On May 31st, thousands of country music fans in New England flocked to Lansdowne Street for the 3rd Annual WKLB Street Party. This year’s show sold out extremely quickly for a lineup that consisted of the Josh Abbott Band, A Thousand Horses, RaeLynn, The Cadillac Three, the Eli Young Band and Joe Nichols and that was before WKLB announced that Chase Rice would also be joining the party. For the second consecutive year, rain was in the forecast but unlike 2014, the rain would not clear up during this year’s Street Party.
The only act that would escape that rain was the first one on the lineup- the Josh Abbott Band. The Texas band recently played Boston’s House of Blues with Pat Green. And with the Street Party stage in sight of the House of Blues, the band kicked off their set with ‘Road Trippin,’ which was a great way to start off what would be an incredible, but wet, day of country music. There seemed to be a few hardcore Josh Abbott fans in the crowd as many were singing along and dancing to ‘My Texas,’ before switching it around for ‘She’s Like Texas.’ Josh seemed to notice that fans at stage right singing along and asking them, “Is this your song?” After finishing ‘She’s Like Texas,’ Josh led his band in ‘Where’s The Party,’ before exclaiming to the crowd, “We play Boston once or twice a year. This is the biggest crowd we’ve played for up here. Thank you so much.” And being from Texas, Josh invited a Texas transplant to the Street Party as his guest- Marcus Cannon, offensive lineman from the defending World Champion New England Patriots! Josh took a second to introduce Marcus to the crowd before Josh explained that he was not just wearing a Patriots shirt because he was in New England but because he also went to college with former Patriots wide receiver, Wes Welker, and current wide receiver, Danny Amendola. After some cheers for both Marcus and the Patriots, Josh continued the party with ‘Touch,’ and told the crowd, “All you girls know this one, sing along!” before going into ‘Oh, Tonight.’ And as the band was coming to the close of their set, Josh took the mic to encourage the crowd to participate in their last song as they didn’t drive all the way to Boston for nothing! And the crowd obliged by participating in the chorus of ‘Hangin’ Around.’ All in all, the Josh Abbott Band brought their Texas flavor to Boston and kicked off the Street Party in style.
And then Mother Nature took over…
A Thousand Horses may be known for their single, ‘Smoke,’ but the band showed up to Lansdowne Street and showed this Boston crowd what they are all about. One thing we love about this band is not only the core of amazing musicians but these guys also have a trio of talented female back up singers that really bring a depth to their songs and a different level of showmanship in their live performance. The band kicked off their day with ‘Landslide,’ before playing the title track of the debut studio album, ‘Southernality.’ We were given an advanced listen of that album (to be released on June 9th) and we love every track on the album, and we were able to really enjoy all of the songs the band performed because of our familiarity with them. A Thousand Horses continued on with other songs of the album including ‘This Ain’t No Drunk Dial,’ and our favorite song on the album, ‘Travelin’ Man.’ With the rain pouring down on the crowd, lead man Michael Hobby told the crowd, “We love Boston. You guys are the best crowd ever!” And this day was an even more special day for the group as prior to taking the stage, the band was informed that their first single, ‘Smoke,’ was the number one song on country radio! (Well deserved, A Thousand Horses. Congrats!) And there was only one way to end their performance in Boston… with that number one song; and it was pretty apparent that the crowd that stretched nearly all the way back to Brookline Ave was singing along to the number one song in the country.
Maybe best known for her time on Team Blake on season two of The Voice, RaeLynn took the Street Party stage next in black leggings, red boots, a denim jacket with metal spikes on the shoulders. The recently turned 21-year old songstress kicked her set off with ‘I’m Boss,’ which definitely gave the crowd a different perspective of RaeLynn, and we loved it! She continued her set with ‘Careless’ and her current single, ‘For a Boy.’ But the next song may have been a crowd favorite, as RaeLynn explained that she wanted to do her ‘country version’ of New England native Meghan Trainor’s ‘All About That Bass,’ which has been one of the biggest songs in pop music since released almost a year ago. And us, and the rest of the capacity crowd, love the flare and flavor that the country singer brought the to 6x Platinum pop single. With RaeLynn’s energetic set coming to an end, there was only one way for her to finish it out, as she encouraged the crowd to sing along with her first single, ‘God Made Girls.’
