Fort Lauderdale, Florida is known for its sandy beaches, bars, nightclubs, and it’s 3,000 hours of sunshine each year- but on April 7th, 8th, and 9th, for 72 of those hours, Rock The Ocean’s Tortuga Music Festival took the spotlight, and drew in fans from not only every corner of the country, but from 22 different countries across the globe. Billed as one of Rolling Stone’s Most Anticipated Festivals of 2017, this was Tortuga’s fifth consecutive year, a feat worth noting in an era of one-and-done popup festivals, and they did it in typical fashion: bigger than any of us could’ve ever expected. Over the course of three days which saw performances by Kenny Chesney, Chris Stapleton, Luke Bryan, Alan Jackson, and more, Tortuga welcomed a sold out crowd of 100,000 people, breaking new attendance records, and raising the bar for festivals worldwide.
Day One – April 7th, 2017
The gates opened at 1:00, and it was off to the races immediately, High Valley kicked off the weekend as fans were running down the beach, making their way to the stage for a long day of country music. The Canadian duo rattled off hits from their albums ‘County Line‘ and ‘Dear Life,’ and as their time on the main stage was coming to a close, came their Billboard top 20 hit ‘Make You Mine.’ When their set drew to an end at 2:30, down at the other end of the beach, rising stars Delta Rae were taking the Sunset Stage. The band composed of Ian, Eric, Elizabeth, Brittany, Grant, and Mike looked like seasoned veterans as they rolled through songs ‘Moved Down South,’ ‘Morning Comes,’ ‘Outlaws,’ and ‘Chasing Twisters.’ “What a beautiful day and a beautiful view, Tortuga! I’m so happy to be here with my band for such a great cause,” vocalist Brittany Holljes proclaimed, “All roads lead to the beach, right?” Just then the band began crowd favorite, ‘The Chain,’ originally performed by Fleetwood Mac. With a summer tour set to take them across 55 cities and a new album due out sometime in the near future, they certainly left an impression on the festival goers as a group to be reckoned with in the future.
3:30 brought the first split crowd of the weekend, Kane Brown took the main stage by storm, , and Jordan Davis took the reigns over on the Sunset Stage. Davis, a name unfamiliar to some watching, immediately began to rattle off hit after hit, song after song, easily winning over the festival crowd that seemed to grow larger every minute he was on stage. ‘Talk About It,’ ‘Sundowners,’ ‘Goin’ Round,’ even a nod to 90’s group Shenandoah’s super hit, ‘Church on Cumberland Road,’ and the Man in Black, in ‘Folsom Prison Blues.’ Davis left the stage following his debut single due out next month, ‘Take It From Me,’ to an impressive applause.
The sun was getting lower and the music was getting hotter, and as it grew closer to 5:30 everybody started making their way towards the Tortuga Stage, trying to get the best possible view of what was to come. “This is my favorite party of the year, time to bring the heat Tortuga!” shouted Brett Eldredge, as he ran down the catwalk. Full of energy, seemingly fueled by the salt, sand, and his fans, Eldredge delivered hit after hit, never forgetting just how special the moment was, “I know a few things about Tortuga, and I know that you know how to party!” ‘Don’t Ya,’ and his newest single, ‘Something I’m Good At,’ had the fans cheering louder than they had been all day, that is until Eldredge began renditions of ‘Drops of Jupiter’ by Train, ‘Gold Digger’ by Kanye, and ‘Pony’ by Ginuwine, and ending his Tortuga experience with ‘Lose My Mind.’ “This is the happiest place on earth!” We couldn’t agree more, Brett. At the same time as Brett was finishing up his dazzling performance on the Tortuga Stage, fans were sprinting the 3/4 of a mile down the beach towards the Sunset Stage, as Darius Rucker was due any second. Donning a Miami Dolphins ballcap, Darius seemed right at home, as he should, his crowd was one of the biggest we saw throughout the entire weekend! Fans that ran quick enough got to hear hits ‘Radio,’ ‘Southern State of Mind’ and ‘True Believers,’ played early, and as the bulk of the crowd finally reached the Sunset Stage, they were greeted with covers of ‘Friends in Low Places,’ and ‘No Diggity.’ The sun was beginning to set, but the energy was still peaking as the show winded down, with an unforgettable encore performance, featuring crowd favorite, ‘Wagon Wheel,’ and a rendition of Prince’s ‘Purple Rain,’ that had goosebumps on every arm in Fort Lauderdale.
