Jelly Roll, Reba McEntire and Tim McGraw to headline Nashville’s first-ever rodeo
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s Music City Rodeo, featuring concerts by Jelly Roll, Tim McGraw and Reba McEntire, will take place May 29-31.
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association
SALT LAKE CITY – Post Malone and Jelly Roll are a well-matched pair for reasons beyond their mutual face tattoos.
They both bounce between rock and country with a little hip-hop thrown in, but they are also two extremely gracious artists visibly thrilled to be playing a stadium tour for the first time.
“This is the most nervous I’ve ever been before a show in my life,” a humble Jelly Roll said at the start of his 50-minute set following opener Sierra Ferrell.
Post Malone, 29, added his expletive-laden appreciation during his performance, saying, “I am scared … but the fact that everyone came out means the … world to me.”
The April 29 kickoff of their Big Ass Stadium Tour at Rice-Eccles Stadium was a 3 ½-hour genre-agnostic party, with both guys frequently addressing the crowd of about 45,000 with sincere gratitude in between pulling from their cauldron of beer-swilling hits.
There is also the possibility that fireworks will be scarce this Fourth of July because Post Malone seemingly used the country’s entire supply during his two-hour set, which was as much strobe-light-flashing “Rockstar” as red-Solo-cup-waving “Pour Me a Drink.”
The noticeably slimmed-down Jelly Roll, 40, clad in black with a massive chain hanging down his chest, also zigzagged through songs, both guttural rock (“Liar”) and twangy country (“Lonely Road”), while peppering his set with inspirational patter.
Here are some highlights from the opening show.
Jelly Roll loves a good cover song
Of course the man born Jason DeFord is a gregarious host, whether wiggling through “Get By,” his voice dipping and diving into his growly lower register, or talking to fans like a friend before “I Am Not Okay” (“It’s OK if you’re not OK today,” he said).
But his set, accented with a backdrop designed to look like a truck stop complete with a neon “Open” sign, took a playful detour when he and his large band thundered into a medley of cover songs.
Jelly Roll often pays homage to Lynyrd Skynyrd with “Sweet Home Alabama” – as he did on this night – but the segue into Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” was especially amusing to hear with his gruff voice singing, “I can take myself dancing.” To further prove his statement that he and Post Malone share a love of every type of music, Jelly and the band tossed in some of Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me” and a nod to Tupac Shakur’s “California Love.”
Post Malone knows how to make an entrance
Though he also professed to opening-night nerves, Austin Richard Post didn’t indicate he was anything other than a cool cat as the bass drum thump of “Texas Tea” filled the air and he stood on a ramp with a microphone in his left hand and a (frequently refilled) red Solo cup in his right.
In his jeans adorned with a mega-sized belt buckle and white T-shirt bearing the name Ramblin’ Rose, Posty – as he’s affectionately known – crept down the catwalk in shadowy lighting, frequently crouching to get eye level with fans.
But the barrage of fireworks and flames that ended the song injected an unexpected jolt and also set the tone for the rest of his performance.
The bromance between Post Malone and Jelly Roll is real
During their respective sets, both artists expressed their mutual admiration, so it was expected that at some point they would share the stage.
Post Malone rewarded fans’ expectations by calling Jelly Roll back to the stage – which was flanked by a pair of video screens, with two more erected at the back of the stadium floor – for “Losers,” which they recorded for Posty’s country breakthrough, “F1-Trillion.”
The pair sparred vocally on the main stage before taking a stroll down the catwalk together (cue the midsong fireworks) and ending their duet with a tight hug that seemed as much a celebration of their stadium debut as general affection.
Post Malone can make a stadium feel intimate
In a set that weaved pedal steel guitar (“Never Love You Again,” which Posty performed with Ferrell) with electro beats and chest-rattling bass (“Go Flex”), a highlight showcased him at his most vulnerable.
Standing at the end of the catwalk, the pulsing lights dimmed and stacks of pyro momentarily unseen, the multifaceted singer-songwriter started to strum his acoustic guitar, solo.
Of course he stopped after briefly starting the song to chug another beer and take a drag from his cigarette. But when Post slipped into “Feeling Whitney,” a ballad rife with lessons about bad decision making, the cavernous University of Utah stadium suddenly felt as intimate as a club as he exposed his emotions.
This stadium tour is obviously a testament to the sustained rise of both Post Malone and Jelly Roll’s career. But more importantly, it’s a platform that demonstrates nice guys can finish first.
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