Class was in session on Thursday, March 17th in Lowell, Massachusetts… ‘Drinking Class,’ that is. Not only was it Saint Patrick’s Day, but Lee Brice had brought his Life Off My Years tour to the Tsongas Center on the campus of UMass Lowell. The tour, that was originally advertised as also featuring Dylan Scott and Tyler Farr, was one of the best-selling stops in the region for Brice on the tour. And despite Farr needing to back out of the tour due to vocal surgery, the strong interest and buzz remained about this show. In place of Tyler Farr, Lee added UMG Nashville recording artist Clare Dunn to the lineup.
Right around 7:30PM, Dylan Scott brought the energy up in the arena as he and his band took the stage to perform ‘My Town.’ And the energy didn’t end there as he followed that up with ‘Lay It On Me’ and ‘Ball Cap,’ a song that he wrote and was recorded by Glen Templeton. After doing so, Dylan told the crowd, “It’s going to be here tonight with y’all. Thank you so much. We’re gonna sing a song about girls making boys crazy” referring to his song ‘Making This Boy Go Crazy.’ If fans were unfamiliar with Dylan prior to Thursday night, he sure made an impression on them in Lowell! One thing that Dylan is able to do with his strong vocals is performing really fun and cool covers and he would do just that with an awesome acoustic cover of Justin Bieber’s hit pop single, ‘Sorry.’
We always love hearing the stories behind country artists’ songs and that was no different with Dylan Scott as he recalled a memory from when he was younger on his way to school. “I was riding in my truck thinking it would be cool if I heard myself on the countdown. And our new single is now in the top 40 on country radio. It’s because all of my friends in country radio. Thank you, Boston. And thank you all for believing in me,” he told the crowd. That single is ‘Crazy Over Me,’ which he played next. Dylan had one last story left in him as he recanted how he was driving around with this ‘cute, blonde girl’ back in the day and all of a sudden she began to rap an Eminem song which took Dylan aback and impressed him! That memory turned into a song that Dylan wrote called, ‘My Girl,’ and one that he performed for the crowd to end his night in Lowell. With a wave to the crowd, Dylan Scott and his band retreated backstage for the evening.
As previously mentioned, Tyler Farr was originally scheduled to be the artist in direct support. However, due to vocal surgery, Farr was not able to do so. For the tour, Lee and his team brought in a few artists to fill in for Farr in different cities. Recently, Maddie and Tae took Tyler’s spot at the show at URI and Jerrod Niemann, one of Lee’s best friends was also brought on for select dates. But Lowell was treated to the voice and talent of the incredible Clare Dunn. With the sound of revving engines playing over the speakers, Dunn took off right out of the gate with a powerful and soulful performance of ‘Ferrari,’ showing off her masterful guitar skills at the same time. “Here’s one for your dancing shoes,” Clare told the crowd before continuing her set with ‘Misery.’ Last year, Clare was given the distinct opportunity to tour with the legendary Bob Seger, someone she described as always being one of her heroes. So as a nod to one of her heroes, Clare treated the crowd to a Seger song, ‘Her Strut.’
Dunn had the crowd in the palm of her hand throughout her entire set and that was no different when she performed ‘Cowboy Side Of You.’ After doing so, she took a minute to talk to the crowd, saying how people need to follow their dreams, no matter how impossible they may seem to be. She also told the crowd that she almost lost her dad and that the next song, ‘Old Hat,’ was for him. Clare set up the next song on her setlist, and her current single, titled ‘Tuxedo’ by saying, “I come from a farm and ranch and I don’t know about you ladies, but I like me some Justin Timberlake. He’s a good looking dude! But a guy in dirty jeans, off the farm, is just as good for me.” With only a few minutes left in her set, Dunn played her song ‘Move On’ and after doing so, took a moment to thank the crowd. “Thank you for letting us play you some music.” She ended her night on stage with an incredible cover of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Rock ‘N Roll,’ which allowed her to impress the crowd one last time with her incredible guitar talent.
We’ve seen Lee Brice headline a few times and this tour has given him the opportunity to have some fun with some new toys in his production including a huge video screen that spanned the back of the stage. The arena was pitch black as the screen lit up and images of Lee were projected onto the backdrop. Lee appeared at the back of the stage in a cloud of fog to what we believe is a new track for him, one that we truly have not heard yet and appears to be called ‘Lights Come Up.’ He would play a few more new songs later in the night but first he played some of his classics like ‘Hard To Love,’ which turned into a huge sing-a-long with the crowd, and his 2010 hit ‘She Ain’t Right.’ If you haven’t seen Lee perform in the past, you should know that he loves a good cold beer. And as he took a brew from his subwoofer-camouflaged refrigerator on stage, he told the crowd, “Hold on. Let me hear one of my favorite sounds,” as he snapped the top of the can and chugged the beer. Of course, the Saint Patrick’s Day crowd cheered and screamed in approval as he began performing ‘Beer’ only appropriately.