Just a few minutes before The Cadillac Three took the stage, nearly everyone’s phone buzzed at the same time. “Emergency Alert: Flash Flood Warning…” and it was just a few minutes until the rainfall seemed to increase so much where water was rushing across our feet. Luckily, we were on some raised concrete as the people next to us were already in ankle deep water. But the rain did not affect the fans who came out for The Cadillac Three. Like many country groups, The Cadillac Three has put together quite the fanbase in New England after several shows at Mohegan Sun, Meadowbrook, the 2014 Street Party, and also a recent stretch of shows on Lee Brice’s college tour that stopped at Merrimack College and the University of New Hampshire. Leading up to the Street Party, leadman Jaren Johnston told the Boston Globe, “As far as your legitimate country-music fans, I think we’re bigger up in the Northeast than we are in the South.” After working out some technical difficulties, that the rain was causing with the audio equipment, the Nashville trio took the stage to their 2014 single, ‘Party Like You.’ They continued their set with ‘I’m Southern,’ and their current single, ‘White Lightning.’ For those who may have been unfamiliar with The Cadillac Three, the guys sang ‘Days of Gold,’ which is best known as recorded by Jake Owen but was actually written by both Jaren and drummer, Neil Mason. The trio ended their day in Boston with the ACM-nominted ‘The South,’ which included an amazing drum solo by Mason before Johnston joined him on the drums with Kelby Ray standing up from his lap steel guitar to encourage the crowd in cheering on his bandmates. As the song was coming to an end, Johnston came out from an underneath the stage roof and onto one of the large speakers, pounding his chest, and saying “That’s what I’m talking about!”
The rain showed no sign of stopping, as anticipation grew for the ultra-popular Chase Rice. Just his appearance alone caused the girls in the crowd to scream, as they anxiously awaited his set to start. Rice embraced the Boston weather, as he chose to stand out in the downpour, decked out in denim and a white T-shirt with his brand, HDEU (Head Down, Eyes Up), clad on his black hat. Singing his songs such as, ‘How She Rolls’ and ‘Gonna Wanna Tonight,’ Rice made fans forget about the puddles forming at their feet. The 2015 Country 102.5 Street Party was the fastest selling one to date, as the country radio station hit the mark for the most tickets sold. Rice told 102.5 that it was “literally the best show of my summer,” which is quite the compliment since he has been on tour with Kenny Chesney including multiple stadium shows! A concert routine for many, Chase took on cover songs that fans would enjoy. The all-time classic, ‘Living On A Prayer,’ would make even Bon Jovi proud, hitting the high notes in all the right places. The concert wouldn’t be complete without hearing Rice’s ‘I Like Drinking, Cause It’s Fun,’ which took on a whole new meaning “in the rain,” and ‘Ready, Set, Roll.’ The concert took a sensual turn with Chase’s cover of ‘Ride,’ even bringing up a superfan to be serenaded by the ex-college football player turned country star. With his band playing Lustra’s ‘Scotty Doesn’t Know’ in the background, Rice dove into the crowd with his baby blue Tarheels cup to end an entertaining time on Lansdowne.
https://instagram.com/p/3XjDQPpu_j/?taken-by=necountrymusic
Eli Young Band and Joe Nichols wrapped up the rain-soaked day as the sun went down. The Boston faithful stayed throughout the concert, proving country is not just for the south. Next year, however, fans will hope for a drier weekend and that tradition of rain for the 102.5 Street Party will end.
Thank you to Country 102.5 for putting together an amazing Street Party, despite the challenges that Mother Nature threw at WKLB, and thank you for hosting New England Country Music at the 2015 102.5 Street Party!
The countdown begins for next year’s Street Party!