On December 18th, Country 92.5 held their annual holiday ‘Unwrapped and Unplugged’ event at the Cadillac Ranch in Southington, CT, featuring Stephanie Quayle, Chase Bryant and Chase Rice. Like past years, fans arrived early and lined up outside in the chilly December air for the sold out event. As they filed in and claimed their seats, many people were getting in the holiday spirit(s) crowding the bar area before the show started. Things kicked off at 7:00 pm with an introduction from the station’s DJs before the artists took their seats on stage.
Similar to the previous ‘Unwrapped and Unplugged’ concerts, the artists each took turns playing a song acoustically. Although acoustic shows can sometimes be a little more low-key, Chase Rice’s Platinum hit, ‘Ready Set Roll’ kicked things into high gear. Keeping the energy level high, the other Chase followed up with his hit, ‘Little Bit of You,’ and the crowd confidently sang along. As smaller, intimate shows go, the between-song banter tends to be strong – and tonight was no exception. Things even got a little personal. “I got out of the shower and I turned on Spotify, and you’ve got a song called ‘Ride,’ right?” Bryant said to Rice, painting a steamy picture. They continued to joke about the song until Quayle broke it up, “This is a song you can sing in the shower,” she interrupted. “92.5 was one of the first stations to play it on the radio.” Stephanie took her turn playing her catchy new single, ‘Selfish.’
It was Chase Rice’s turn again and the crowd hadn’t forgotten the aforementioned, ‘Ride.’ “I wasn’t going to play that song tonight but apparently…” he trailed off as the ladies in the crowd began to cheer. “Alright, but not yet,” Rice said. “I got my first Top 40 single in two years thanks to this song,” he introduced the lead single, ‘Three Chords and the Truth,’ from his latest album. It wasn’t the requested song but it was clear that it was still popular among fans who knew all the words. For Bryant’s next song, he went with something he had never played before. “I was sitting in my bedroom, and I wrote this song all by myself. Hopefully it will be on the next record,” he told the crowd. Following suit with the “new” theme, Quayle’s next song was one off her new album. “It’s about the simple things and what’s really important. It’s one of those songs I wish I would have wrote,” she admitted, introducing, ‘Ugly.’
As Chase Rice dedicated his next song to Chase Bryant, everyone knew what about to go down. “I expect you to be jamming on your honeymoon,” Rice said. To which Bryant replied, “I’m going to be jamming in my hotel room.” “That’s weird,” Rice said finally before playing the highly anticipated song. During ‘Ride,’ one lucky lady from the crowd was chosen to join Chase on stage and dance by his side – a moment she’ll never forget. (But if she does, we’re pretty sure all of her friends have videos to remind her.) We know a lot of the other ladies were probably a little jealous, but the crowd cheered her on nonetheless, and Rice could barely get through the song without laughing. Safe to say we were all feeling a little awkward, but thoroughly entertained, by the time the song was over.
Moving on, Chase Bryant switched gears with a story from early in his career. He was told that a band was going to cut a bunch of his songs and all Chase could see were dollar signs. “What’s the first place you go when you know you’re going to be a millionaire?” he paused for responses. “Bass Pro Shops or Cabela’s.” Everyone laughed. “So I spent about 5,000 dollars at Bass Pro and the band didn’t cut any of our songs… I went outside on a Waffle House napkin and in five minutes I wrote this,” Bryant ended his part of the set with his debut single, ‘Take It On Back.’ He showed off the true power of his pipes, but also his talent on guitar as he got up and walked to the center of the stage for a lengthy solo.
For Stephanie’s final song of the night she covered one of her favorites, Waylon and Willie’s ‘Mammas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.’ The crowd swayed and sang along to the classic country hit. Last up for the night was Chase Rice. “I moved to Nashville six or seven years ago and I just wanted to write songs. I’m very blessed to be part of this song. It happened by accident, but this song changed my life. It’s my version, but if you know it, sing along.” Chase topped off the evening energetically with Florida Georgia Line’s 2012 mega-hit, ‘Cruise.’ Always a crowd pleaser, most of the people that had been sitting down got off their seats and danced while some snuck up to the front of the room to snap some photos. When the show was over, fans who had purchased charity posters rushed to get in line to have them signed by the artists. The posters, like the show, are always sold out as the line wrapped around the room.
No surprise here, but the 2017 ‘Unwrapped and Unplugged’ concert was a success. Country 92.5’s annual holiday concert continues to draw in fans year after year for the one-of-a-kind intimate acoustic show. This year, Stephanie Quayle, Chase Bryant, and Chase Rice surpassed expectations. We would without a doubt line up to see any one of them in concert again, and of course, can’t wait for next year’s holiday show.
Photos courtesy of Country 92.5! See more here.