“Here’s to the night we don’t remember and the friends we don’t forget,” Lee later said as he cheers-ed the crowd, setting up his next song, ‘Friends We Won’t Forget.’ Next up was another new song that “you ain’t never heard.” The song was called ‘I Don’t Smoke,’ which Lee co-wrote with one of his band mates. And despite the crowd not knowing the song, Lee had the crowd jumping and dancing along as well as trying to sing the words after listening to the first few chords. The unfamiliarity was short lived as Lee followed up ‘I Don’t Smoke’ with his current single, ‘That Don’t Sound Like You.’ The night before playing in Lowell, Lee joined his brother, Lewis, for a show on Hampton Beach to celebrate the birthday of one of Lee’s friends from high school. There was a few other musicians at that party as well, including Bubba Sparxxx, and a certain someone else, who stuck around to be a surprise guest for the lucky fans in Lowell. Lee exclaimed to the crowd, “We travel in packs. I got one of my best friends out here. I feel like it would be an injustice if he wasn’t out here singing.” Who was it!? Jerrod Niemann! Jerrod joined Lee on stage for a performance of a new track they recorded together called ‘A Little More Love,’ before Lee left the stage for a minute, giving the reins to Jerrod for a song. During that time, Jerrod treated the crowd to a performance of his 2014 Number One song, ‘Drink To That All Night.’
Niemann headed backstage for the evening after Lee returned the stage to say goodbye to his good friend. And after doing so, Lee addressed the crowd by saying, “This part of the country is starting to turn me on a little bit. This is awesome. I can’t believe that I get to stand up here and lay guitar and sing. And I can’t believe you come out to see us.” And rightfully so, since Lee played a whopping 9 shows in the region in 2015 (the most out of any nationally touring country act) and has 8 scheduled in New England for 2016 already! Lee would go on to play ‘Woman Like You,’ before giving his band a break. Having the stage to himself, he said, “Just me, my guitar and my friends,” before playing an acoustic version of ‘Crazy Girl,’ a song in which he wrote and was recorded by Eli Young Band. Midway through the song, however, Lee stopped and explained how it wasn’t far from this show that he took the stage at the Garden (the fans erupted when he said ‘the Garden’) with one of his heroes, Garth Brooks, to sing another song he wrote, ‘More Than A Memory,’ of which he performed a few chords of before returning to the chorus ‘Crazy Girl.’
Lee’s band rejoined him on stage just in time for ‘Drinking Class,’ another song that was a hit with the holiday drinking crowd. His set continued with ‘Good Man’ and ‘Life Off My Years.’ He then asked the crowd to take out their cell phones and turn on the flashlights to light up the arena for the always powerful ‘I Drive Your Truck,’ a song that always resonates with Lee’s patriotic fan base, especially here in New England. Fans were singing along to the emotional ballad and that continued into the next song, ‘Love Like Crazy.’ Lee left the stage for a moment as two of his band members took the forefront of the stage for a little extra something. The building was rocking as Lee and his band played an awesome cover of Queen’s ‘Fat Bottomed Girls.’
Lee wasn’t done yet. He had a little bit left in him. Enough for a ‘Parking Lot Party’ at least! Midway through the song, Lee brought Clare Dunn back on stage, to which the crowd erupted in cheers after her incredible performance earlier in the night. Together the two performed the hit song before both left the stage. But fans of Brice knew something was missing. He couldn’t end it like that. Not without a dance… And in the darkness, you could see a piano being wheeled out onto stage. The backdrop screen lit up with video clips of Lee’s wedding and from stage left you were able to see the silhouette of Lee retaking the stage as he watched the clips himself. Lee sat down at the piano to play the first notes of his 2015 smash hit, ‘I Don’t Dance.’ As happened so often during the evening, the crowd joined Lee in singing the song to the point where Lee asked the crowd to sing the chorus with him one last time as his band members watched from the back of the stage. As the song ended, so did the show. Lee and his band members took a final bow and disappeared backstage for the final time of the night.
For more photos from this show, click here.