Photo courtesy of Mirak Habbiyyieh and 313 Presents
Concert Review number two for me this year. I’ve been happy to have had so much work in state this last few months because I was really missing being able to do the occasional concert review when the opportunity comes up. I must be honest, I almost forgot about this one when I woke up that morning. Not because of not looking forward to the show, I’ve been wanting to see and review Bailey for a while now. No, it’s because I’m leaving Thursday for a 16-day vacation to England and Europe. My mind has been so busy worrying about what I need to buy, what I need to pack, and of course, the overall excitement for the trip itself.
I was supposed to be seeing Bailey when he was an opening act for Morgan Wallen and the tour made a stop at Ford Field in Detroit. But as the evening played out, the traffic had us running late and then the line to get in took forever so by the time we did get inside, Bailey had already finished his set. I was really excited to finally see him perform this time, especially with it being a headline set and his first major tour. Also on this tour were Dylan Marlowe and up and coming artist, Drew Baldridge. Another sold out show at Michigan Lottery Amphitheater this year.
Drew Baldridge started the music that evening and I was happily surprised to see a majority of the crowd was already in the venue and waiting for the show to start. Great set by Drew and the band, even though it was a little shorter than I expected. I think it was 25 minutes in total. A well-executed Brooks and Dunn medley, and his popular songs ‘She’s Somebody’s Daughter’ and ‘Tough People’. Another extremely patriotic music artist and proud American, he spoke some positive and powerful words and by the roars and cheers from the audience, they agreed with him whole-heartedly. I’m glad I got to catch Drew that night and see what he brought to the table as far as a live show. I really enjoyed it.
Next up was Dylan Marlowe. I had seen him once before and was looking forward to another show but as luck would have it, I had a personal issue come up and had to step away and make some phone calls and handle a few things. Luckily, that only lasted about 25 minutes, so I was able to catch the last fifteen or twenty minutes of his show. I was surprised at how into him the crowd was. A lot of people that I know have never heard of him but that wasn’t the case here tonight. The audience was loud and into it and Dylan put on a great show. I loved his version of Jon Pardi’s ‘Last Night Lonely’, and of course ‘Boys Back Home’, where Drew Baldridge came out and joined him, filling in for Dylan Scott’s parts in the song. I was bummed about missing half the show, but what I did get to see definitely made up for it.
The lights cut, the intro kicked in and this sold out, largely female crowd was on their feet waiting for Bailey Zimmerman to start his show. Bailey came out on stage and the screams and cheers were almost deafening. They were ready for this one. When I pulled into the venue, I noticed 3 semi’s out front with Bailey’s name and logo on them and was surprised at first to see so many trucks. Once I saw the complexity and size of his stage show it all made sense. Several levels and large video walls that allowed for major background changes to fit the certain songs and theme’s when they came up during the set. Bailey loves being on stage and performing and it’s so entertaining to watch him run around and do his thing. You could see just how humble he is and how thankful he is for all that’s happening currently with his music career. With all the smoke and pyrotechnics in the show it had more of a rock and roll feel, and it was a pleasant surprise to me and many others. ‘Fall in Love’, ‘Get to Getting Gone’ and ‘Holy Smoke’ had so much energy and the audience was singing along to every word. The smile never left Bailey’s face the whole night and he lit up extra big when both he and the crowd started chanting “USA, USA, USA” together. I’ve seen a few artists go out into the crowd and either walk around for a few minutes or do one song, but Bailey went out there and did several songs. ‘You Don’t Want That Smoke’, ‘Where It Ends’, and ‘Hell or Highwater’ were highlights for me, being a few of my favorite songs of his.
Well over an hour after the show first started and the music just kept coming. I really enjoyed the song ‘Waiting’, a song that Bailey wrote about his grandfather. It felt personal to me as I was very close to and really miss my grandmother. I’m also really liking ‘Backup Plan’, a new song that features Luke Combs but tonight, had some help from Drew Baldridge and Dylan Marlowe instead. I left around 10:50pm but the two encore songs that I heard were ‘Religiously’ and ‘Rock and a Hard Place’, which the audience sang louder than Bailey. One last thing worth mentioning were the outfit changes as the night went on. First starting out with a white Shirt and pants and then Bailey changing into both a Detroit Tigers Jerseys and Detroit Lions jerseys at some point during the 90-plus minute set. Of course, those last 2 outfits scored him major points with this mostly metro Detroit audience, and they let him know. Thanks Bailey, for an extremely fun and entertaining evening. I’m glad I finally got to see you do your thing. You’re such a talented and humble young man and I really think you’ve got some big things coming your way. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Until the next one.
-Howie
