Special Guests and Covers Reign Supreme at Southern Ground Night 1

Photo Credit: Southern Reel Nashville

Stella Sisters Remain Adorable, Kenny Chesney Still Can’t Play Guitar, and ZBB Channels DMB at the Second Annual Southern Ground Music and Food Festival

Zac Brown kicked off his second annual Southern Ground Music and Food Festival Friday night at the Lawn at Riverfront Park in extreme fashion, playing a set packed full of hits, covers and special guests. He also had a killer lineup before ZBB even took the stage.

As the crowd started to fill in, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue treated everyone to 45 minutes of a brass instrument jam session. Following them was the radio-friendly (but not nearly as festival crowd-friendly) Eli Young Band.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals took to the stage next, bringing the energy level way up, as guys and girls alike gawked at Grace Potter’s legs. Her voice is electrifying and flawless, not to mention she plays guitar and keys, and even hopped on the drum kit once.

GPN has gained a significant fan base in country music, having toured and recorded with Kenny Chesney (more on that in just a moment). Although their sound isn’t country, the music and artistic talent of the band is undeniable and inescapable. Never playing the same setlist twice, they ran through several fan favorites, including Paris (Ooh La La), Nothing But The Water (which featured Grace by herself on slide guitar during the Part I intro), and Stars.

Then came the one glaring absence from the entire night: As mentioned, Grace is noted in the country world for her duet You and Tequila with Kenny Chesney. Chesney was in the house, scheduled to make an appearance during ZBB’s set; so naturally, at some point that number one hit has to take place, right? Wrong. Didn’t happen. Cue disappointment.

Then it was the Zac Brown Band’s turn, and as a white curtain rose over the front of the stage, so did the excitement. A silhouetted intro led into Zac walking from behind the curtain to sing the first line of “Jump Right In” before the curtain fell and the energy erupted.

Although Zac never missed a chance to thank everyone involved, he did very little talking between songs, choosing instead to focus on the music. The band continued with Keep Me In Mind and Toes before bringing out their first special guest, Kenny Rogers. Zac had a giddy smile on his face for the majority of the time as they played an early Rogers hit, Just Dropped In, followed by the song Rogers said, “I can’t go anywhere without playing…” The Gambler.

Next up, ZBB brought on the Stella sisters, Lennon & Maisy, who play Rayna James’ daughters on ABC’s Nashville. They’re also known for their adorable cover version of Ho Hey, which they performed, accompanied by the band. At this point their parents, The Stellas, joined in for a family sing along to Paul Simon’s Slip Slidin’ Away.

Zac Brown Band continued with hit after hit, even throwing in covers of Metallica’s Enter Sandman (random, but awesome) and Dave Matthew’s Band’s Ant’s Marching (just plain awesome).

Then it was special guest time again, this time bringing out the only surprise guest of the evening, Amos Lee, who joined the band for their collaborated song Day That I Die.

Jason Mraz was short to follow, launching into his smash I’m Yours, which segued into a cover of Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds. He then brought back Lennon and Maisy to harmonize with him on I Won’t Give Up.

After a couple more ZBB hits, Chesney made his appearance to show just how overrated he can be. He was the only guest not to play one of his own songs, joining the group for their tune Knee Deep, and a cover of Tom Petty’s Runnin’ Down A Dream. To reiterate, after Chesney was finished pretending to play guitar, Grace Potter did not come out to perform You and Tequila. That didn’t happen. Why didn’t that happen?

In any rate, ZBB finished strong with several more hits, finishing the set with the song that put them on the map, Chicken Fried. They even included an incredibly insincere attempt at patriotism, bringing on a stoically handsome veteran to stand on stage and salute during the line “salute the ones who died / the ones who give there life…” (With all the respect in the world to the military, that came across as insanely hokey.)

The encore was even more wild and unexpected than one could imagine. Another curtain went up, and when it fell, it revealed the band adorned in glow-in-the-dark skeleton outfits, launching into Uncaged engulfed in black light. They finished up the night with yet another cover; however, it’s the one that this band does arguably better than the original: Devil Went Down To Georgia, which they do in DOUBLE TIME.

The night capped off with fireworks gracing the skyline as the house music blared Back Down South by Kings of Leon, and thousands of satisfied fans were corralled into the streets of Nashville, ready for even more madness Saturday.