After consecutive sold out shows in New York City and Boston, Drake White brought his headlining Spark Tour to the Mohegan Sun Wolf Den on Saturday, March 25th. Now if you’ve never been to the Wolf Den before, you’re missing out! It’s one of the best concert venues in New England. The Wolf Den provides an intimate setting with a capacity of 300. Hours before the show, the first-come-first-serve line wound through the casino. It would undoubtedly be a capacity night and that was made clear as the show started and fans were lined up five deep on the outer boundary of the venue trying to get a glimpse of the stage. They couldn’t get in but they weren’t missing the highly anticipated Drake White and The Big Fire!
Before Drake took the stage, a bearded gentleman took the stage with his acoustic guitar. The man was Dave Kennedy, an East Tennessee native and singer-songwriter and within minutes he had our attention. His voice sounded reminded us of Chris Stapleton as he sang his songs and told the stories that surrounded them. He told the capacity crowd, “Thank you for listening to songs you’ve never heard of before. As a songwriter, that means the world to me.” Songs included ‘One More Town,’ ‘These Days,’ and our favorite, ‘Three Dollar Wine,’ among others. For a largely unknown opening artist, Dave was impressive. He could’ve come out and sang some covers that the crowd knew and loved but he didn’t. Dave came out and sang his music and showed Mohegan Sun what he had to offer. After leaving the stage, Dave camped out at the merch table, taking pictures with fans and selling his CDs for a mere $5, which we gladly purchased. We look forward to seeing Dave up this way again in the future!
Just a short while later, the man of the night took the stage… Drake White! The growingly popular artist took the stage with his band and kicked their night off with ‘Heartbeat’ and ‘I Need Real’ before exclaiming to the crowd, “We’ve had an incredible few days of music with sold out shows in New York City and Boston. Thank you for coming tonight!” The setlist continued with ‘Story’ and a soulful cover of the Beatles’ ‘With A Little Help From My Friends.’
Wearing his famous hat, Drake also played ‘Equator,’ ‘Take Me As I Am,’ and ‘Back To Free,’ saying afterwards, “Music is medicine. And there’s nothing that can stop it!” And Drake was definitely making everyone feel good in the Wolf Den. Before playing ‘Makin’ Me Look Good Again,’ he told the crowd that he has an amazing wife back at home in Tennessee who supports this life and dream that he has and this song was for her. But with only a short while left in his set, Drake kicked up the energy with his top 20 single, ‘Livin’ the Dream,’ and his 2015 single, ‘It Feels Good,’ during which he introduced the members of his band.
It was only four years ago that Drake White released his debut single, a song called ‘Simple Life.’ Fast forward to today and the Alabama singer-songwriter has rocketed upwards! From opening for Eric Church, Little Big Town, Zac Brown Band and others to playing at large scale music festivals and now his own headlining tour that has seen multiple sold out crowds, Drake White has made his mark on country music and it’s really just the beginning. The future looks bright for Drake White. We can’t wait until he rocks Lansdowne Street at the Country 102.5 Street Party next month!