As the Sunset Stage made its final curtain call of the night, the rush was on to make it back to the Tortuga Stage for the first headliner of the weekend. The lights dropped, the entire beach was chanting his name, and after what seemed like an eternity, sprinting down the catwalk to the tens of thousands of screaming fans came Luke Bryan, ready to end night one with a bang. The night began with ‘Move,’ ‘Kick The Dust Up,’ and ‘Rain Is A Good Thing,’ and his most recent Number One song, ‘Fast,’ with the sold out Tortuga crowd singing every line, every word right back to the former Entertainer of the Year. “You don’t mind me taking a tequila shot do you South Florida? This is my last show for the entire month of April, so you know what that means? It means I’m going to drink until the morning. Here’s the deal, I’ve got the next three weeks off, so I’m going to keep this party going, you cool with that?” Tortuga instantly voiced their approval. Known to keep an audience on its toes, it was still a surprise to suddenly see roadies rushing pianos, guitars, stand up basses, and drums down to the end of the catwalk, for what appeared to be an impromptu jam session. “We’re going to do some old school country here, get those hands up” as Bryan and the band treated to the old souls in the crowd to Alabama’s ‘Mountain Music.’ The fun didn’t end, as the band reached out to every genre imaginable, ‘Sweet Caroline’ by Neil Diamond, ‘My House’ by Flo Rida, ‘Closer’ by the Chainsmokers, even ‘Uptown Funk’ by Bruno Mars. The band returned to the main stage to end their night with the title track to his current tour, ‘Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Everyday,’ with a bluegrass styled ending that would impress even the most seasoned Jerry Reed fan. The cheers and ‘Luke’ chants returned, as everybody knew what was coming next, “Who’s ready to shake it?” He teased, and the entire beach cheered one final time for ‘Country Girl (Shake It For Me).’
Day Two – April 8, 2017
Day two brought weather just as perfect, and added with an unbelievable lineup, fans arrived early, ready for another incredible day. Music began at 11:30 with Russell Dickerson on the Tortuga Stage, and the early start time didn’t stop the massive crowd, so large that after the audience led chorus of ‘Yours,’ Russell had to jump down from the stage and see just how many fans he had there! As his set wound down, the Sunset Stage saw it’s first act of the day in rising star Steve Moakler. A big year so far with a Grand Ole Opry debut and putting his first single on country radio, Moakler did not disappoint
1:30 brought the first split between stages, with Ashley McBryde on the Sunset stage performing for her very first festival, “I cant think of a better way to break me in” she confessed behind a giant smile, and Chris Lane on the Tortuga Stage. “Tortuga, I like this, you showed up at one ready to go!” With covers ranging from ‘Something Like That’ by Tim McGraw, NSYNC’s ‘Bye Bye Bye,’ ‘Look At Me Now’ by Chris Brown, and even a little rock and roll with Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ on a Prayer,’ Lane dominated the stage. The highlight of his time on stage came towards then end however, when Lane handpicked a girl from the audience and brought her on stage to serenade with the song, ‘For Her’ even giving her a rose to remember the moment.
Mid day performances by Daya and Brooke Eden had fans down the beach at the Sunset Stage, but as the day wore on 3:30 brought an event nobody wanted to miss, Granger Smith taking the reins of the main stage for his first Tortuga festival performance. Smith’s cult following was there loud and proud “Now don’t be afraid if you start hearing something like YEE YEE!” immediately followed by a crowd favorite, ‘Country Boy Love.’ Smith rolled through hit after hit, ‘Silverado Bench Seat,’ ’19 Forever,’ ‘City Boy Stuck,’ and even took a page out of Russell Dickerson’s book by jumping in the crowd to take selfies with the eager fans. “Tortuga, today we do it on a beach!” the red dirt star declared as he began ‘Do It in a Field.’ As his time slot began to wind down, treating fans to covers of Garth Brooks’ ‘Papa Loved Mama,’ and Tom Petty’s ‘Free Fallin,’ Smith left the stage to his first and most successful single, ‘Backroad Song.’ As his backdrop was still lit up, fans were buzzing, waiting for a special appearance by Earl Dibbles, Jr., and they weren’t disappointed. Donning the signature Liberty overalls and a mouthful of Levi Garrett, Granger and Earl delivered a performance of ‘Country Boy Song,’ that had everybody on their feet, singing along to every word.
