Crowd Images Credit Toni Horan
Frank Brown Park in Panama City Beach, Florida had already hosted three days of large crowds, with temperatures in the high to mid-eighties and threats of thunderstorms heading into the final day the crowd arrived. Spirits were high and without signs of fatigue, they filed in and grabbed their spaces. The crowd size was smaller than the previous days as it was Sunday and the weather report looked a bit more ominous.
Well, at about 2:45pm, just after the opening act, the sky’s opened to a down pour and thunderstorms over the festival. The rain continued for over an hour causing Mackenzie Porter’s performance to be scratched and there was a stage delay of fifteen minutes for the start of Dylan Scott from 4:45pm to 5:00pm before getting the timeline back on track. Many fans ran for cover from the rain and lightning, but many remained in their chairs and put on ponchos and rain gear. Fans danced in the rain, while others stomped and splashed in puddles, when given lemons, make lemonade. The rain stopped and the sun came out and something remarkable happened, beach balls appeared throughout the crowd and the tone of the audience became one of solidarity. Interesting that simply hitting balls back and forth brings large groups of strangers together, but it did.
The weekend left me and hopefully many in attendance thankful to live in the United States of America as there was an overwhelming sense of God and country. From singing the national anthem, saying prayers, the military fly over, and the messages from many of the faith based artists, it showed a hope and feel about this countries direction and future.
Wet Happy Crowd Shots
Seaforth is a country music duo from Sydney, Australia and started the last day of the festival at 2:30pm taking the stage as the audience was filling in. They played with really great energy and I wished they would have had time to play longer!
Band:
Tom Jordan – Vocals/Guitar
Mitch Thompson – Vocals/Guitar
Mackenzie Porter was unfortunately scratched because of the thunderstorm.
Dylan Scott was next on stage at approximate 5:00pm after the rain stopped and the stage was dried off. Two highlights of his set were the song written for his wife, “Can’t Have Mine” and “New Truck.” Dylan Scott is a traditional country music artist, not much of a cross over artist although he is categorized as pop country. The crowd really got into his set even though the grounds were soggy as the sun started to dry up the water.
Gabby Barrett along with her husband and singer/songwriter Cade Foehner shared and celebrated their love of family and God with their lyrics and messaging. Their set was heartfelt and sincere, and they performed an acoustic duet in the middle of the set that stood out and showed their bond as husband and wife. I did feel that Cade was a bit preachy, but after all, it was Sunday!
Kane Brown promised an all holes barred show, and that is most certainly what he delivered from start to finish with pyrotechnics and an incredible light display. Kane Brown is a country star with an incredible voice and a great talent for song writing. His career started eight years ago by posting cover songs on social media. He has come far and is always in the conversation at the Country Music Awards.
Overall, the festival was a great success and was run smoothly as everyone in attendance had a great time. The weather is always an issue on the Gulf Coast as storms roll in this time of year. But, God must love Country Music as we were spared, and only had about an hour of rain and thunderstorms on the very last day. God is great, and God bless The United States of America!
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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.
