Southern Comfort

Zac Brown Band brings taste of the South and thoughts of warmer days to the Target Center

The Zac Brown Band played all of the hits from their first two albums, including their popular cover of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” Sunday at the Target Center.

Image credit: Photo by Patrick Dunn

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After a cold weekend and our first snowfall of the year, the Zac Brown Band’s Sunday night performance at the Target Center was the perfect escape for country music fans already looking longingly to summer. 

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Songs like “Toes in the Water” and remember that “Life is Good Today,” were not-so-subtle reminders of warmer days, and the standing-room crowd on the floor seemed to forget entirely what season it was, standing and dancing throughout the performance.

The band played all of the hits from their first two albums, including their popular cover of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” but also took the opportunity to showcase some of their new music 

Brown seemed to be having a lot of fun during the performance and added a bit of local humor when he talked about a woman who asked him to wear a Green Bay Packers hat before the show. His drummer, Chris Fryar stood up to show off the Adrian Peterson jersey he was proudly sporting high above the stage behind his drum kit.
  
The seven musicians in the Zac Brown Band are all exceptional players, and several of them switched between instruments throughout the night.  But it was Brown’s night to showcase the vocal harmonies that appeal to such a broad audience, even those who aren’t inclined to country music. 

It’s refreshing to hear a vocalist like Zac Brown who wins you over simply with the beautiful tonal quality of his voice rather than trying to belt out a bunch of high notes or overly ambitious runs. This could really be appreciated during “Highway 20 Ride.”

Seemingly the definition of “don’t forget where you came from,” Brown also used the show to put a spotlight on a few fellow musicians from the Georgia music scene.  Nic Cowan and Sonia Leigh, both of whom have signed to Brown’s “Southern Ground” label, played opening sets of their own music.