It was a typical February evening in Ormond Beach, Florida. The 7:00pm temperature was around 77 degrees with clear skies at the start of the Blackberry Smoke concert at Destination Daytona this past Wednesday night February 24, 2021. Destination Daytona is a covered pavilion available rain or shine to host concerts just off the Atlantic coast of Florida. All Music Magazine was on the scene and brings you images and a review of that show. The masked crowd lined up early to get their temperatures taken before entering the facility. All CDC precautions were adhered to. Ok, enough on that.
Nick Perri’s Underground Thieves Trio kicked off the show in a psychedelic fashion. They looked and sounded like a band from the 1970’s and with the majority of the crowd in their “best years”, they let them know how much they appreciated it. Nick Perri is no newcomer to the music world. He is a platinum selling songwriter with movies, commercials, and even the Transformers compilation album on his resume.
This night, Ormond Beach only got to see The Underground Thieves Trio as the rest of the band might have been snowed-in in Philly. Nick mentioned the landscape in Philly was white at this time and he was happy for the warm weather. The band performed a seven-song set lasting about 45 minutes. My impression was, I really enjoyed the short set and was intrigued at how great the full band would be in a two-hour show.
Check out The Underground Thieves debut album “Sun Via” released in 2020. https://linktr.ee/nickperri 🌵🌞
Band:
Nick Perri – Vocals/Guitar
Brian Weaver – Bass
Zil Fessler – Drums
Setlist:
Excess
Feelin Good
I Want You
Ewo/Sunshine
Modern Man
My My Hey Hey
Let You Know
After a short break to change over the stage, Blackberry Smoke came out at 8:15pm. The band walked into the stage lights led by lead singer Charlie Starr. You could tell Charlie was glad to be out and performing again by the huge smile on his face. The band started the night with “Sanctified Woman” from their 2003 album “Bad Luck Ain’t No Crime”.
Anyone that knows Blackberry Smoke knows that this band is hard to describe their genre. They really can’t be pigeonholed as they cover a large swath; southern rock, country, rock, and even blues. They have charted number one on rock and country charts. For instance, while in the middle of “Sleeping Dogs” a country rock song, the band segwayed into Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know How It Feels”. Charlie then started a singing to the audience, “Hey Baby” and the crowd responded with the back and forth, “Hey Baby”. This went back and forth with the crowd a bit, and next thing you know we were back to a strong finish of “Sleeping Dogs”.
This was the half way point of the show so a break was warranted and Charlie introduced the band taking time to point out keyboardist Brandon Still was a new daddy. Picking up the fast pace where they left off, they played an introduction of “Things Going On” By “Lynyrd Skynyrd” as a tease, then going into “Restless”. Which here in Florida is almost cruel.
The show was spectacular, the best of the four shows I’ve seen. How ever you label their music, I am sure they don’t care, you’re welcome to your opinion. It’s just plain great music. How could it be anything else with three guitars, keyboards, and a conga player?
Blackberry Smoke released a new video this week for the single “You Hear Georgia”. You can check it out below. We were also fortunate to see it performed live as the band played it for their first encore.
If you missed this show, there are three more in Florida this week. But don’t worry, Blackberry Smoke usually performs 250 shows a year, I’m sure you will have another opportunity real soon.
Blackberry Smoke – You Hear Georgia (Official Audio)
Band:
Charlie Starr – Lead Vocals, Guitar
Richard Turner – Bass, Vocals
Brit Turner – Lead Drums
Paul Jackson – Guitar, Vocals
Brandon Still – Keyboards
Benji Shanks – Guitar
Preston Holcomb – Percussion
Setlist:
Sanctified Woman
Run Away From It All
Six Ways To Sunday
Workin For a Workin Man
Good One
Waiting For The Thunder
Let It Burn
Lucky Seven
Medicate My Mind
Sleeping Dogs
Rock N Roll Again
Restless
Whippoorwill
Hey Delilah
Ain’t Got The Blues
Sunrise in Texas
One Horse Town
Like an Arrow
You Hear Georgia
Ain’t Much Left of me
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Photographer and Editor/Founder of AllMusicMagazine.com. My love of live music has taken me to incredible experiences with the top bands of all time in stadium shows to the smallest venues with equally inspiring musicians. Using the medium of photography and my publication, these memories will last forever.
