boy’s hit ‘(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party).’
The last band member to perform got a special introduction from Jake. “I got a funny story I want to share with you tonight, I feel we are being honest tonight. My brother Jovan Quallo is playing saxophone. He is from Boston and I just found out now that his Dad is here tonight somewhere. So, you should just pick something and play whatever you want ‘cause your dad’s here.” Without hesitation, Jovan accompanied by other band members and Jake’s vocals, performed Stevie Wonders’, ‘Superstitious.’ The talent was abundant that night at the South Shore Music Circus.
Jake ended the night of amazing music and performances with the first single off the new album, ‘American Country Love Song.’
“We could do this every single night. I feel like I have to leave you with something that’s a little proud right now. I feel like it’s 4th of July and we can do and say whatever we want.”
Thank you, Jake, for celebrating America’s birthday with 2,300 of your closest fans!
You can pre-order ‘American Love’ on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Music.
Concert recap written by Lorraine Frigoletto contributing writer for New England Country Music. You can follow me on Twitter.