The sell out crowd frantically began running the length of the beach for perhaps the most interesting act of the festival, the turn of the century hip hop powerhouse, Nelly, and he certainly left nobody disappointed, performing ‘Shake Ya Tailfeather,’ ‘Hot in Herre,’ ‘Air Force Ones,’ and ‘Country Grammar,’ even bringing his #1 fan onstage. Following up such an entertaining act can be hard to face, but Marren Morris took over the Sunset stage to a packed crowd, leading the crowd in choruses to ’80’s Mercedes,’ and ‘My Church,’ that could have possibly been heard all the way to Daytona Beach. The songstress told the crowd, “It’s my first time here. I saw on Instagram that all my friends played last year and I was pissed. It’s good to be here this year!”
On the Tortuga Stage, Dustin Lynch was hosting a party of his own, declaring it from the very beginning. “This is my only show all weekend, it’s time to get loose!” Lynch performed hits ‘Mind Reader,’ and ‘Name On It,’ before bringing a double fisting fan on stage to chug some beers with the star. “This is crazy, we’re going spring break, MTV style!” Upon announcement, the beach went wild, and only turned it up when the band began ‘All The Small Things,’ a Blink 182 classic. Highlighted by hits, ‘Seein’ Red,’ and ‘Cowboys and Angels,’ Dustin began to wrap his performace up with a medley of Joe Walsh’s ‘Life’s Been Good,’ Ted Nugent’s ‘Cat Scratch Fever,’ Def Leppard’s ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me,’ to which upon instruction, the crowd turned into a sea of girls partying on top of shoulders. “Tortuga, thank you so much for making our dreams come true,” confessed an ecstatic Lynch, as he began his last song of the night, ‘Where It’s At.’
The sun began to fade, and the fans began making their way as close to the main stage as they possibly could, to see arguably one of the biggest names in country music throughout the past couple of years, Chris Stapleton, ready to headline one of his biggest crowds ever. Not one for talk, Chris slowly appeared alongside his wife, Morgane Stapleton to a massive applause. Kicking right into gear, Stapleton began delivering hit after hit. ‘Might as Well Get Stoned,’ ‘Nobody to Blame,’ and a blast from the past days as frontman for The Steeldrivers, ‘Midnight Train to Memphis,’ got the crowd warmed right up to the country outlaw, before he turned to songs from his upcoming album, the recently released, ‘Broken Halo’s,’ and “A song about having a bad day,” called ‘Smoked Instead.’ “There’s a lot of you out there, looks like they’re throwing one hell of a party!” Back to his record breaking debut, Chris kept the gritty, bluesy guitar licks coming with ‘Outlaw State of Mind,’ ‘When The Stars Come Out,’ and seemingly crowd favorite, ‘Parachute.’ The night wore on, Chris and his piercing vocals never fading as he finished his headlining performance with ‘Fire Away,’ ‘Was It 26,’ a jaw dropping rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Tuesday’s Gone,’ and the song that started it all, a tribute to outlaws of the past David Alland Coe and the late George Jones, ‘Tennessee Whiskey,’ A simple wave to the screaming fans and the band disappeared as Day 2 of the Tortuga Music Festival came to an end.
Day 3 – April 9, 2017
Day 3 brought the biggest crowd of the entire weekend, with fans lining up at entrances hours before the gates opened. Brandon Lay and Jon Langston kicked off the record setting day at each end of the beach, and New England Country didn’t miss a second at either stage. Jon Langston, a rising star the tours extensively across the southeast opened the day at the Sunrise stage to a diehard fanbase, some that had been holding their place in the sand for hours beforehand. Newly released, ‘Right Girl Wrong Time,’ a song that hits Langston particularly hard in ‘Cigarettes and Me,’ and “The song that changed my life and brought me to this stage,” ‘Forever Girl,’ that the crowd knew every word to, were mixed in with covers of country hits, ‘Something Like That’ by Tim McGraw, ‘Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue’ by Toby Keith, and a rendition of Blake Shelton’s ‘Kiss My Country Ass,’ that ended Langston’s day to a standing ovation from the audience. Down the beach Brandon Lay played a handful of original songs but also some great covers like Tom Petty’s ‘Won’t Back Down,’ John Mellencamp’s ‘Jack & Diane,’ and the Rolling Stone’s ‘Can’t Always Get What You Want.’ Before playing ‘Home Game,’ a song Brandon co-wrote, he prefaced it by thanking for Cole Swindell for changing his life and putting the song on his ‘You Should Be Here‘ album.
