Gasparilla’s Finale: Zac Brown Band

Monday, 06 February 2012 11:02

The Zac Brown Band closed the Gasparilla party in Tampa with a great hoedown that was a perfect fit for the party. Many fans were still dressed up in pirate garb and the parking lot was a huge tailgate party.

Nic Cowan opened the show with some funky Georgia songs. Sonia Leigh had the middle slot, showcasing songs from her recently released 1978 December album. “My Name is Money” was the first single and the next one, “Bar,” was a rowdy drinking song with a video partially filmed at the Tampa show.

The Zac Brown Band immediately got down to business with “Keep Me In Mind and “As She's Walking Away.” Then came their cover of “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” The rest of the night was about good times and covered a variety of styles, ending with the band’s first hit “Chicken Fried” (which was just breaking when they played at Common Grounds a few years ago—for a few hundred people rather than 15,000).

Everybody got a chance to shine. Fiddle player Jimmy De Martini melodically enhanced “Quiet Your Mind” and jammed on “Devil Went Down to Georgia” and “Whiskey’s Gone.” Bassist John Driskell Hopkins sang lead vocal on the goofy “It’s Not OK.” Clay Cook played guitar, mandolin, pedal steel and organ, and fronted the band for a 15-minute cover of the Marshall Tucker Band’s “Can’t You See.” Zac drew cheers every time he stepped forward on guitar to showcase his wide range of playing.

RELATED—Concert: Jason Aldean

While other country acts tend to feature covers of ‘70s classic rock hits, Zac’s choices were more diverse. In addition to the classic southern rock/country songs by Charlie Daniels Band and Marshall Tucker Band, they covered John Mayer’s “Neon” and threw in snippets of Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic,” and “Islands in the Stream.” The band ended the show with “America the Beautiful.”

By John Davisson

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