At 1:30, Quaker City Night Hawks were on the Sunset stage, performing hits, ’40 Days,’ and ‘Mockingbird,’ mixed in with cuts from a highly anticipated album in the works. “This is a great way to come out of the cave of the studio, get drunk, and get sunburnt.” Meanwhile, Drake White was playing for a massive crowd at the Tortuga Stage. He started his day off with ‘Heartbeat’ before a rousing cover of Bob Marley’s ‘Stir It Up’ that included one of Drake’s infamous freestyles that had the crowd buzzing. Drake addressed the crowd and recognized one of the festival’s missions, ocean conservation, by saying, “I think it’s awesome what Tortuga is doing to save this thing out here. It’s about leaving a smaller footprint.” His set would continue with ‘Equator,’ ‘Back To Free,’ and ‘I Need Real.’ Now, earlier in the set, a bearded man wearing a bathing suit and cowboy boots took a seat in an Adirondack chair on stage, directly behind Drake. No one knew who he was… well, most people. We happened to recognize this man as Dave Kennedy- a rising artist who is currently opening for Drake on the Spark Tour. Drake wanted to address the elephant in the room and explained that so many artists like Eric Church, Zac Brown Band, Little Big Town and others took him under their wing and they all told him to pay it forward- and that’s what he is doing with Dave. With just a few minutes left in his set, Drake closed out with ‘Livin’ the Dream.’
As Drake took his final bow, the race was on down the beach to the Sunset stage, where LOCASH was taking the stage at 2:30, where they were treated to a mix of hits that the duo had written for others, Keith Urban’s ‘You Gonna Fly,’ and ‘Truck Yeah,’ recorded by Tim McGraw, and hits of their own, ‘I Know Somebody,’ ‘Drunk Drunk,’ ‘Ring on Every Finger,’ and a closing performance of ‘I Love This Life’ that had the beach on their feet as far south as you could see. As some left to head towards the Tortuga Stage, many remained as Rae Lynn took the stage, opening with the title track of her debut album, ‘Wild Horse,’ with hits ‘Love Triangle,’ and ‘God Made Girls,’ to follow throughout the set, along with a cover of Dolly Parton’s, ‘Jolene,’ accompanied by a story describing the moment that the star met her idol.
As Rae Lynn was at the north end of the beach, the Tortuga Stage was absolutely packed- from what we’re told, it was an attendance record during the timeslot for a non-headlining act. The reason why, is because Old Dominion was about to take the stage. Now, Old Dominion hasn’t had the best of luck when it came to playing Tortuga in the past. In 2015, they were the first act of the first day, and when they took the stage, the General Admission gates hadn’t yet opened. They were literally playing for an empty beach and a handful of VIP pass holders. Last year, with just minutes before taking the stage, the festival grounds were evacuated due to an extreme storm warning- their set inside the festival was cancelled; although they played for a very small crowd at a bar across the street from the festival. So 2017 was long anticipated for both the band and the fans.
Old Dominion kicked the day off with ‘Snapback,’ ‘Shut Me Up,’ and ‘Said Nobody.’ During ‘Shut Me Up,’ Matthew and Brad made their way down the catwalk to interact with the crowd. After playing ‘Nowhere Fast,’ Matthew addressed their bad luck with the festival and said, ‘We’ve been waiting a long time for this.’ The set continued with ‘Beer Can In A Truck Bed,’ their current single ‘No Such Thing As A Broken Heart,’ a brand new song ‘Be With Me’ (they intro’ed this song by saying they just finished their second album), and their smash hit ‘Break Up With Him.’ Last year, after OD’s set got cancelled, their friend Sam Hunt played one of their songs the next day. So the band wanted to return the favor and did so by playing one of Sam’s songs, and one that Matthew co-wrote, a song called ‘Make You Miss Me.’ Other songs on the setlist included ‘Crazy Beautiful Sexy,’ ‘Half Empty,’ and ‘Til It’s Over.’ But the next song they played is one of our favorites. It’s also one that they haven’t recorded or released as a single- they only play it at live shows. The song is called ‘Can’t Get You.’ With several American flags flying in the crowd, Old Dominion did a cover of John Mellencamp’s ‘Pink Houses,’ before closing their day out with ‘Wrong Turns’ and ‘Song For Another Time.’ It was a set not to be missed and Old Dominion made sure to take advantage of their time in the sun… finally.
4:30 brought only one act, so as the massive Tortuga Stage crowd finished applauding Old Dominion, they joined the Sunset Stage crowd at the north end of the beach for 2017 New England Country Music Festival artist, Michael Ray. Sporting a Hawaiian short and bright sunglasses, Michael seemed right at home, and the crowd couldn’t get enough, singing every chorus at the top of their lungs right back, not only for covers like Big and Rich’s ‘Run Away With You,’ Sam Hunt’s ‘House Party,’ Brantley Gilbert’s ‘Bottom’s Up,’ and crowd favorite, ‘Wagon Wheel,’ along with Michael’s biggest hits, ‘Real Men Love Jesus,’ performed with the actual mic from the Grand Ole Opry, ‘Think A Little Less,’ and the performance closing, ‘Kiss You In The Morning.’
As rising star Luke Combs took over the Sunset Stage, rocking the beach with ‘Can I Get An Outlaw,’ ‘Beer Can,’ Let The Moonshine,’ and current hit, ‘Hurricane,’ the newest member of the Country Music Hall of Fame took the stage at the other end of the beach… Mr. Alan Jackson! While playing ‘Gone Country,’ he would point and wave to the crowd. He would continue with ‘I Don’t Even Know Your Name,’ during which he would throw t-shirts out into the crowd, and ‘Livin’ on Love.’ His set would also include ‘Country Boy’ and ‘Little Bitty,’ which had the crowd singing along to every word. The hits kept rolling with ‘Don’t Rock The Jukebox,’ and ‘Remember When’ before cranking the energy back up with ‘Good Time,’ and the ever so popular ‘It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere’ and ‘Chattahoochee.’ Alan Jackson brought his traditional country sound to Tortuga and the crowd absolutely loved it. It’s no wonder why Alan was included in this year’s Hall of Fame class- his career is full of Number One songs and his music resonates with all generations.
The sun was setting and the Sunset Stage had officially closed for 2017. Only one act remained for the 2017 Tortuga Music Festival. And in our opinion, the perfect artist for Tortuga… Kenny Chesney! With a sliver of orange still in the sky, pirate flags waving throughout the crowd and colorfully illuminated palm trees lining the festival grounds, a quick count of 1, 2, 3 boomed through the speakers as Chesney took the stage waving to the enormous crowd. His night began with ‘Beer in Mexico’ before going into ‘Reality’ and ‘Til It’s Gone,’ prefacing it by saying, “What a beautiful audience we have in South Florida tonight. I think it’s fair to say that we’ve missed you guys!” Next on the setlist was ‘Summertime,’ ‘Pirate Flag,’ ‘Somewhere With You,’ and ‘I Go Back.’ With it being one of the first of the limited shows of 2017 for Kenny, it was a great time for him to play some songs that fans haven’t heard him perform live before. He treated the crowd to his current single, ‘Bar At The End of the World.’
As Kenny did throughout 2017, Kenny brought out Matthew and Brad of Old Dominion to perform ‘Save It For A Rainy Day,’ a song they co-wrote with the late Andrew Dorff. During ‘Noise,’ Kenny exclaimed to the crowd, “I can take this noise for sure!” Next was one of our favorite songs from the proclaimed King of the Road, ‘American Kids,’ which is always a giant singalong. But we were even more excited when he played his 2016 hit single, ‘Setting The World On Fire.’ We can’t wait for y’all to hear him perform it live at Gillette Stadium later this summer! Kenny followed that up with ‘You and Tequila’ (which featured bassist Harmoni Kelley on Grace Potter’s vocals), ‘How Forever Feels,’ and ‘Big Star’ before closing out with ‘Don’t Happen Twice’ and ‘Out Last Night.’ But there was no way Kenny was leaving the stage without an encore. He would oblige the fans’ calls by returning for ‘She Thinks My Tractors Sexy.’ Tortuga closed out their 5th annual event in the best way possible- with the Fort Lauderdale beach full of No Shoes Nation.
Tortuga is an amazing spectacle. It’s a long weekend full of incredibly talented musicians. But it’s also so much more than that. It truly is an experience. From the themed drink stands to the array of food choices, there’s something for everyone. Big props to Huka Entertainment for putting together an incredible weekend and a successful fifth installation of the Tortuga Music Festival. We can’t wait to see what 2018 has in store for the biggest beach party.
For more photos from the 2017 Tortuga Music Festival, click here.